I took many, many photos inside this 92,000 sq. ft. hangar... many did not work out, but i have a few good ones. Here's Helen and Mark settling back in the "Ready Room" where they have a TV and DVD deck for showing a brief but very interesting orientation video that helps put things into perspective befoe one heads out onto the floor.
I just can't believe I've never heard of this place... isn't this ready room great? I love the seats; no idea where they came from.

http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/rot9-10-05_20



An OH-6 "Cayuse"; this chopper served in Vietnam, where it flew ahead as part of a Cobra "Kill Team" to draw ground fire. Not sure if it ever had gun pods, but at least the crew could sit on their helmets... imagine drawing ground fire in this thing...!!

http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/rot9-10-05_22



The artwork looks retouched, but it's still very cool.
http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/rot9-10-05_23




I think I'm in love: A P&W R4360 Wasp Major- a great big beautiful beast of an engine. 28 cylinders in multiple rows, 4300 horses. Four of these monsters were used to power the mighty Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. I'd love to design a single around this engine...!!!
  http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/rot9-10-05_24



Here is a resto. in progress; not sure what it is, but I'm thinking Vultee. It's a long way from done, but they seem to have all the parts needed.
http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/rot9-10-05_25


They have the usual "educational" stuff here, including a few sim stations that although adequate, could really use an upgrade (esp. if they want to interest kids in aviation- kids have things they can carry in their pockets that are better than this stuff). Here Marco tries flying some helicopter sim...
look out,...!
http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/rot9-10-05_26

Well, the Wasp has some competition for my affection: a very pristine-looking  Wright R1820, the type used on DC3s and B17s, among others. Gorgeous, esp. with that prop. Nice.
http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/rot9-10-05_38


Next: More from NAS Wildwood!

That place looks like a little goldmine.

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Also the B-50 Superfortress which the B377 Stratocruiser was derived from. They were known as "corncob" engines for obvious reasons. I read they suffered from overheating & were none too reliable.

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I'm not sure either but I was never that good with the more obscure US WWII warbirds. The rear fuselage looks too graceful to be an A-35 Venegeance which is the only one I can think of. Must be a fairly early type if the markings are anything to go by.

Interesting hangar Rotty...very interesting

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

A little factoid. Captain O.P. Jones, the chief pilot of BOAC, was dismissed (or forced to resign) for refusing to fly the Stratocruiser which he considered dangerous for two reasons. One was the unreliability of the engines & the other being that it was impossible to flare during landing. This made every landing nosewheel-first. If you check any old photo of the Stratocruiser landing you can confirm this. It was remarked that it must have a very strong nose leg to put up with it. The objections of their chief pilot to their flagship would have been very embarrassing for the BOAC management as they had ordered the aircraft to compete with Pan American on the transatlantic routes. The first Stratocruiser 'Speedbird' was delivered in 1949 & advertised as a luxury airliner which it undoubtedly was. http://www.ovi.ch/b377/cutaway/boac.html

Captain Jones was one of the "old school" airline captains & had been with Imperial Airways on the prewar transatlantic routes. He had a neat beard & always wore white gloves while flying. Having met him a couple of times I found him rather abrupt & formidable but he was obviously a highly experienced pilot & good at his job. He was loaned to the RAF to organise & supervise the ferrying of US-manfactured aircraft across the Atlantic which he did throughout WWII. Imperial Airways became BOAC in 1939 & British Airways in 1974.

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Vultee BT-13 Valiant. 8) http://www.shanaberger.com/BT-13.htm

MORE, MORE, MORE!!!       Please!

Found it. Can't be absolutely certain but I always thought this could only be Captain O.P. Jones.