Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting, Greybull, USA

While driving across the US in 2014, on the road from Cody to Deadwood, we came across the little town of Greybull. On the outskirts of the town I spied the glint of metal away in the distance. As we came closer I recognised a row of aircraft and the distinctive shape of their tails said “World War Two.” As we drove closer I recognized a Boeing Stratocruiser, the post-war civilian version of the Second World War Super Fortress bomber. I pulled over into a rest stop to take a closer look.

Officially this is called the Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting. There was no one around the little office as the rest stop was closed. The Stratocruisers, which I really wanted to see, were parked way across the airfield. A sign said “no trespassing.” I’m sure no one would have stopped us if we decided to drive over to the planes but, this being America, we decided against it. I was forced to admire the aircraft from behind the fence.

The museum has a small collection of aircraft, lined up beside the fence and easily visible. As the museum was closed, we wandered along the fence and took some photos.

The museum has two PB4Y-2 Privateer Tankers. Both had been used as firebombing aircraft.

The PB4Y-2 Privateer was a naval version of the B-24 Liberator bomber developed during the Second World War. The Privateer featured a longer fuselage, a large single 32-foot tail and turbo super-charged engines. With it's 2800-mile range, the Privateer was a useful long range reconnaisance aircraft and bomber and the US Navy took delivery of 739 of them, but very few reached the front line by V-J day.

The Privateer and beyond the C-119 Boxcar

The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was developed as a heavy transport aircraft. The C-119 went into service in 1947.

This aircraft - one of two in the museum collection - is on load from the Royal Canadian Airforce. It was used during its active career as an aerial tanker.

A little smaller is this Beech 18 Twin. The Beech Twin went into service in 1935 and continued in production until 1969.

This example was used by the US Forest Services

The Beech 18 Twin was a very successful civilian multi-purpose aircraft and many continue to fly today.

Beyond the museum is the Boneyard, a collection of aircraft hulks, including the Boeing Stratocruiser I saw from the highway. The Boneyard is off limits to visitors, but would certainly be interesting to visit. Instead, there are some great photographs of the Boneyard aircraft on the Museum website.
https://www.museumofflight.us/ The museum is worth a distraction from the road and a contribution to the aircraft's upkeep would be welcome.
2534 Hiller Lane
Greybull, WY 82426
(NW of Greybull, just behind the Rest Area on Hwy 14-16-20)

A blog of our American travels in 2014 can be found here: https://paulymx8.travellerspoint.com/toc/