The last flight of SOFIA

[MikeD]

I snapped this photo the other day of SOFIA, the NASA 747SP Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy aircraft. This 747SP was one of the few 747SP Classics still flying in the world, and featured a door that would open on the aft left fuselage that housed a very powerful space telescope for spotting stars, planets, and other such parts of deep space. Created in 2010, she flew 921 nighttime observatory flights. She arrived last Monday at 1105am to Davis-Monthan AFB and will be parked on the hot cargo pad, as she awaits her transfer to the Pima Air Museum collection.

Photo credit: Mike Daftarian

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[N826AW]

I'm disapointed to admit I've never been to Pima A&S. I need to get down there during my next visit to the desert.

 

[knot4u]

I snapped this photo the other day of SOFIA, the NASA 747SP Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy aircraft. This 747SP was one of the few 747SP Classics still flying in the world, and featured a door that would open on the aft left fuselage that housed a very powerful space telescope for spotting stars, planets, and other such parts of deep space. Created in 2010, she flew 921 nighttime observatory flights. She arrived last Monday at 1105am to Davis-Monthan AFB and will be parked on the hot cargo pad, as she awaits her transfer to the Pima Air Museum collection.

Photo credit: Mike Daftarian

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

View attachment 68509

I remember back when that project was coming together my dad was doing the security system for the hangar up there, I was already working as an A/P and he suggested I should look into working in that hangar because it was air conditioned. I probably should've pursued that opportunity with a little more enthusiasm.

 

[mrivc211]

I snapped this photo the other day of SOFIA, the NASA 747SP Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy aircraft. This 747SP was one of the few 747SP Classics still flying in the world, and featured a door that would open on the aft left fuselage that housed a very powerful space telescope for spotting stars, planets, and other such parts of deep space. Created in 2010, she flew 921 nighttime observatory flights. She arrived last Monday at 1105am to Davis-Monthan AFB and will be parked on the hot cargo pad, as she awaits her transfer to the Pima Air Museum collection.

Photo credit: Mike Daftarian

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

View attachment 68509

While I’m not complaining by any means to see an SP fly, I don’t get why they’d go thru all that trouble to have a telescope at 410 when we had Hubble in space taking crazy shots of deep space. I go out to Joshua tree about every 3 mo this to the sky’s the limit observatory

 

[Boots2Wings]

It hurts me to see this bird go. Met many of the pilots, played in NASAs sim for it, and have been trying to find a way to get typed in the bird before NASA takes the sim back…for the last 3 years the lease holder has been saying “SOFIA” will go away this funding cycle, part of me wants it not to be true.

Edit: In case anyone here is familiar with the SOFIA training pipeline, or has personal experience, “Capt Bill” is not in the best of shape: so be sure to say hello and “thanks” if his cheeky mustachioed smile ever brightened your day in Denver.

 

[Springer]

I'm disapointed to admit I've never been to Pima A&S. I need to get down there during my next visit to the desert.

You need to. It has come a long way when there was nothing more than a trailer and a bunch of a/c.

 

[FlyingAccountant]

You need to. It has come a long way when there was nothing more than a trailer and a bunch of a/c.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Almost every major military aircraft ever built. They've been building up their commercial airliner side in recent years with a 787 test article donated by Boeing, the first 777 built from Cathay Pacific, the GE test bed 747, and now the SOFIA.

 

[Roger Roger]

Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Almost every major military aircraft ever built. They've been building up their commercial airliner side in recent years with a 787 test article donated by Boeing, the first 777 built from Cathay Pacific, the GE test bed 747, and now the SOFIA.

Yeah, but it’s kinda boring. Like woohoo, I get to walk around some static airplane roasting in the desert sun and the most interesting part you can see is the inside of the gear well. Idk. I was kinda underwhelmed. I’d rather see the cockpit, see the bits and pieces of the engine and the aircraft systems, see what made it unique and groundbreaking, how it was put together, etc…

 

[MikeD]

Yeah, but it’s kinda boring. Like woohoo, I get to walk around some static airplane roasting in the desert sun and the most interesting part you can see is the inside of the gear well. Idk. I was kinda underwhelmed. I’d rather see the cockpit, see the bits and pieces of the engine and the aircraft systems, see what made it unique and groundbreaking, how it was put together, etc…

that’s my one complaint about Pima, you can’t see inside any of the outdoor display birds. Other museums that are like that often have a Saturday or two a month, where they will have 5 or 10 or so random cockpits open to be able to look at with their outdoor displays, but Pima doesnt do that,

 

[ZapBrannigan]

that’s my one complaint about Pima, you can’t see inside any of the outdoor display birds. Other museums that are like that often have a Saturday or two a month, where they will have 5 or 10 or so random cockpits open to be able to look at with their outdoor displays, but Pima doesnt do that,

That's the nice thing about Boeing museum of flight in Seattle. You can get inside of the Concorde, 727, 707, 747, Dreamliner.. neat stuff (even though I can't stand using plexiglass to keep people out of the cockpit).

 

[///AMG]

I still have pics of my oldest at the helm of the DC-9 at the Virginia Air and Space museum. I think he was 3 at the time, loved throwing the copious amounts of switches. Those are some of my best pics of him......those, and then him and I on a Ferris wheel in VA beach a day before I left on (my last) deployment. He's 7 1/2 now, and a completely different person (not in a bad way, but I do miss the baby him).

 

[ASpilot2be]

@JustinS and I got to go sit in the flightdeck of the Spruce Goose.

 

[Roger Roger]

that’s my one complaint about Pima, you can’t see inside any of the outdoor display birds. Other museums that are like that often have a Saturday or two a month, where they will have 5 or 10 or so random cockpits open to be able to look at with their outdoor displays, but Pima doesnt do that,

You can’t even see inside the indoor aircraft much. The only one you really can see the cockpit is the A10 cockpit from the terminator movie. The B-17 you can see a lot of the cool systems stuff and the nav/bombardier stations but not the flight deck part of the cockpit.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

That's the nice thing about Boeing museum of flight in Seattle. You can get inside of the Concorde, 727, 707, 747, Dreamliner.. neat stuff (even though I can't stand using plexiglass to keep people out of the cockpit).

It’s been a few years since I’ve been now, but the Delta museum at Fort Widget had planes you could sit in the cockpit. I think 767 and L1011, maybe?

 

[N826AW]

I still have pics of my oldest at the helm of the DC-9 at the Virginia Air and Space museum. I think he was 3 at the time, loved throwing the copious amounts of switches. Those are some of my best pics of him......those, and then him and I on a Ferris wheel in VA beach a day before I left on (my last) deployment. He's 7 1/2 now, and a completely different person (not in a bad way, but I do miss the baby him).

Just added VA&S Museum to my "rainy day can't instruct" things-to-do list.

 

[drunkenbeagle]

While I’m not complaining by any means to see an SP fly, I don’t get why they’d go thru all that trouble to have a telescope at 410 when we had Hubble in space taking crazy shots of deep space.

Hubble was for visible and UV light wavelengths. This was for infrared.

 

[///AMG]

Just added VA&S Museum to my "rainy day can't instruct" things-to-do list.

If you haven't been, it is pretty cool. Lots of space artifacts, and of course other atmospheric flying aircraft. I thought the stars of the show were the Hawker-Siddley P.1127 Kestrel (development bird for the original Harrier), which NASA used during powered lift research......and the F-106 they used for lightning (and I think maybe some icing?) research. Both are just bare metal, sleek and as sexy as a fighter can ever look.