Elder's Wargaming Blog

This month I was in Delaware for business and had some time to visit a bit of the State.  I discovered that beside the Dover Air Force base there was an aviation museum.  This was not a normal aviation museum, but one dedicated to air force transport planes.  The museum has two parts, a WWII hanger with displays and an outdoor exhibit area.  Surprisingly, the museum is free.


I have flown on a C-47 and been inside a B-17, so those planes were old hat for me.  The exhibits inside were good and there was good learning material related to the history of transport planes in the U.S.

The highlight of the museum in my opinion are the planes outside.  My favorite planes there were the KC-97L Stratofreighter, C-130E Hercules, and the C-5A Galaxy.  The Stratofreighter is just a cool looking transport with the many windows up front.  The Hercules I'm interested in because it was used by Canada and in Vietnam.  This was one of two transports that you could walk through.  The Galaxy is just big and is imposing with all the wheels to support the weight.



Stratofreighter

Hercules

Inside Hercules

Galaxy

A fun museum to visit.  I did the museum in about 2.5 hours.  I think you can spend more time and take in everything in about 3 hours.

Videos:

1. 360° view of some of the planes outside

1. C-5A engine blades turning in the wind

To see all my photos from the museum, click on this link: More Photos

Another interesting site I visited in Calgary last month was "The Military Museums."  It is an odd name for a military museum, but looked like a single museum to me and probably needs a different name in the future.  The museum has all the Canadian forces represented and was a great museum to visit.

Initially trying to get to the museum was a bit challenging since the nearest highway exit to the museum was under construction.  I spent two hours visiting in the morning and unfortunately I did not have enough time to really take it all in.  I recommend more time.  Maybe 3-4 hours.

The best parts of the museum are the regimental history sections and the naval section.  The weakest areas in my opinion are the gallery and air force.  Maybe I just had less interest in the current art on display and the aviation history (lots of model airplanes though).


There is an additional building that houses three airplanes: a F-86 Sabre, CF-18 and a CF-104.  Also, there is a tank park with a few WWII tanks.  It looks like the T-34 tank is a new one, which needs a new fresh paint job.


A disappointment for me was the gift shop, it was really lacking in all departments.  The best surprise was the naval section.  It was so much bigger than I was expecting, plus has had lots to look at.  Also, tucked away in a room was display cabinets of all the Canadian Army regimental uniforms of WWI (I think).  That was impressive.


I really enjoyed this museum and hope to visit it again in the future.  I recommend visiting this museum if you are in Calgary.  Don't be rushed like I was.  Give yourself enough time.

A lot of my photos show uniforms and model ships, I guess for reference at some point, but I tried to get a good variety of pictures.

Here are all the 46 pictures I took: Photos Link

On my trip to Alberta last month, I discovered a small reenactment was happening close to where I was staying.  Here are pictures from the event in Didsbury, Alberta.

HMS Surprise, used in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World movie.



B-39 Soviet submarine.  I saw her in Vancouver in 1998.

Swift Boat, PCF-816.  Not open when we were there.

USS Midway (foreground) and USS Ronald Reagan (background)

USS America (LHA-6) arriving

USS New Orleans (LPD-18) arriving

F/A-18s, probably from USS Ronald Reagan

Boeing E-3 Sentry (AWACS) just landed

USS Ronald Reagan

USS Boxer (LHD-4), USS Kidd (DDG-100)? (K100?), and USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110)

USS Peleliu (LHA-5)

USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) and USS Essex (LHD-2)

Independence-class littoral combat ship

USS Spruance (DDG-111) arriving

HSV Sea Slice is an experimental United States Navy vessel, built by Lockheed Martin.

Last month I was vacationing in Vancouver, Canada with my wife and I decided to check out a local gaming store.  I researched on The Miniatures Page (TMP) website for a good gaming store in Vancouver and Imperial Hobbies was mentioned.  Having lost a number of good brick and mortar gaming stores in Colorado, it was fun to get in a new one I've never been to.  It turned out to be the best gaming store I've ever been in.  I haven't been in lots of gaming stores in Canada and the U.S., but this one is impressive.  The staff were very friendly. 

Imperial Hobbies store has a large stock of all things gaming/modeling related. Historical wise it had no shortage of wargame rules,  miniatures (mainly 25mm), plastic model kits, books, all the Ospreys, all the JR Miniatures terrain, shelves of the Hotz Mats, board games, dice and paint (amazingly they had Humbrol).  They also had comics, non-historical rules/miniatures, slot cars, books, and Euro board games.  I'm sure I'm missing something.  I ended up visiting twice and probably spent two hours browsing and buying stuff.

If ever in Vancouver, you must visit this store.  It is easy to get to with a car and is close to the Vancouver International Airport.

Imperial Hobbies Website

Photos inside store (unfortunately lacking photos of historical wargaming stock photos)

I read on another blog that referred to this store as small.  Well I'd like to see what a big gaming store is that has as much historical wargaming content. True, I guess I still have to check out Brookhurst Hobbies in California. I'd be interested to hear of other gamers picks for gaming stores that have lots of historical wargaming content.