While spending our summer in the mountains outside of Denver, Colorado, we decided to spend a day and explore some of the attractions that Denver had to offer. One of the gems of that exploration was Wings Over the Rockies. It’s no secret that we love Air and Space Museums and Wings Over the Rockies is one of the best!
Wings Over the Rockies: A Mix of History and Pop Culture
Military and experimental aircraft are a staple of most aerospace museums and Wings Over the Rockies is no exception. They had unique aircraft from many wars and eras, from the retired B1-a Lancer Supersonic Bombers
to the very unique 0-2 Skymaster. An aircraft that, at first, looks like the military engineers took a crop duster and strapped rockets to it!
Unexpectedly, they had some unconventional aircraft mixed into their collection.
When we walked into the hangar, one of the first things we saw was a replica X-wing Starfighter. While not a filming model like the one we saw at the Smithsonian, this X-wing was specially made and taken around the country to promote Return of the Jedi. If you look closely, you can see the many signatures of the cast and crew adorning the hull.
The pod racer, similarly, wasn’t a filming model but another promotional model built by the Nintendo Company to promote their Star Wars Pod Race game.
A Humbling Experience
Wings Over the Rockies is built in the remaining hangars of the former Lowery Airforce Base. Lowery served alternately as a training facility and then a strategic bomber base from the 1940s till the early 2000s when operations were shuttered and moved to the nearby Buckley Airforce base. Because of the base’s history, many of its artifacts and displays were of nuclear attack aircraft and their corresponding arsenal.
To stand under and around the tools that could, in any hands, destroy life on earth was subtly terrifying. The machines on display were no longer in use. But this was because they were obsolete, not unnecessary. They had been replaced by faster, more powerful, and sneakier weapons. The Cold War may be over, but as long as politicians control such power can anyone, foreign or domestic, feel safe?
Whether you’re a history buff, a general aviation enthusiast, or just like to look at unique flying machines, Wings Over the Rockies has something for everyone!