Photos: A history of the Air Force's arsenal

At the Hill Aerospace Museum in Utah, visitors can see a wide range of planes from the Flying Boxcar to the B1 bomber. CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman visited as part of Road Trip 2009.

Daniel Terdiman

July 27, 2009 9:42 a.m. PT

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C-124C Globemaster II

Just outside Hill Air Force Base, near Ogden, Utah, visitors come to see the Hill Aerospace Museum, a diverse historical collection of military aircraft.

CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman visited as part of Road Trip 2009.

Pictured here is the Douglas C-124C "Globemaster II," which was delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1955. With a crew of eight, four Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, a range of 2,175 miles and a cost of $1.646 million, the plane was assigned to the 15th Air Transport Squadron of the Military Air Transport Service, in Dover, Delaware.

The plane had a maximum weight of 216,000 pounds, was 48 feet 4 inches tall, and 130 feet long.

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T-38A Talon

The T-38A "Talon" was the U.S. Air Force's first supersonic trainer. The plane first flew in 1959 and was in production until 1972.

All told, 1,189 T-38s were made. Featuring a two-person crew, two GE J85-GE-5A turbojet engines, the Talon was 25 feet, 3 inches wide; 46 feet, 4 inches wide; and 12 feet, 11 inches high. It weighed 11,761 pounds. The Talon could reach a maximum speed of 858 miles per hour, and had a range of 1,140 miles.

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T-33A Thunderbird

This is the T-33A "Thunderbird," as seen at the Hill Aerospace Museum. Weighing in at 14,000 pounds and with a maximum speed of 525 miles an hour, the Thunderbird was "designed for training pilots already qualified to fly propeller-driven aircraft," reads an information sign at the museum. "It was developed from the F-80 fighter by lengthening the fuselage some 38.5 inches."

The plane, which had one Allison J-33 turbojet engine producing 6,000 pounds of thrust, first flew in 1948, and was produced until 1959. All told, 5,691 T-33As were built.

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B-1B Lancer

Shown here is the Boeing B-1B "Lancer," a long-range nuclear bomber that could travel up to 6,500 miles on four GE F101-GE-102 afterburning turbofan engines producing 30,000 pounds of thrust each.

The B-1B could reach a maximum speed of 900 miles an hour--Mach 1.2--and cruised at 0.9 Mach. It carried as many as 84 Mk 82 500-pound bombs and a wide variety of nuclear weapons.

The plane is 146 feet long and 34 feet high, and had a maximum takeoff weight of 470,000 pounds.

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MiG-21F

While most of the aircraft in the Hill Aerospace Museum are from the U.S. Air Force, or at least the U.S. military, that's not true in every case.

This is a 1950s-era Soviet MiG-21F, which had a crew of one, and could range as far as 1,038 miles with one NE-30 30mm cannon and two K-13A air-to-air missiles.

The plane has a wingspan of 23 feet 6 inches, is 43 feet 2 inches long and 13 feet 2 inches high. It had a maximum weight of 19,080 pounds, and could reach a maximum speed of Mach 2.05.

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P-40N Warhawk

The Curtiss P-40N "Warhawk" was the United States' "foremost fighter in service when WW II began," according to the museum. "P-40s engaged Japanese aircraft during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines in December, 1941. They were also flown in China early in 1942 by the famed Flying Tigers, and in North Africa in 1943 by the first AAF all-black unit, the 99th Fighter Squadron."

Weighing in at 9,100 pounds, it had six .50-caliber machine guns and also carried external 700-pound bombs. It is 12 feet 4 inches high, 31 feet 9 inches long and had a maximum speed of 362 miles an hour. It also had a range of 850 miles.

"The P-40 served in numerous combat areas--the Aleutian Islands, Italy, the Middle East, the Far East and in southwest Pacific," a sign in the museum reads, "and some were sent to Russia."

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Bomarc A

This is a Bomarc A surface-launched, pilotless interceptor missle built to destroy enemy aircraft. Called "Bomarc" for Boeing and Michigan Aeronautical Research Center, it was launched and powered by a liquid-fueled rocket booster, at least until it reached a high-enough speed for its ramjets to kick in.

"It was guided from the ground to the vicinity of its target, at which time it came under control of an internal target seeker," reads an information sign at the Hill Aerospace Museum.

The first prototypes were tested in 1952, and the Bomarc A came online in 1960, hosted at five Air Force bases in the northeastern United States. It was housed inside large shelters that had sliding roofs; the missile would be positioned vertically for launch.

The Bomarc A was operational until the mid-1960s. It was 47 feet 4 inches long, weighed 15,619 pounds at launch and could travel at Mach 2.8 for 260 miles. It carried either a W-40 nuclear warhead or a 1,000-pound high-explosive warhead.

