stavros Loc: East Tennessee

On our fall vacation to Destin, Florida last October Annette and I decided to stop in nearby Valparaiso Florida to visit the Air Force Armament Museum.

The Air Force Armament Museum is a military aviation museum adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida, dedicated to the display of Air Force armament. It is supported by the private, non-profit Air Force Armament Museum Foundation.

The Air Force Armament Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of artifacts and memorabilia associated with Air Force Armament and its platforms of delivery. There are over twenty-nine different aircraft that have found a home at the Air Force Armament Museum including an AC-130, B-17, B-25, B-52, P-51, A-10, F-15, F-16, F-100, F-101, and many other aircraft from the WWII era to the present. There are also several hundred pieces of armament to include a gun collection, bombs, bomblets, and missiles.

The museum was conceived and approved in 1974 but there was no suitable structure available on Eglin Air Force Base until 1976. In the spring of that year, an old Enlisted Club facility became available, and the Armament Museum became a reality. To help fund and perpetuate this Museum, the Air Force Armament Museum Foundation (AFAMF), a philanthropic non-profit organization, was established.

From 1976 through 1981, the artifact collection grew, and the Museum averaged 80,000 visitors per year. But, in 1981, the building housing the Museum collection was condemned, and the Museum closed that October.

The Air Force Armament Museum Foundation (AFAMF) then began what became a lengthy effort to find a new home for the Armament Museum. After a slow start, funding efforts began in 1984. By mid-1985, $1.2 million in private and corporate donations had been raised and construction of a new 28,000 square foot Museum was underway and in November of the same year, the new Museum was deeded to the United States Air Force and opened to the public.

Admittance to the Museum is free of charge and the Museum is open every day and most Federal Holidays. Over two million people have now visited and enjoyed this Museum. Numerous significant, military-related ceremonies such as promotions, reenlistments, retirements, and meetings occur within the Museum each month. Visits by school, church and veterans' groups are now almost daily occurrences and the Armament Museum has become an important educational, cultural, and social landmark.

Driving onto the grounds of the Air Force Armament Museum, visitors first notice the array of numerous aircraft on display. The fastest plane ever built, the SR-71 Blackbird is the centerpiece flanked by numerous planes from World War II, Korean, Vietnam and Gulf War eras. The Air Force Armament Museum is located on the Emerald Coast of the Florida Panhandle. It is on Highway 85 South, seven miles north of Fort Walton Beach. The museum is open Sunday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time. Tours are self-guided. Photography is permitted and encouraged.

These photos with Topaz and Dynamic Auto Painter Pro effects were taken in October. I shot in RAW with my Nikon D750 camera and used Corel AfterShot Pro to convert the files. Then I used Topaz Denoise, Corel PaintShop Pro, and Luminar AI to further adjust and enhance the files in post processing. Finally, I used Dynamic Auto Painter Pro to add the Re-Acrylic painterly effects. I hope you enjoy!

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therwol Loc: USA

Very nice photos. Post processing well done for a nice effect. If you're into this sort of thing, the Battleship Park in Mobile has many similar planes, and you get to see the inside of a WWII battleship as a bonus.

lukevaliant Loc: gloucester city,n. j.

i like 9 is that a f-100?

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

stavros Loc: East Tennessee

I think it's a B26. I could be wrong.

theaverlo Loc: Iowa

Nice collection of photos!

Mojaveflyer Loc: Denver, CO

If you're into that sort of thing, visit the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, NM. It's located on the S/E corner of the Albuquerque Airport. They have examples of virtually every atomic weapon the US has built. Quite the collection of weapons. Out back of the building they have examples or several aircraft that carried nuclear weapons. Included is one of two B-52s built that never flew for SAC. They were diverted to the Air Force Special Weapons Group at Kirkland AFB. They were used for atomic bomb tests in the Pacific and Nevada.

AFrame003 Loc: Grosse Pointe and Harbor Springs, Michigan

It is a B26 — my dad flew the B26 in North Africa and Sicily.

stavros Loc: East Tennessee

Cool. My dad was a ball turret gunner on a B24 Liberator in the same arena

jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon

jack

Moondoggie Loc: Southern California

Love the post processing on the background. Nice work.

stavros Loc: East Tennessee

Thanks!

stavros Loc: East Tennessee

Thank you!

stavros Loc: East Tennessee

Thanks!

FredCM Loc: Central Illinois

The B-26 has a single tail rudder. This B-25 Mitchell has 2 twin rudders.