Finally Got A Round Tuit!
Round Variable Thickness Pocket Screwdriver or Round Tuit as I call it.
Close-up sketch of the Round Tuit Pocket Screwdriver
Most of you probably have never said some version of “Someday, I’ll get around to it.” This is just another more generic way of saying “It’s OK, We’ll See It Next Time” which is the specialized form used primarily for travel. I must admit I have uttered those words occasionally; my wife might say, “frequently.” The difference is a matter of degree. I once was given a round screwdriver (seeing is believing; it does exist and it does work…think of a flat washer about the size of a quarter with a large hole in the middle such that it can be put on a key ring; then visualize-or just look at the photo/sketch – the edge of that “quarter” getting thinner as you go around it and at any point the flat, slightly curved edge is basically a variable-thickness, flat, pocket screwdriver…that I probably lost in our 2008 house fire. But I’ll get a new one some day, when I get around to it!) and I carried it on my key ring so I always had it with me. I called it my “Round Tuit.” The idea is that I couldn’t use the excuse of “I’ll do it when I get around to it” anymore because I had a Round Tuit! At least that was the theory! Well, if nothing else, I always had a screwdriver with me.
National Museum of the United States Air Force at the Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, OH
Inside the USAF Museum near Dayton, OH
By now you may be thinking “what’s he rambling on about now? I thought this was supposed to be a travel blog, of sorts!” Well, I’m getting there. Just bear with me. One of the things I had always wanted to do, when I could get around to it, was to visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, OH. We had driven through Dayton too many times to count and never had (= made) the time to stop at the USAF Museum. When I set up our route to go to Nashville for this year’s reunion of the USAF 610 MASS (Military Airlift Support Squadron) that operated at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo, Japan, and where I was assigned from 1969 to 1972, I decided it was time to get around to it and just plan at least a couple of hours to stop there on our way. We had done something similar with the USS Yorktown WWII aircraft carrier that is now a museum in Charleston, SC. We realized at that time that the USS Yorktown was too big to see all in one day unless we didn’t stop to read anything. So we took out a membership that allowed us to return as often as we wanted for no extra charge; and just one more visit would make membership a good deal compared to two separate entry fees.
Bob Hope’s Uniform from USO tours on display at the USAF Museum
With Bob Hope and the USO Tour
But the USAF Museum offered free admission along with free parking! So…we joined anyway for $30/year and now we get 20% off in the gift shop, the cafe, the theater, etc. as well as getting a nifty calendar and a magazine about the museum. In fact, we have saved $20 of the $30 we paid so far because, of course, I needed a USAF cap and a USAF shirt, or two. Then we opened our map of the museum and…Wow! The place was HUGE! I already knew that we couldn’t see all the exhibits on that visit. But I thought we might cover about half and then finish everything the next time. So we prioritized, and since we had just been sitting in the car for about three hours, we decided to skip the movies (as interesting as they sounded) and focus on walking through the exhibits, starting with WWII followed by the Early Years and then….well, it doesn’t really matter what was next because we were done after those two! And they are expanding the museum with a fourth building opening in 2016! Since we usually go through Dayton anytime we are heading south (or returning north), we will divide and conquer.
There were some aircraft that I was particularly interested in seeing including the WWII era American bombers the B-17 Flying Fortress used throughout the war; the B-25 Mitchell, similar to the one used by Doolittle in his raid on Tokyo launched from aircraft carriers; the B-29 Superfortress that was rolled out later in the war and used mainly against Japan; the P-38 Lightning called forked tail devil by the Luftwaffe due to its unique configuration; the P-51 Mustang (not sure how I didn’t get a picture of this one) long-range fighter; the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter; the German BF109 and FW-190 fighters; the ME-163 Komet the only rocket-powered fighter plane ever developed; the ME-262 first operational fighter jet used too late in the war to have any real impact; and the British Supermarine Spitfire with its claim to fame in the Battle of Britain. In the Early Years exhibit included the Wright 1909 Military Flyer, the first military heavier-than-air flying machine and WWI era fighters the British Sopwith Camel, the French Nieuport, the German Fokker DR1 triplane used by the Red Baron, and many others that I had built models of as a kid.
As we reached the end of the WWII exhibit, I saw the B-29 that I had noticed coming up as we made our way chronologically through the displays. When we approached it, I suddenly realized that this was no ordinary B-29. This was Bockscar! This was the actual B-29 that had dropped the second atomic bomb, a plutonium implosion-type known as Fat Man, over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, 70 years ago today, resulting in the unconditional surrender announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito on August 15, 1945. The display also had replicas of Fat Man that was used over Nagasaki and Little Boy, the uranium gun-type atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. I found it fascinating to see the two representative types of atomic bombs near each other by the Bockscar exhibit to understand the physical size of each and how the names were actually very descriptive.
Example of poor lighting in the museum; even flash didn’t help
Another example of poor lighting at the USAF Museum
One thing about an aircraft museum generally is that it can be difficult to take decent photos due to the size of the planes on display and the low lighting in some areas. Even flash doesn’t light things up enough and often it turns out slightly better with just the natural (albeit low) light. I guess I’ll need to learn how to use more of the special features of my camera beyond the point and shoot mode, when I get a round tuit. As a result, I have many dark pictures along with many decent pictures and a few really nice ones. The layout is such that if you follow the path as they have mapped it out through the exhibits, you will see the evolution of aircraft design throughout the period for the exhibit you are in. Also, the USAF Museum has a great virtual tour system that lets you “walk” through the exhibits in the museum and the lighting is very nice, much better than most of my photos. So on our next visit, we will continue through the Korean War, the Southeast Asian War (Vietnam War), the Cold War, Presidential Aircraft, Research and Development, Space, and whatever else is left including the movies. I’ll be looking for the C-141 Starlifter that is the type of aircraft I primarily worked on while stationed at Yokota Air Base in Japan.
Off to the next adventure, as soon as I can get around to it!
There are many more places on my list to visit in the future. Although I have been there quite a number of years ago, I now feel like I have to put the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian back on my list. There are also many other WWII and historical museums around the country and around the world that I’ll also need to visit some day, when I can get around to it! What’s on your “when I get around to it” list? Do you need a Round Tuit to get you moving?
travelicity 
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