Robert Thoresen
The morning of October 9 found ten members of the Photography Club of Quail Creek roaming the 80 acres of the Pima Air and Space Museum looking for opportunities for taking memorable aircraft photographs. The Pima Air and Space Museum is a private non-profit museum. It is not part of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and it does not receive operational funding from any governmental entity. The museum is funded by admission fees, tour fees and museum-store sales. Incorporated in the state of Arizona in 1967 as the Tucson Air Museum, the Arizona Aerospace Foundation is a member-based not-for-profit foundation funded by gate admissions, concessions and donations. The Foundation operates the Pima Air and Space Museum and the Titan Missile Museum in Sahuarita.
Most World War II aircraft are housed in the five hangers spread among the grounds. Post WWII aircraft and commercial aircraft are anchored outside. Notable planes are Air Force One (used during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations), a WWII Consolidated Liberator B-24, a WWII Boeing Flying Fortress B-17G and a WWII Boeing Super Fortress B-29. One of several MIGS was a Mikoyan Gurevich MIG 21 (the only plane of nearly 300 on display with a flat tire), appropriately assigned to the Polish Air Force.
Club members closed out the morning photo shoot with a late lunch at the Flight Grill. It is a quick service grill with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking U.S. Navy and Air Force fighters. Al fresco patio seating is also available. Trip Advisor rates the Flight Grill No. 199 of the 1,677 restaurants in Tucson. According to Kyle S. from Nome, Alaska, on his visit to the museum on September 15, “The grill was a little pricey as you might expect for a museum eatery—the food was very tasty. I had a bacon cheeseburger smothered with green chili and it was delicious.” Note that there is a hand-packed ice cream bar with about a dozen varieties of flavors to choose from.
The PCQC was formed in 2009 and regularly schedules field trips throughout the year for its members. All Quail Creek residents are invited to the monthly meetings the second Wednesday of the month at the Madera Clubhouse at 6:30 p.m. For current events and further details go to the club’s website at http://www.pcqc.org.