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Bomarc B

The Bomarc B "was an improved version of the Bomarc A," reads a sign at the museum. "The more powerful booster rocket on the Bomarc B used solid fuel instead of liquid fuel, a change that reduced launch times from two minutes for the A model to as little as 30 seconds for the Bomarc B. The increased fuel storage of the ramjets also gave the missile nearly double the range of (the) Bomarc A."

The Bomarc B became operational in 1961, and was in use at six U.S. Air Force sites in the U.S. and two Royal Canadian Air Force sites in Canada. It was in use until 1972.

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Snark

The "Snark," or SM-62, was "an air-breathing intercontinental weapon designed to be fired from a short mobile launcher by means of two solid-fueled booster rockets. Airborne in four seconds, the Snark was...capable of 650 miles an hour top speed at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet," the museum sign reads. "After a celestial guided flight of up to 6,325 miles, the Snark's airframe separated from its nose cone, and the missile's nuclear warhead followed a ballistic trajectory to its target."

Only one Snark unit was made operational, activated by Strategic Air Command at Presque Isle Air Force Base, Maine, in 1958. It was made obsolete by intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in the early 1960s.

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Minuteman TEL

This is a Minuteman I Transporter-Erector-Loader (TEL), on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum. The TEL, made by Boeing, was designed to transport Boeing LGM-30A Minuteman ICBMs.

It is 65 feet long and 10 feet wide, and has 8,030 cubic feet of interior space. When empty, it weighs 24,700 pounds. It was pulled by a custom 1963 GMC tractor. It was also possible to transport a Minuteman missile by rail without the tractor.

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P-47D Thunderbolt

The Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, which carried a single pilot, had a range of 950 miles and a top speed of 433 miles an hour. It had eight .50-caliber guns, as well as rockets and bombs.

It was considered one of the most important Air Force fighters of World War II, and served as a bomber escort and ground attack aircraft during that war.

"The P-47D became the most-produced and widely-used model of the Thunderbolt, with over 12,500 built," reads a sign in the museum. "Although they were fast and had an excellent roll rate, early P-47Ds suffered from poor climb performance and short range. However, over the course of its production, the P-47D was greatly improved, with increased climb rate, greater internal fuel capacity and new wing mounts for drop tanks or bombs.

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F-89H Scorpion

This is the U.S. Air Force's F-89H "Scorpion," a Northrop plane that carried a crew of two and could fly up to 1,600 miles at a cruising speed of 465 miles an hour, and a top speed of 630 miles an hour.

It carried 48 70mm rockets or two Genie nuclear rockets.

"In the late 1940s, the U.S. Air Force called for a jet-powered aircraft that could destroy Soviet long-range aircraft carrying nuclear weapons that might attack American cities," the museum's Web site reads. "The Scorpion was thus designed as an all-weather interceptor to fit this requirement.

"Designed to replace the Northrop-built P-61 'Black Widow,' the F-89 was built around a powerful radar set. A second crew member operated the radar and could lock onto a target in total darkness or in any type of weather, align the aircraft with the enemy target, and fire (up to) 48 70mm unguided rockets, 'shotgun' style.

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C-119G Flying Boxcar

The Fairchild C-199G "Flying Boxcar" was "designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, mechanized equipment and parachute troops," a sign at the museum reads.

Carrying a crew of four, and weighing 85,000 pounds, the C-119 first flew in 1947 and was in production until 1955. It was used by the Air Force in Korea, but was also used by the Air Forces of Canada, Belgium, Italy and India. And while its production had long since ceased, the plane was used in Vietnam as a ground support plane.

"The nickname 'Flying Boxcar' comes from the inside volume capacity, which is 93 feet, that of a railroad boxcar."

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F-86F Sabre

The XF-86 Sabre, which carried a crew of one, and could fly 926 miles, became the Air Force's first swept-wing jet fighter in 1947. It could almost reach the speed of sound in level flight, and in a dive, could surpass it. Beginning in 1950, the Sabre was thought to be the Air Force's front-line fighter, according to the museum.

During the Korean War, the Sabres achieved a great deal of fame after engaging in combat with Russian MiG-15s, and despite being less maneuverable, and slower-climbing, had a 10-1 superiority rate over the MiGs.

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F-4C Phantom

Mounted in front of the Hill Aerospace Museum, this F-4C "Phantom," from McDonnell Douglas, had a crew of two, had two GE J79-GE-15 turbojet engines, each of which produced 17,000 pounds of thrust.

With a wingspan of 38 feet 5 inches, a length of 58 feet 4 inches, and a height of 16 feet 3 inches, it had a maximum weight of 58,000 pounds and could reach a maximum speed of 1,433 miles an hour. In combat it could travel 538 miles and carried 4 AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, 4 AIM-9 Sidewinders, and up to 16,000 pounds of ordnance.

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F-4D

The Hill Aerospace Museum has four different F-4s, including this F-4D. It was delivered to the Air Force in late 1967.

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