"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
05/30/2016 at 17:38 • Filed to: None
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"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
05/30/2016 at 17:38 • Filed to: None | 1
| 21 |
I need help from the aviation experts of Oppo. I just stumbled upon an air museum called Wings of Eagles, which is closed for Memorial Day, but still awesome because there are eight historic aircraft just sitting out front with no fences or ropes blocking them (I have spent entirely too much time circling the Tomcat).
This was on the side of the hangar and I’m not entirely sure what it is. All I know is it’s long, I’d say at least 25 feet. Anyone know what I’m looking at?
Edit: based on the suggestion that it may have had wings I took a look at the other side, and sure enough! Here’s more photos.
Tomcat for your time
OPPOsaurus WRX
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 17:49 |
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It looks like a Suuuubaaaaruuuu
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 17:55 |
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Well I wasn’t a pilot, my dad was, but they are generally either a drop tank or some add on for a wide variety of purposes like a gun pod, avionics pods, there are even storage pods but this looks like one of the others. Lots of kinds of electronic devices, like this is a shared reconnaissance pod.
facw
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 18:07 |
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Can’t tell about your mystery device. The bolt patter makes it look like it had some sort of wing on the side, but doesn’t look like any cruise missile or glide bomb I recognize.
Wings of Eagles has had a pretty troubled history. They were previously the National Warplane Museum, based in Geneseo, but decided to move to the Elmira/Corning airport to reach more people.
The new facility didn’t draw as well as they anticipated and sent them deeply into debt. They had to sell their B-17 and move to a smaller facility on the other side of the airport to get their finances under control. They then sold the National Warplane Museum name back to backers of the original Geneseo museum (who still operate a small museum there).
Cash Rewards
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 18:13 |
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Without context I always think jets are much smaller than they are. Then you put them next to something and holy crap, they’re huge.
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facw
> Cash Rewards
05/30/2016 at 18:20 |
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In fairness the F-14 is a pretty big fighter.
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Dusty Ventures
> facw
05/30/2016 at 18:21 |
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Good call on the wing. I took a closer look and added a few more photos
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Dusty Ventures
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
05/30/2016 at 18:21 |
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Added more photos
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Dusty Ventures
> facw
05/30/2016 at 18:23 |
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The difference in size between the Tomcat and the MiG 21 on the other side was hilarious
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415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 18:34 |
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Optical adjustment, so probably optronic pod, targeting, guidance etc...
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Dusty Ventures
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
05/30/2016 at 18:36 |
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Would they put wings and hydraulics on a targeting pod though?
Overwatch
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 18:41 |
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It is the body (but missing the engine) of an AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missile.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-28_Ho…
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facw
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 18:41 |
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OK, looked at their website (duh) and have an answer . It is (most of) a GAM-77 Hound Dog Cruise Missile:
The (damaged) tail was on it when they got it, but looks like it has been removed for repair/replacement:
Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 18:45 |
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There’s a data plate on the pod in the second photo that would identify it. It might by the one by the tail cone.
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415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 18:52 |
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Well if it was actually designed to be dropped, I guess back then there are things that would be dropped and ditched for a single use. This thing is pretty old, I would guess it is from the late 70's. I remember looking in my dad’s books, there are a million kinds of things they put on jets. Before all of this got to be really computerized I’m sure they played around with a lot of options. We can’t see the nose, probably had the expensive optical bits there.
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facw
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
05/30/2016 at 19:04 |
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You can see below for more pics, but it’s a ‘50s/’60s vintage air launched cruise missile (B-77/GAM-77/AGM-28 Hound Dog)
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Dusty Ventures
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
05/30/2016 at 19:04 |
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facw and Overwatch got it. Hound Dog cruise missile
Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 19:06 |
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GAM-77 Hound Dog?
That’s the only thing I can think of.
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Dusty Ventures
> facw
05/30/2016 at 19:07 |
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That explains it. I was trying to figure out how it had wings for flight but no form of propulsion or tail/vertical stabilizer
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facw
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 19:22 |
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Apparently they eventually got it rigged up so that the B-52 could use these as extra engines (because why have only 8 engines when you could have 10), and they could draw fuel from the BUFF’s main tanks so they didn’t draw down their own range doing so. Sort of a neat feature, though I don’t know how useful it is. I guess if you need to get off the runway fast because the Soviet nukes are incoming, an extra two engines are nice. Similarly if you are trying to stay airborne forever so you don’t get bombed on the ground (which is one of the reasons the B-52 has so many engines in the first place), having extras in case of engine failure would be good.
f86sabre
> facw
05/30/2016 at 20:59 |
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Used the same engine as th A-6/A-4. The core is also the same as the JT8D. I’m more familiar with it in that guise.
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415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Dusty Ventures
05/30/2016 at 21:51 |
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Oh yeah there is a lot missing, I did see the points where something else was attached, I wondered about that.