  | Situated on Santa Fe Drive, Atwater, CA., the museum opened in 1981 and currently has over 45 restored aircraft from the Kawasaki KAQ-1 unmanned miniature drone to the gargantuan Consolidated-Vultee (Convair) RB-36H Peacemaker situated on eleven acres of land. Too many to list but favorites of mine at the museum include the Douglas B-23 Dragon, built in 1939 it became the first American bomber to have a tail gun. It was considered obsolete before it first flew so only 38 were built. Most were used in the anti-submarine patrol theatre with some re-designated as UC-67’s and converted to 12 seat transports. The one on display at Castle had an effective career as a bomber for just two years between July 1940 and August 1942. |
| The North American B-45A Tornado was the first jet bomber put into production, designed to replace the B-25’s and B-26’s it saw only 10 years of service between 1948 and 1958. After serving in the USAF this particular aircraft was used by the Navy as a drone controller and later as a photographic ground target at the China Lake Naval Weapons Centre. One of the largest fighters ever built, the Avro-Canada CF-100 Mk V Canuck was the first aircraft entirely designed and built in Canada. This machine was flown to Castle in January 1982 as a gift from the Canadian government. |
| The Boeing B-47 Stratojet was retired in 1964 and transferred to the Navy for use as a photo training target at China Lake Naval Weapons Centre. Before arriving at the museum, volunteers spent over 36,000 man-hours restoring it to flying condition and in 1986 it flew to Castle, the last ever flight of a B-47. As mentioned earlier one of only four surviving Convair B-36’s and the only RB-36H reconnaissance bomber dwarfs most other types at the museum. Its final journey from Chanute AFB IL was via the Santa Fe Rail Road and was reassembled at Castle utilizing thousands of hours of volunteer labour, and what a fantastic job those guys done, it’s finished in the markings of the 28th Bomb Wing Ellsworth AFB. |
| | words by
Brian Clark
images by
Matt Critchley
Mike Broad |
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