Which aircraft does not fit: The F4U Corsair, F-4 Phantom, Concord supersonic airliner, or X-35B Marine variant of the Joint Strike Fighter? They all fit—into the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport, as do another 82 military and civilian aircraft, 61 large space artifacts, and a thousand smaller items (see “Museum Report” on page 64). And many more artifacts of aviation-space history are coming.
The Navy-Marine Corps team is well represented at the new museum, just as it has been at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Ten U.S. naval aircraft are currently exhibited at the Dulles facility as well as several naval missiles, and four foreign naval aircraft. Some Army Air Forces aircraft on display there have strong “Navy connections” as well.
The Bell (Textron) XV-15 tilt-rotor was the technology demonstrator for the Marine Corps MV-22A, an aircraft that lands and takes off like a helicopter and flies like a conventional aircraft. Two XV- 15s were built under a multiagency program. They carried out trials on board several Navy ships as well as Coast Guard cutters.
The Boeing FB-5 was a carrier-based fighter, a type that served on board the Navy’s first carrier, the USS Langley (CV- 1), as well as ashore. The NASM aircraft has the markings of Marine fighter squadron VF-9M, one of two leatherneck units that flew the plane.
Grumman, a leading producer of naval aircraft, has several contributions. The F6F- 5 Hellcat was the principal U.S. carrier- based fighter in World War II, flying from all fast carriers in service in 1943-1945 as well as the larger escort (“jeep”) carriers.
The F8F-2 Bearcat was a lightweight carrier fighter that saw limited service after the war; only the French in Indochina flew it in combat. The Dulles aircraft— painted bright yellow—has been modified extensively to a racing configuration. The recently retired A-6E Intruder was the all-weather/night workhorse of carrier attack squadrons and Marine units from Vietnam to the Gulf War of 1991.
A very recent arrival at NASM is the Lockheed Martin X- 35B technology demonstrator for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). This is the vertical short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) variant of the X-35, and the U.S. Marine Corps and Royal Navy will fly the production F-35B aircraft. The Navy, Air Force, and other nations will fly other variants of the JSF.
The McDonnell F-4S Phantom, painted in Marine markings, represents one of the outstanding aircraft of the Cold War era. It was produced in larger numbers than any other U.S. post-World War II aircraft except for the P-80/T-33 Shooting Star and F-86 Sabre/FJ Fury. During the 1960s and 1970s the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps used more Phantoms than any other fighter aircraft, and they were flown by ten foreign nations, with some air forces flying them into the 21st Century. The Phantom at Dulles shot down a MiG-21 over North Vietnam in 1972 while serving in a Navy squadron.
A “low performer” but important aircraft at NASM Dulles is the N3N-3 “Yellow Peril,” built by the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. The biplane, equally at home on floats or wheels, long served as a primary trainer.
Another example of a superiorperforming and versatile aircraft is the Vought F4U-1D Corsair. This fighter- bomber, flown by the Navy and Marines from carriers and shore bases, was the last piston-engine fighter produced in the United States. The Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher on display at Dulles was a catapult- launched spotting and rescue aircraft flown by U.S. warships during World War II.
The three Japanese naval aircraft at NASM Dulles represent a cross-section of that service’s aviation development. The Aichi M6A1 Seiran was developed specifically to be launched by submarines of the I-400 class, the largest non-nuclear undersea craft ever built. The wings folded and twin floats were removed for stowage. Three could be carried by each submarine, as well as their bombs and torpedoes. The NASM aircraft is the only one in existence.
A successor to the famed A6M Zero in the land-based fighter role, the Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden had the Allied code name “George.” Navy squadrons flew it toward the end of World War II in defense of the home islands.
When Japan turned to suicide attacks late in the war, the Yokosuka naval arsenal produced the so-called Baka (“fool”) suicide aircraft. Given the Navy designation MXY-7 Ohka (cherry blossom), the suicide aircraft were carried into battle beneath a bomber. Most were rocket-propelled; the NASM aircraft is one of the few jet-propelled models produced but not used in combat.
Possibly the most unusual naval aircraft at Dulles is the Focke-Achgelis Fa 330A, a towed autogiro employed by German U- boats in remote areas during World War II. The single-seat aircraft was stored inside submarines, assembled with the U-boat on the surface, and launched when a minimum 17-mile-per-hour wind speed was generated across the deck. Some 200 to 500 feet of steel cable were usually winched out for operation, with a telephone line embedded in the cable to enable the airborne observer to communicate with the submarine. A freewheeling rotor kept the craft aloft, with a normal altitude of about 330 feet.
More naval aircraft will be moved into NASM Dulles during the coming years, complementing the collection at the museum on the Mall. Unfortunately, one significant naval aircraft that will not be on display is the Navy-Curtiss NC-4 flying boat, the first aircraft to span an ocean, crossing the Atlantic in May 1919.
Congressional legislation directed that the aircraft be displayed at the nation’s “aviation museum.” However, it is on loan to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida. Although millions more people would see the NC-4 at Dulles every year than at Pensacola, it is unlikely that the historic aircraft will ever come home.
