Army Transportation Museum and Air Power Park

[Jschmus]

As foretold, today I visited the Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis in Hampton.  After looking at their website, I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but I was pleasantly surprised.  Photobucket has been finicky this afternoon, so once again, not all of my photos are uploaded, but I'll present here some of the highlights.

First up, a WWI-vintage Liberty Truck, the first standardized truck design used by the US Army.


From the China/Burma/India theater of WWII, a jeep converted to run on either wheels or rails.


A 6x6 tow truck from the same period.


A DUKW

[Jschmus]

An L-19 Bird Dog


OH-13


WC-52 with H-19 Chickasaw


M274 Mechanical Mule

[Jschmus]

During the Vietnam War, transportation units were forced to improvise their own protection for truck convoys.  They eventually built a couple of dozen "gun trucks" with a variety of weapons fits.  Only one of these vehicles returned to the US after the war.  It was named "Eve of Destruction" after the protest song.


"Eve of Destruction" was armed with four .50 caliber machine guns in two single and one twin mounts.


There was a display of 1/35 models representing all of the gun trucks which were left behind.




Flash forward to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  Army convoys found themselves in similar circumstances, leading to jury-rigged "hillbilly armor" and ultimately to up-armored Humvees and MRAPs, but in the interim, the DOD asked different agencies to come up with short-term solutions.  A scientist from the Livermore Labs came to the Army Transportation Museum to study "Eve of Destruction".  His research led to the introduction of what is known as the Livermore Truck.

[Jschmus]

Bell SK-5 Hovercraft


XM437E1 Goer


LARC V (Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo 5-ton)


LARC XV


LARC LX

[Jschmus]

The De Lackner Rotorcycle (IMO one of the dumbest ideas ever!)


Curtiss-Wright Aerocar, an early hovercraft.


The Doak VZ-4, a ducted fan VTOL project.


General Electric Cybernetic Walking Machine.

[Jschmus]

On the way home, I decided to check out the Hampton Air Power Park.  In earlier days, this was apparently a nifty little aviation museum, but the interior has been converted to offices, and the only exhibits left are outside.  I sat in my truck for about twenty minutes, trying to wait out the rain, but I got fidgety and decided to brave the weather and take some photos.

F-89J Scorpion (in the background is a Jupiter IRBM)


F-86L Sabre


F-100D Super Sabre (it's painted in Thunderbirds markings, but apparently served Stateside with TAC units)


F-101F Voodoo


F-105D Thunderchief

[Jschmus]

Nike-Ajax


Nike-Hercules


RF-4C Phantom (lens got a little wet, sorry)


NASA XV-6 Kestrel

[philp]

Nice stuff, thanks for the Gun Truck pics.

[Captain Canada]

Wow....that's quite a collection ! I've never seen ( or heard ! ) of half of the stuff there. Very cool. I also noticed a pair of those mystery missiles behind the Nike-Hercules. What are those ? I took a pic of one at the Grayling Legion yesterday.

[Jschmus]

Let's see.  Behind the Nike-Ajax in the first pic are, from L-R, the nose and left wingtip of the F-89, the F-101F, and a Polaris SLBM.  Behind the Nike-Hercules, you can see the tail of the Phantom, and an Ajax upper stage.

[Just call me Ray]

  A scientist from the Livermore Labs came to the Army Transportation Museum to study "Eve of Destruction". 

Leave it to a scientist to have to "study" a bunch of guys in the field mounting a bunch of guns on a truck 

[Jschmus]

  A scientist from the Livermore Labs came to the Army Transportation Museum to study "Eve of Destruction". 

Leave it to a scientist to have to "study" a bunch of guys in the field mounting a bunch of guns on a truck 

According to the material at the Museum, it wasn't simply a case of mounting guns.  The transport guys in Vietnam improvised a lot of stuff in the field, based on combat experiences.  They started out with single layers of armor plate, then developed a two-layer system with some sort of material between the layers.  The Livermore crew were tasked with adapting the Vietnam model to modern materials and manufacturing techniques.

[YouLiveSee]

Curtiss-Wright Aerocar, an early hovercraft

I absolutely love this one 

It looks like one of those family cars from early sci-fi movies. I'm guessing it was intended for transport of higher-ranking officers?

[MAD]

Must have been a very interesting visit!

I think it a great pity though that a lot of the outside exhibits have been left to weather (going by the rust on some of them!)
It's the first time that I have seen the XM437E1 Goer!

M.A.D

[Just call me Ray]

  A scientist from the Livermore Labs came to the Army Transportation Museum to study "Eve of Destruction". 

Leave it to a scientist to have to "study" a bunch of guys in the field mounting a bunch of guns on a truck 

According to the material at the Museum, it wasn't simply a case of mounting guns.  The transport guys in Vietnam improvised a lot of stuff in the field, based on combat experiences.  They started out with single layers of armor plate, then developed a two-layer system with some sort of material between the layers.  The Livermore crew were tasked with adapting the Vietnam model to modern materials and manufacturing techniques.

Did the Livermore Truck ever see combat? What solution did the Army ultimately settle on?