Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
WHAT: RMGA MAY PROGRAM – Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
WHEN: May 11, 2015 – Networking 6:30pm – 7:00pm, Business Meeting 7:00pm – 7:15pm, Program 7:15 pm – 8:15 pm - Tour and Historic presentation.
WHERE: 7711 East Academy Boulevard, Denver, CO 80230 in the Historic Lowry Air Force Base Hangar No. 1 near Alameda and Quebec in the Harrison Ford Welcome Theater.
PROGRAM: Our tour guide, Phil Mentesana, is a long time guide with the museum. Phil will have a short presentation on Lowry Air Force Base and how the museum began. He will than take us on a tour of the museum. The Museum is housed in a 150,000 square foot 1930s Air Force hanger with dozens of historic airplanes, space vehicles and interactive exhibits. The Museum has a B-52, a rare B-18A Bolo, five Century-Series fighters, and one of two B-1A Lancers. You do not want to miss the historic presentation and tour!
PARKING: Parking is not a problem. There is ample parking and it is FREE.
Guide Line Review
Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
Remember when you were a kid/child, hearing the w-r-r-r of an engine, looking up, and seeing an aircraft (bi-or single wing? barnstormer? crop-duster? military, or the occasional big plan, and dream of flying?) Depends on your age! It was a thrill, wasn’t it?
RMGA’s meeting was at the aurora facility known as “Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum”, a former training facility known as Francis B. Lowry Air force Field beginning in the mid-to late 1930s. Lowry, form Denver, was an aviator killed in combat during World War I.
The former Agnes Phipps Sanatorium for tubercular’s was the first building occupied for what was to become Lowry Air Force Base, a military training field as the United States became closer to involvement in World War II. More buildings and runways followed, constructed for training young visitors at a site once open prairie land in 1933. Following World War II, the facility was gradually de-activated. In the mid-1950s, it served as the first location for young men destined to be students at the U.S. Air Force Academy, authorized in 1954 to be built North of Colorado Springs, some miles South of Denver.
A B-52 greets the visitor on arrival at the Museum in Hanger #1. The entry is referred to as the “Gateway to Flight”, a contribution of Charles C. Gates, Jr. who believed in giving back to that from which he received. The “Gateway” (entry) depicts the heritage of Colorado’s aerospace leadership. A mobile with several types of vehicles for aerial flight hangs in the entry.
Our evening began with networking while enjoying hors d’hoeuvres and beverage. Phil Mentesana, an Educational Volunteer and Air Force veteran, led us on an excellent tour. Our first stop is the 150,000 square foot Air Force hanger #1 of the i930s was the Harrison Ford Theatre, for an introduction video on aviation. Then it was on to aero plane and related items for viewing…:
Groups of 8-11 stepped into Flight Simulators with cockpits full of instruments and equipment, used by aspiring pilots and navigators for flight training. United Airlines has a training facility nearby with simulators available around-the-clock. One cockpit resembles that of the 727 200 series. Aerial navigation students from Metropolitan State University, Auraria Campus, and Downton Denver, use simulators and the McDonald Douglas DC 10 simulator and pilots use the United Simulators for training.
• A TG-4A Glider, a “Flying Machine”, and Biplanes hang from the ceiling above..
• F-102A Delta Dagger, one like President George W. Bush flew
• An Apollo Command Module of 1965
• F86 Sabre, similar to the Russians MIG 15, used in the Korean War
• F-4E Phantom II, hydraulic workings and two hydrogen bombs
• F-4C, equipped for two pilots and seven bombs form the late 1960-70s
• F-100, a photo-reconnaissance aircraft with a camera projecting from under the cockpit like a trapeze
• A Rockwell B1A Lancer, the only one of its kind reaming with a electable cockpit
• The Rockwell B1A Lancer, the only one of its kind remaining. The contract stated there would be four test aircraft and only two remain today. Four manufactured, only two remain; the plane at “Wings” has an ejection cockpit/”crew capsule” –the other one does not.
• The early metal Schweitzer SGS1-24 Glider—its construction was in the “heyday” of the 1950s
• One of the “big” pieces of attraction is a supersonic, twin engine, sweep wing F-14A Tomcat built by Grumman Northrup, used by the U.S. Navy between the mid-1970s and the mid-2000s. It was brought to the aviation forefront thru the movie “Top Gun”. A special flight weapons system was operated by a computer, but the pilot flew the plane. It could travel at the airspeed of Mach 2+. The chief designer Ray Holts aid he had not seen a “Tomcat” with the system in person until he saw it at the “Wings” Museum.
• The B-18A Bolo is an older medium size Douglas bomber used before World War II.
Those listed above are only a few of the planes. The Museum “Exhibit Map” lists 40+ pieces over ten separate exhibits, including the Lawry Base history and a Flight Simulator Exhibit/Displayed detailing Colorado’s contributions to the U.S. Space Program. A Museum Store “Wings Aeronautical” is available.
The Lowry Field area became much different following de-activation. Runways were closed although Ground Training to practice weapons loading did continue. The two large hangars built in 1939 and 1954 were closed. Other uses were found for the land any remaining buildings. The Base ultimately closed in 1994.
Hangar #1 houses “Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space museum” which opened in the mid-1980s, housing many aircraft and some weapon displays; detailed signage describes the history and aircraft functions. A main entry to the Lowry area is at eastbound 6th Avenue and Quebec Street. Hanger #1 is at 7711 East Academy Blvd. Between Hangar 1 and 2 is nestled the Lowry Beer Garden, a tent-covered venue, and is open year round from 11 am – Midnight. Food, drink, and atmosphere are reasonable in taste, variety and amount open to the individual, and to the family including children. There is plenty of free Parking.
The Museum, a non-profit, is open not only for tours, but for birthday parties of all ages, special events, and educational opportunities such as the “Air & Space Camp”, offering “hands-on” activities for students of ages 8-12 during the Summer months; camp features the Science of Flight, Space Adventures, or a combination of the two. From the B-52 to the “Star Wars X Wing”, historic airplanes, space vehicles and interactive exhibits are available. President Dwight Eisenhower’s relationship to Lowry and hospitalization at Fitzsimmons helps project facilities to the forefront. Visitors show respect for what the Museum and its artifacts represent.
---Eileen Pearl
Content copyright 2016. Rocky Mountain Guides Association. All rights reserved.
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