The Air Force Flight Test Museum is an aviation museum located at

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...

near Rosamond, California focused on the history of the

Air Force Flight Test Center The Air Force Test Center (AFTC) is a development and test organization of the United States Air Force. It conducts research, development, test, and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to deployment. It has test flown every aircraft in ...

History

The Flight Test Museum Foundation was founded in 1983 by Carol Odgers,

Chuck Yeager Brigadier general (United States), Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in his ...

, Robert Cardenas, and William J. Knight. A 335-acre site on Rosamond Boulevard was given to the foundation in 1984 to build a museum, but construction was delayed for many years. In the intervening time, the museum moved forward with the creation of the Blackbird Airpark at Air Force Plant 42 in 1991 and began collaborating with a group of amateur archaeologists to display pieces of wreckage of crashed x-planes recovered from the desert. By 1997, the museum had raised enough money to begin construction on a new building, which was fitted out in 1999 and opened in July 2000. Further efforts led to the opening of a Century Circle outside the west gate in August 2007 made up of six

Century Series The Century Series is a popular name for a group of US fighter aircraft representing models designated between F-100 and F-106 which went into full production. They included the first successful supersonic aircraft designs in the United State ...

airplanes and the top of the former Edwards Air Force Base control tower. The museum's longtime chief historian, Dr. Jim Young, retired in 2011. Efforts to move aircraft to better storage conditions began in March 2012, when the museum cleaned up its storage yard. This was followed by a number of significant moves in 2013, with the restoration shop being relocated to a new hangar with better equipment in February, three aircraft being towed to the museum grounds in August, and a VH-34 being transferred to a museum in Texas in September. After its closure in 2015, an XB-47 was acquired from the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum. The museum broke ground on a new location outside the gate to the base in March 2018. Following site preparation, the first concrete was poured in June 2020. The first phase of construction was completed in May 2023.

Collection

Aircraft

* Accurate Automation LoFLYTE * Beech UC-45J Expeditor ''67161'' * Bell P-59A Airacomet ''44-22633'' *

Bell X-1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics– U.S. Army Air Forces– U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by B ...

– Replica * Bensen X-25B ''68-10771'' * Boeing NC-135A Stratolifter ''60-0377'' * Boeing C-135C Stratolifter ''61-2669'' ''"Speckled Trout"'' * Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress ''52-0008'' * Boeing Phantom Eye *

Boeing XB-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. ...

''46-0066'' * Boeing X-48C * Cessna NA-37B Dragonfly ''73-1090'' * Convair F-106B Delta Dart ''59-0158'' * Convair TF-102A Delta Dagger ''54-1353'' * Convair YB-58A Hustler ''55-665'' * de Havilland Canada C-7B Caribou ''63-9765'' * Douglas A3D-1 Skywarrior ''135434'' * Douglas C-53D Skytrooper ''41-20093'' * Douglas F-10B Skyknight ''125850'' * Douglas TB-26B Invader ''44-34165'' * Fairchild T-46A ''84-0492'' * Fairchild Republic YA-10B Thunderbolt II ''73-1664'' * General Dynamics F-16B Fighting Falcon ''75-0751'' * General Dynamics F-16B Fighting Falcon ''80-0634'' *

General Dynamics F-16XL The General Dynamics F-16XL is a derivative of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-16 Fighting Falcon with a Cranked arrow, cranked-arrow delta wing. It entered the United States Air Force's (USAF) Enhanced Tactical Fighter (ETF) compe ...

''75-0747'' * General Dynamics F-16XL ''75–0749'' * General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark ''63-9766'' * General Dynamics NF-111A Aardvark ''63-9778'' * Gloster Meteor TT.20 ''WD592'' *

Grumman X-29 The Grumman X-29 is an American experimental aircraft that tested a forward-swept wing, canard control surfaces, and other novel aircraft technologies. Funded by NASA, the United States Air Force and DARPA, the X-29 was developed by Grumman, a ...

''82-0049'' * Grumman Gulfstream II

Shuttle Training Aircraft The Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) is a former NASA training vehicle that duplicated the Space Shuttle's approach profile and handling qualities, allowing pilots to simulate Shuttle landings under controlled conditions before attempting the tas ...

