Rare pre-war Curtiss O-52 Owl 40-2746.

Anew 20,000ft² exhibition gallery is now complete at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona, USA, just a year after construction began. The gallery has a strong popular  culture theme, with many of the exhibits having connections with the film and entertainment world.

The most eye-catching exhibit is McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom 66-0329, which has been repainted in the markings it wore while serving with the USAF’s Thunderbirds aerobatic team during 1969–74. Another showstopper is a Grumman F-14 Tomcat that was used in the Hollywood blockbuster Top Gun. A Lockheed T-33 which featured in the 1957 John Wayne film Jet Pilot has been acquired from Universal Studios and will soon go on show.

Less glamorous but much rarer is Curtiss O-52 Owl 40-2746, one of only five survivors of the type, the last of the “heavy” observation aircraft developed for the US Army Air Corps pre-war.