It was an 80-mile (129km) drive to our
next location, the Virginia Aviation Museum
at Richmond, where the collection comprised
mainly vintage light aircraft, including Bucker
Bu-133C Jungmeister N133BU, Aeronca
C-2A N11417, Fairchild 24 Model G NC19123
and Bellanca CH-400 NX237.
Star exhibit was Vultee V1-A NC16099,
dating back to 1936. This was a single-
engine airliner powered by a 1,000hp Wright
R-1850 radial. It had once been owned by
newspaper tycoon Randolph Hearst and
is the only example in the world. Its last
commercial role was ying monkeys from
Central America to California.
The museum was located at Richmond
International Airport, and a drive past the
cargo area revealed Convair CV.600 N94246
of SMB Stage Line and 727-25C N126FE of
Federal Express.
It was then an early nish after a 50-mile
(80km) drive to a motel in Lightfoot, enabling
us to relax in the sunshine by the pool.
The next day was Memorial Day (Monday,
May 29) in the US – a public holiday, which
meant it wasn’t possible to visit NASA at
Langley. But other locations were open.
The day started with a 20-mile (32km)
drive to the US Army Transportation Museum
at Fort Eustis, which covered all aspects of
transport including boats. Fixed-wing exhibits
included de Havilland Canada C-7 Caribou
57-3079, in the colours of US Army parachute
team ‘The Golden Knights’, U-1A Otter 55-
3270 and U-6A Beaver 58-1997.
Helicopters on display were Sikorsky VH-
34C 57-1725, CH-21C Shawnee 56-2077
and YCH-54A Tarhe 64-14203, the second
pre-production machine. From Lockheed
was the AH-56 Cheyenne 66-8832. This
was a fast-attack helicopter but it suffered
development problems and political pressure
which saw the project cancelled.
Just ve miles (8km) away at Patrick
Henry International Airport, we found NASA
Cessna 310 N505NA and Beech Queen
Air B80 N506NA on the ramp. Presidential
Airways Jetstream 31 N131CA was also
noted, operating a commuter ight, and we
saw three US Army Beechcraft – U-21As 66-
18020, 67-18122 and C-12A 76-22250.80 Aviation News incorporating Classic Aircraft February 2016Left: The largest user of the post-1945 tall-tail
version of the DC-3 was the US Navy. Many
found their way on to the civil market after
storage at Davis-Monthan AFB. Douglas
C-117D N456WL was at Fort Lauderdale
during the author’s visit, still in its basic
USN livery.
Below left: Viasa McDonnell Douglas
DC-10-30 YV-135C taxies at Miami. Following
mounting losses the government-owned
carrier was closed down in 1997.Above left: British Airways’ Concorde
G-BOAF turns onto the runway at Miami.
Left: A US Army Sikorsky CH-54 Skycrane
departs Miami with a Curtiss C-46
Commando under-slung. The journey was
aborted when one of the harnesses worked
loose and the C-46 was dropped in the sea.78-82_talesDC.mfDC.indd 80 04/01/2016 13:43