Our museum is proud to display a selection of artifacts from our friends at the Vermont Air National Guard.
Along with one of our major displays, the F4 fighter, we are building an excellent selection of artifacts to demonstrate the proud history of the "Green Mountain Boys." Click either on the links section in the navigator bar to the left or the Air Guard link in the banner above to go directly to the Vermont Air National Guard home page.
Below you will find an excellent mock up of vintage Vermont Air Guard hangers that were painstakingly built and donated by one of our museum directors, Walter Houghton. Also included in this display is a small representative selection of Air Force items.
Historic old Fort Ethan Allen was turned over to the USAF and was key to Vermont's role in the Cold War. Flightline activities were conducted at Burlington Airport. With the expansion of BTV's runway to accommodate the fighters also paved the way for bringing Vermont into the jet age and the airliners that currently fly out of there.
The 1:72 scale Alert Hangar depicts where F-86Ds, F-89s and F-102s launched on "hot scrambles" to intercept potential enemy aircraft for more than twenty years. It was manned 24 hours a day and aircraft could be airborne in less than five minutes! Display also contains USAF memorabilia, photos of Vermont's AC&W radar stations and Ground Observer Corps posts. The pilot mannequins display the uniforms and personal equipment of a 50s-60s fighter pilots. The 2.75 inch Rocket and Falcon Missile were the primary armament for these based aircraft.
The display is dedicated to the eight USAF aircrew members of the 37th Fighter Interceptor Squadron who died while flying out of Burlington from 1952 to 1960."
The newest addition to our museum is a decommissioned ATR-2N Genie Rocket that was refurbished and donated by the Air Guard. This item is not something you would find in many military museums. Stop by and take a look!
The AIR-2A Genie is an air-to-air rocket with a nuclear warhead designed for use against formations of enemy bombers. It has no guidance system and is powered by a solid-propellant rocket motor.
The Air-2 (formerly known as the MB-1) was first test launched in 1956 and became operational in January 1957. On July 19, 1957, a Genie was launched at 18,000 from an F-89J interceptor and detonated over Yucca Flats, Nevada. It was the first and only test detonation of a U.S. nuclear-tipped air-to-air rocket.
The AIR-2A was carried primarily by F-89J, F-101B, and F-106A interceptor aircraft. Thousands were built for the USAF before production ended in 1962; they remained in service until the mid-1980s. A training version of the Genie with an inert rocket motor and no nuclear warhead, known as the ATR-2, as shown here, was also in service! These practice rounds were nicknamed "Ting-a-Lings."
SPECIFICATIONS:
ORIGIN - Douglas Aircraft Company, U.S.A.
TYPE - Unguided Air-to-Air Rocket
PROPULSION- Thiokol TU-289 solid motor with 16,600kg
(36,600 lbs.) thrust
DIMENSIONS - Length 2.946m (9ft 8in)
Span (fins extended) 1.016m (3ft 4in)
Body diameter (except warhead) 44.5cm (17.5in)
LAUNCH WEIGHT - 373kg (822lb)
RANGE - 8-10km (5-6.2 miles)
SPEED - 2,100 mph
CEILING - 50,000 Feet