Iowa Aviation Heritage Museum

05/26/2026

Does anyone know of a UH-1 front Canopy for sale? A memorial park Huey had some storm damage and is looking for a replacement.

05/19/2026

05/19/2026

On 18 May 1945, B-29-45-MO Superfortress serial number 44-86292 rolled out from the Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant in Omaha, Nebraska, as one of the secret “Silverplate” bombers built for the United States atomic program.

The Silverplate modifications transformed the standard B-29 into a specialized atomic delivery aircraft. Changes included redesigned bomb bays with pneumatic doors and British bomb-release systems, upgraded fuel-injected engines, reversible-pitch propellers, and the removal of armor plating and most gun turrets to reduce weight and improve performance. A total of 65 Silverplate B-29s were completed during and shortly after World War II, with most produced or modified at the Martin plant near Offutt Field in Nebraska.

On 5 August 1945, on Tinian Island, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. selected 44-86292 for the Hiroshima mission and ordered his mother’s name painted beneath the pilot’s window just hours before takeoff, christening her the Enola Gay. The following morning, the aircraft entered history as the first airplane to deliver an atomic weapon in combat.

05/08/2026

On 24 April 1953, the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command suffered a fatal setback in its experimental MX-1018 program, known as Project Tip-Tow.

The project was intended to extend fighter es**rt for long-range bomber missions by attaching a pair of Republic F-84 Thunderjets to the wingtips of a modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress. During a test flight over eastern Long Island, EF-84D 48-641 lost control, rolled inverted, and struck the wing of ETB-29A-60-BN Superfortress 44-62093. Both aircraft fell into Peconic Bay, New York, and all aboard were killed.

Project Tip-Tow had emerged from postwar efforts to solve one of the central problems of strategic air power: how to provide fighter protection for bombers operating far beyond the normal range of es**rt aircraft. Engineers proposed that fighters could conserve fuel and increase operational reach by physically coupling to the bomber in flight, drawing stability and endurance from the larger aircraft until needed for combat. Earlier tests had suggested that the concept was technically possible, but the arrangement remained highly unstable and hazardous, especially in the turbulent airflow around the bomber’s wingtips.

The crash of 24 April 1953 ended those hopes at once. The loss of both aircraft and their crews demonstrated that the dangers of the system outweighed its possible military value, and the program was canceled immediately.

Had you ever heard of the idea?

05/07/2026

Born March 13, 1920, in Bagley, Ann Russell Darr’s path to aviation began early. After completing the civilian pilot training program at the University of Iowa, she moved to New York and worked for NBC Radio, where she wrote and broadcast a daily program, “The Women of Tomorrow.” Even then, she used her platform to encourage women to support the war effort, blending lifestyle content with wartime awareness.

When the opportunity came, Ann was among the thousands who applied to the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Selected and trained at Avenger Field under Jacqueline Cochran, she went on to fly an extraordinary range of aircraft, including the BT-13, PT-17, AT-6, AT-10, B-17, B-26, AT-11, and UC-78. Her assignments took her to bases in Kansas, Texas, and Nevada, where she carried out demanding missions such as target towing, simulated strafing, and searchlight tracking. She once ferried a wind-damaged aircraft across the country for repair, a testament to both her skill and resolve.

Darr described her work as “aerial dish-washery,” the essential but often overlooked flying that kept the Army Air Forces operational. The risks were constant—from faulty aircraft to sabotage and dangerous weather—and she never forgot the fellow WASP who lost their lives. Yet she also recalled moments of teamwork and determination, like steadying aircraft in high winds to ensure safe landings.
After the war, when the WASP were disbanded without military status, Ann turned to writing. She authored ten books, taught creative writing, and drew deeply from her flying experiences. Her 1978 book Cleared for Landing and later essays helped bring long-overdue recognition to the women who served. Reflecting on flight, she wrote of “the exhilaration… the precision… and the sheer joy of seeing the sweep of the earth.”

Ann Russell Darr was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, and in 2010 she and her fellow WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Her legacy lives on in both her words and her wings, a powerful reminder of a generation that proved, without question, that women could fly as well as men.

Learn more: https://cafriseabove.org/ann-russell-darr/

05/05/2026