G’day
I am planning a holiday to the USA in the near future. I am looking for things that I should visit whilst there. I am interested in US WW2 aircraft (don’t know much about em’, just like to build em’) particularly those involved in the Battle of the Coral Sea and those based in Australia during the war (the 8th Airforce I think).
If anyone could help me with ideas of what and where to visit…that would be great. Oh, and of course I want to visit the ‘best’ model shop in the US.
Cheers
Simon (nomis the right way around… its along story!)
Well first off welcome to the forum. If you were to give a more specific area you going to visit it might help on getting locations, or are you wanting to know where the great places are so you can plan your trip that way?
welcome to the forum. as lizardqing2 posted where are you going? east coast? west coast? North? South? also the idea of the best hobby is subject to opinion. what are you looking for?
joe
If you go anywhere near Dayton Ohio then it’s the USAFM at Wright-Patt AFB… the MECCA!!!
(Well, one of the Meccas, anyway…)
BTW, the 8th AF was ETO. 'Twas the 5th that was in your neck of the woods.
Fade to Black…
Thanks Guys,
I am planning my trip and am looking at developing my itinerary, I hope to visit both East and West coasts of America.
Simon
Nomis,
Tell us more about your interests and what you like to build. Then we can come up with some firmer suggestions. For instance, if you build warships, there are some great museums on both the west and east coasts. If you’re into armor, then there’s the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. And as Blackwolf mentioned, the Air Force museum in Ohio is great also. But you’ve gotta give us a clue!
Paul
If you get to the US east coast, plan to spend several days in the Wahington DC area. The Aberdeen Proving Ground Armor museum is about an hour north and of course, the Smithsonian Institution has 3 sites dedicated to aviation alone (Paul Gerber Restoration Center, The Air & Space Museum on the Mall and the new Ulvar-Hazy Center at Dulles airport (about 30 miles north west))
If you get to the LA area would reccommend getting out to the Chino Airport (especially on a weekend), Planes of Fame museum is located there plus between 20 and 30 privately owned warbirds.
Welcome to FSM forums. I would say that if you want to see planes go to the Smithsonians Museum on the East Coast. They have all kinds of planes from WWII. My Dad went there and brought back some picks of an Me-262, Wildcats,P-51, P-47, Hellcat, Corsair and a whole load of other planes. As for the 8th Air Force, it wasn’t in Australia (US 8th AF in WWII). They were in the ETO and suffered the most air casualties in the war. As for the best hobby shop in the states, is Burbank’s House of Hobbies in Burbank California. Every member of the staff knows about modeling and has been doing it for at least ten years or so. Any question, they got the answer. Any model they can get for you online. It’s also in the back of the hobby shop directories in FSM. I go there to get my goods. Not a real big shop but they can get the stuff you need.
Thanks for the great ideas.
Being fairly new to modelling I am at the ‘build just about anything’ but I am starting to gravitate towards WW2 US aircraft. So anymore ideas would be appreciated.
I had planned 3 days in Washington, but it seems like I might have to allow more time (and send the wife on a cruise!).
you will definitley need to spend more time in wash dc. i have been told that to just see the high points you need to allow 7 days. any intense searching will take at least that long.
joe
Joe’s right, even if you spend 7 days on aircraft only, you’ll just be getting to the good stuff. As far as your wife is concerned, you may find there are a great many things that she would be interested in there and you could save money from the cruise. This site will give you an idea of what’s available at the Smithsonian.
http://www.si.edu/