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The Warhawk Air Museum

By Joe Berk

Sue and John Paul started the Warhawk Air Museum in 1989.  It contains aircraft, automobiles, aircraft engines, automobiles, guns, and other things from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.  For us, it was our eighth Idaho stop and only our third day in Idaho.  We were covering a lot of ground.

The entrance to the Warhawk Air Museum hangar and display area.

Aircraft

The Warhawk Museum had a bunch of aircraft both inside the hangar and parked outside on the tarmac.  I love these kinds of places and I love these vintage airplanes, partly because they photograph so well but mostly because of what they represent.  We were taking in military history and I was loving it.

“Parrot Head,” a Curtiss P-40N Warhawk dominating the Warhawk Museum display area.
“Yellow Peril,” a Navy N3N biplane.
“The Boise Bee,” a North American P-51C Mustang.
“Boise Bee” nose art.

The Warhawk has a beautiful, jet black, Vietnam-era Huey helicopter. I spent some time when I was in the Army flying around on Hueys (not in Vietnam, though). My time in the service was fun. I enjoyed the Huey rides, especially when the doors were open and the pilots flew low level.  Cue in Ride of the Valkyries.

A Bell UH-1C “Mike” gunship helicopter. The “Mike” had an upgraded 1400 shp turbine.
Nose art on the “Mike” Huey: The 68th Assault Helicopter Company (the “Mustangs”). This is cool stuff.

Engines

The Warhawk Museum displays an impressive collection of piston and jet engines.  The old radials, in particular, were amazing.  As an engineer and as a motorcycle guy, the radials spoke to me.  But they were all nice to take in.  Mechanical stuff is just so much more intuitive and easy to understand than electronics or software.  I can look at mechanical things and comprehend how they work; I could never do that with electronics or software.

A Curtiss OX–5 airplane engine. It’s a 90-horsepower V8 made in 1917.
A macro shot of the Curtiss OX–5 engine’s rockers. These parts were cast and machined more than a century ago.
A Pratt and Whitney R-985-AN 14B air-cooled radial engine. It made 450 horsepower and was used in three aircraft, including the C-45.
A second R-985-AN14B display engine. As the designator implies, these 9-cylinder engines displaced 985 cubic inches.
An Allison V-1710-81 water-cooled engine.  It was a V-12 that generated 1,425 horsepower.  During World War II, these powered the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the Bell P-39 Airacobra and the twin-engined Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
A Ranger engine. These powered the Fairchild PT-19 aircraft.
Perhaps the most impressive radial engine in the world:  The Pratt & Whitney 4360 radial engine.
Another view of the It’s a 28-cylinder four-row radial piston engine that powered the C-124 Globemaster, the KC-97 tanker, and the B-36 Peacemaker. The B-36 had six of these engines. That’s 168 cylinders! How’d you like to adjust the valves on a B-36?

Automobiles

Who doesn’t enjoy vintage automobiles?  I’ve probably done a dozen or more blogs on vintage automobiles in various museums around the country and I never get tired of seeing them.  The Warhawk Museum had several vintage cars, and several more military vehicles.

A little 1960 Nash Metropolitan. These were made in England.  They had a 120cc engine and sold for $1,672.  Beep beep!
A 1940 DeSoto Deluxe with a beautiful two-tone tan and cream paint theme. This car retailed for $905 when it was new.
The DeSoto’s hood ornament. Those were the days!
A 1930 Packard 8. It was powered by a torquey inline 8-cylinder engine, and sold for a princely $2,385 in 1930.
The Packard’s hood ornament.
A 1927 Studebaker couple. These had 6-cylinder engines and sold for $1,575 (big bucks in 1927).
The Studebaker’s radiator-cover-mounted brand emblem.
A US Army halftrack with a quad .50 mount. These are interesting vehicles. Note the armor on the radiator. I’ve always wondered why car or accessory companies making big tough guy trucks never copied this design; I think it would look cool.
A 1955 Buick Century. This was the golden era of GM auto design.  This car had a 236-horsepower V8 and it sold for $2,590 in 1955.  These were fast cars in 1955.  The California Highway Patrol used them.

Other Interesting Stuff

In between all the exhibits mentioned above (as well as many more Warhawk Museum exhibits that space precludes including), there wasn’t any wasted real estate.  I’m only showing a couple of representative exhibits here on the blog, but there were many, many more.

Flight suits, a uniform, and other militaria make for a colorful photo.
An M1903 .32 ACP Colt. I had one of these years ago.

The Warhawk Museum is located at 201 Municipal Drive in Nampa, Idaho, about 15 minutes from downtown Boise.  It costs $15 to get in (and it may well be the best $15 you’ll ever spend).  Vets, Seniors, and active duty military get a discount.

You can rent the indoor Museum display area for weddings and other events.  My youngest daughter had her wedding at the Chino Planes of Fame Museum (a vintage aircraft museum) and it was an awesome event.  These places make for cool venues; if I was a young guy getting married I’d consider it.

More motoliterature?  You bet!  Order your copy now!

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Joe Berk

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Joe Berk
Tags: BuickColt 1903DeSotoIdahomilitary museumNashP-40 WarhawkP-51 MustangPackardStudebakervintage aircraft enginesVintage carsWarhawk Air Museum
5 months ago

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