More Pima Pictures - More Stories

• The B 52 Stratofortress pictured is the longest serving bomber in US history. Becoming operational in 1954, the B 52H can carry 20 air-launched cruise missiles. At the beginning of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union developed hydrogen bombs, the United States kept a group of B 52 bombers in the air at all times ready to defend our country 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They were later replaced with intercontinental ballistic missiles in silos in places like Tucson, Arizona. Those have since been replaced with submarine launched solid fuel Polaris missiles. The engineers at Raytheon play a large part in developing today's latest military missile capabilities.
• The B 36 SAC bomber was designed for the United States to bomb Germany in the event that England lost and America had to fight on alone.
• If people wonder what we were doing island fighting in the Pacific, it was to get bases for our long range B 29 Superfortress bombers to bomb Japan. We lost a lot of marines taking those islands. Some were atolls, coral rings enclosing a lagoon.
• American fighter planes were superior because they had self-sealing gas tanks and armor protection for the pilots. The Japanese planes like the Zero, a beautiful plane, did not.
• At the beginning of the war, American and British bombers had to fly to Germany unescorted. Many were shot down. Later in the war, we learned how to add drop gas tanks to our fighters and the bombers were no longer shot down by Messerschmitts. Flack was still a problem.
• My grandson Owen lives 2000 miles away and he loves airplanes. One day he will visit Tucson and I will be able to walk around this museum with him. It was enjoyable for me to make this visit with Lorenzo. He asks a lot of questions and he in interested in many things. As a teacher, it is nice to get an away from school insight into how a student thinks and what they are interested in.
• Lorenzo told me his least favorite holiday is Valentine's Day. He explained that it must be awful for people who are not in a "relationship" and they have no one to buy gifts for. He told me about a project he was working on. His hypothesis is that the most popular TV shows would be the ones that have the most commercials. So he is looking at shows from each genre and he is listing the ones that have the most commercials. When he is done he will check his data with the TV ratings. I told him that that would make an interesting science fair project. At dinner we had a conversation about how some Middle Eastern countries do not like America because they do not like the things produced by Hollywood. Lorenzo said that judging America by Hollywood is as unfair as judging my class by Tent City. Lorenzo is amazing. As a teacher, you learn ALL your students are amazing. What a blessing it is to be a teacher, and what a blessing it is to be a parent.