Visiting the PAF Aerospace Museum Aircraft Park

06 August 2016

When the birthday celebration of Grayson Lucas ended at around 2PM, we took the chance to visit the PAF Aerospace Museum Aircraft Park, right on the grounds of the PAF Aerospace Museum.  It was a great chance to be up close and personal with different historic aircraft used by the Philippine Air Force.  This was the first time for me and the kids.  Patrick visited the place when he chaperoned my niece Den during her field trip in school.

You'll see the rules of the park posted near the entrance.  They're pretty sensible and easy to follow.  It was great to be in the park because despite the sun, it was pretty windy and there wasn't any crowd.  Some of the guests came but didn't stay too long so we had all the time in the world to explore the grounds :)

We were standing in front of the T-34 Mentor, two of which were originally turned over to the Philippine Air Force by Japan, and some were subsequently built for the Air Force as part of the War Reparations Program.  They were in use until the early 1970's.

T-34 Mentor

 I stood in front of the Aermacchi SF-260 Marchetti.  It looked like Dusty Crophopper from the movie "Planes" but I'm sure it's not haha They just both look sleek and orange haha  This plane was used as a trainer aircraft for PAF pilots but was also modified to serve in combat missions.

This plane is the T-28 Tojan, also referred to as Tora-Tora because it resembles the Japanese Zero Fighter of World War II.  The Tora-Tora is famous for its participation in the August 1987 and December 1989 coup attempts in the country.

Dylan was standing in front of the T-41D Mascallero and was used by the PAF for flight training.

This was the T-6 Texan, an advanced flight training aircraft.

One section of the wall of the park was painted with these wings.  It's fun to take pictures with them.

Dana and Dylan were standing in front of what could be considered the Air Force One of the Philippines during the Marcos era.  It is called the YS-11A.

This is the C-47, the Gooney Bird, the most famous commercial transport plane in the world.  It served well in the Air Force as a transport aircraft, a fighting aircraft and for weather reconnaisance operations.

Dana was standing in front of the Albatross, HU-16,  general utility amphibian plane.  It can take off and land in both land and water.  It's perfect for water rescue operations.

In one of the roundabouts in the park is this huge gun, reminding me of the gun used by Vincent Valentine in the game, "Dirge of Cerberus" haha But Patrick said that this was an anti-aircraft gun :)

This is the F-86D, the All Weather Jet Interceptor.  It can safely fly at night or during bad weather and engage its enemy through the use of its radar.

This beauty is the F-5A Freedom Fighter jet assigned to the 5th Fighter Wing.  The Blue Diamonds also used this in aerial demonstrations during significant AFP and PAF celebrations.

This F-8H Fighter is an all-around defense, surveillance and reconnaissance machine.  It has variable incidence wings, all-weather radar autopilot and a sophisticated weapons delivery system.

This is the T-33 Shooting Star and is known as the world's most widely used jet trainer.  The PAF acquired it in 1955 and it was used for jet qualification, instrument training and proficiency flying.

  

This is one of 30 F-86F Sabrejet Fighters the Philippines acquired through the Joint RP-US Military Assistance Program.  Dana was puzzled at the design but was amazed at its record kill ratio of 15 to 1 over the MIG-15 during the Korean war.

We had fun with this Huey, the UH-1H. It was the only plane where you can actually go in to check out. The Huey is perfect for troop transport and extraction and casualty evacuation.  It is still in service due to its low maintenance requirements.

At the far end of the park stood the S-62B/HH-52A Sikorsky and the H-34 Choctaw (S-58).  The Sikorsky was originally acquired as a Presidential transport and it served from 1968 to 1975.  The Choctaw was utilized for search and rescue operations as well as troop transport, aerial photogrammetry, mapping and intelligence work.

The Sikorsky

The Choctaw

It was a fun day!

The Philippine Aerospace Museum is open Mondays to Fridays, from 8AM to 5PM and Saturdays from 8AM to 12NN.  It is located in Villamor Air Base, beside the Villamor Airbase Hospital and across the Remington Hotel, Pasay City.  Their contact number is 854-6701 Local: 6628.