Tag: aircraft carriers

Restored Wildcat fighter lifted onto USS Midway.

Wildcat fighter plane arrives at Navy Pier.
Wildcat fighter plane arrives at Navy Pier.

Every so often a new plane is added to the Midway Museum collection.  The historic aircraft carrier USS Midway, active from 1945 to 1992, now has a couple dozen restored airplanes among its exhibits.  Today the latest addition was hoisted up onto the dockside elevator by crane from the pier below!  I was there to snap a few cool pics!

The last time I saw an airplane brought over from North Island, where the restorations take place, it was by barge.  So I was surprised this time when a plane arrived on the back of a truck.  This F4F Wildcat is a specimen  of the small carrier-based fighter that helped to win the Battle of Midway during World War II.  This particular plane was salvaged from the bottom of Lake Michigan.  Restoration in a special hangar at Naval Air Station North Island, across San Diego Bay, took three years.  You’ll notice the wings are missing from the fuselage.  They came in on a second truck!

The first photo shows the Wildcat arriving on the opposite side of Navy pier.

Historic airplane transported by truck to USS Midway.
Historic airplane transported by truck to USS Midway.

The truck has pulled alongside USS Midway’s dockside elevator, which is lowered and ready to receive the new exhibit.

Preparing to lift Wildcat onto USS Midway's elevator.
Preparing to lift Wildcat onto USS Midway’s elevator.

A small crane waits off to the left to lift the airplane.  Here we see some preliminary preparations.

Crane begins to lift F4F Wildcat onto USS Midway.
Crane begins to lift F4F Wildcat onto USS Midway.

Up it goes!  Everybody was extremely careful that no mishaps occurred!

Aircraft is placed on USS Midway while people watch from flight deck.
Aircraft is placed on USS Midway while people watch from flight deck.

And finally the F4F Wildcat is aboard its new home!  This plane will be part of a three dimensional theater exhibit called Battle of Midway Experience.  I can’t wait to see it!

Jet fighter on elevator of USS Midway Museum.

fighter jet on uss midway elevator

Usually the huge elevator on the south side of the USS Midway Museum contains a few tables and chairs. When I walked by and took the above photo, it featured an F-4 Phantom II jet fighter that flew during the Vietnam War!

The historic USS Midway, a modern aircraft carrier converted into a museum, has become one of the most popular attractions in San Diego. It’s docked on the old Navy Pier right next to downtown. Over a million people visit the Midway each year!

Over time the museum continues to add refurbished military aircraft exhibits. The flight deck is now crowded with them, and the hangar below is filling up. The old airplanes are fixed up and painted by volunteers at Naval Air Station North Island across San Diego Bay, then brought over to the Midway on a barge and lifted onto the flight deck with a big crane. I saw this happen once years ago and it was a very cool sight!

UPDATE!  I took the next photo on a sunny day the following summer…

This A-4 Skyhawk of the Black Knights attack squadron was once based on USS Oriskany.
This A-4 Skyhawk of the Black Knights attack squadron was once based on USS Oriskany.

ANOTHER UPDATE!  Here come two more pics that I took in late 2014.  It seems the A-4 Skyhawk is now a permanent feature on the elevator…

Small boat passes near USS Midway aircraft carrier on San Diego Bay.
Small boat passes near USS Midway aircraft carrier on San Diego Bay.
USS Ronald Reagan seen docked at Naval Air Station North Island across San Diego Bay.
USS Ronald Reagan seen docked at Naval Air Station North Island across San Diego Bay.

ANOTHER! Why not add another pic? This one was taken in early 2016…

Birds large and small in a photo taken from the edge of San Diego Bay.
Birds large and small in a photo taken from the edge of San Diego Bay.

One more UPDATE!

I stood on the pictured elevator in 2025. The area is now filled with tables. I noticed the following sign…

One of Midway’s three giant aircraft elevators that are capable of moving aircraft between the Flight Deck and Hangar Deck in 15-20 seconds. The hydraulically operated elevators have a lifting capacity of 130,000 lbs…and are large enough to accommodate two F/A-18 aircraft at a time.

The yellow ribbons along the edge of the elevator in the final photo memorialize the approximately 60,000 military personnel killed in action during the Vietnam War. The ribbons during my visit were tied all around the aircraft carrier…

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Cool car carrier ship in San Diego Bay.

cool car carrier cargo ship in san diego bay

Check out the Lyra Leader, a massive box-like car-carrying ship as it heads down San Diego Bay toward the National City Marine Terminal. These cool, very unusual type of roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ships are often seen passing close to downtown. They’re bringing in thousands of new cars from Asia–Japan and South Korea–which are driven off a ramp into a massive parking lot. Many of the vehicles are then loaded into car-carrying freight trains and sent off toward their final destinations.

In this photograph, note the active aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson docked at the North Island naval base on the left.

UPDATE–I finally got a couple more pics of another ship while I was crossing San Diego Bay on the ferry. All the passengers were excited to be so close to the massive thing!

Sailboats, skyscrapers and one super enormous ship!
Sailboats, skyscrapers and one super enormous ship!

Swift Ace car transport ship leaves San Diego Bay.
Swift Ace car transport ship leaves San Diego Bay.

ANOTHER UPDATE–Here are more photos that I took at later times…

IMG_7068z

IMG_7090z

IMG_8318z