* Lockheed A-12 ''60-6924'' * Lockheed C-130E Hercules ''61-2358'' * Lockheed C-140A JetStar ''59-5962'' * Lockheed D-21B * Lockheed EF-80A Shooting Star ''44-85123'' * Lockheed F-104A Starfighter ''56-801'' * Lockheed NC-141A Starlifter ''61-2779'' * Lockheed NF-104A Starfighter ''56-756'' * Lockheed NF-104A Starfighter ''56-790'' * Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ''61-7955'' * Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ''61-7973'' – On loan *

Lockheed T-33A The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

''52-9846'' * Lockheed T-33A ''58-0669'' * Lockheed U-2D ''56-6721'' *

Lockheed YF-22 The Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 is an American single-seat, twinjet, twin-engine, stealth aircraft, stealth fighter aircraft, fighter technology demonstrator prototype designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design te ...

''87-0700'' * Lockheed YF-94A Starfire ''48-356'' * Lockheed YF-117A Nighthawk ''79-10783'' * LTV YA-7D Corsair II ''67-14583'' * LTV YA-7F ''71-0344'' * Martin RB-57B Canberra ''52-1576'' * Martin Marietta Model 845 ''01454'' * McDonnell F-4C Phantom II ''64-0741'' * McDonnell Douglas F-15B Eagle ''73-0114'' *

McDonnell Douglas X-36 The McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) X-36 ''Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft'' is an American stealthy subscale prototype jet designed to fly without the traditional empennage found on most aircraft. This configuration was designed ...

McDonnell Douglas YC-15 The McDonnell Douglas YC-15 is a prototype four-engine short take-off and landing (STOL) tactical transport. It was McDonnell Douglas' entrant into the United States Air Force's Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) competition to replace the ...

''72-1875'' * McDonnell Douglas YF-4E Phantom II ''65-0713'' * McDonnell Douglas YF-15A Eagle ''71-0287'' *

McDonnell F-101B Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter designed and produced by the American McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Development of the F-101 began in the late 1940s as a long-range bomber escort (then known as a penetration fighter) ...

''58-288'' * McDonnell NF-4C Phantom II ''63-7407'' * McDonnell RF-4C Phantom II ''64-1004'' *

NASA M2-F1 The NASA M2-F1 is a lightweight, unpowered prototype aircraft, developed to flight-test the wingless lifting body concept. Its unusual appearance earned it the nickname "flying bathtub" and was designated the M2-F1, the M referring to "manned", ...

* North American CT-39A Sabreliner ''60-3505'' * North American F-86F Sabre ''52-5241'' * North American F-100A Super Sabre ''52-5760'' * North American T-28B Trojan ''137702'' *

North American X-15 The North American X-15 is a Hypersonic speed, hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft which was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the List of X-planes, X-plane series of ...

– Replica * North American YF-100A Super Sabre ''52-5755'' * Northrop F-89D Scorpion ''52-1959'' * Northrop T-38A Talon ''61-0810'' * Northrop T-38A Talon ''61-0849'' * Northrop X-4 Bantam ''46-676'' * Northrop X-21 ''55-408'' * Northrop X-21 ''55-410'' * Northrop YA-9A ''71-1367'' * Piasecki H-21B Work Horse ''52-8623'' * Piper PA-48 Enforcer ''48-8301002'' *

Republic F-84F Thunderstreak The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak is an American swept-wing turbojet-powered fighter-bomber. The RF-84F Thunderflash is variant of the F-84F that was designed for photo reconnaissance. The design was originally intended to be a relatively simp ...

''51-9350'' * Republic F-105D Thunderchief ''61-146'' *

Rockwell B-1B Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It has been nicknamed the "Bone" (from "B-One"). , it is one of the United States Air Force's three strategic bombers, along with th ...

''84-0049'' *

Rutan VariEze The Rutan VariEze is a glass-reinforced plastic, composite, canard (aeronautics), canard aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. It is a high-performance homebuilt aircraft, hundreds of which have been constructed. The design later evolved into the ...

* Ryan AQM-34J Firebee * Scaled Composites Model 133 * Scaled Composites Model 226 * Sikorsky CH-34G Seabat ''53-4477'' * Sikorsky JCH-3C ''62-12581''

Missiles

PGM-17 Thor The PGM-17A Thor was the first operative ballistic missile of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was named after the Thor, Norse god of thunder. It was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate-range b ...

References

Footnotes

Notes

External links

* {{United States Air Force Museums Air force museums in the United States Aerospace museums in California Military and war museums in California Museums in Kern County, California