Courtesy Photo | An F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft canopy is pictured in a warehouse at Arnold Air Force...... read more read more
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. – By anyone’s best guess, the pair of aircraft canopies were most likely slated to be pelted with propelled poultry at Arnold Air Force Base.
Fate had other plans.
Instead, the two F-16 Fighting Falcon cockpit covers, along with a fractured F-4 Phantom II canopy and a drone engine from the 1980s, were boxed up and kept in a warehouse at Arnold AFB, headquarters of Arnold Engineering Development Complex.
The items remained in storage, days turning to weeks, weeks to years and years to decades.
Recently, though, the materials found a landing spot beyond warehouse shelves and crates encapsulating them for so long. Several of items were shipped to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, headquarters of Air Force Materiel Command, to be maintained by the AFMC History and Heritage Program.
Katy McCown, senior logistics analyst for the AEDC Test Operations and Sustainment contractor, became aware of the items several years ago, as they were listed on a spreadsheet she received upon taking over test material storage at Arnold. The items were held in the warehouse used to store test materials where they had presumably been kept since the late 1980s or early 1990s.
When McCowan first learned of the existence of these items, there was ample space in the facility, so those responsible for management of the warehouse left the materials be.
Team members again encountered the items recently while cleaning out some space in the warehouse.
The spreadsheet previously provided to McCowan provided no specifics on the intended purpose of the items, and no such information was found within the boxes containing them.
“To the best of our knowledge, the canopies may have been slated for the ‘chicken gun’ testing,” McCowan said.
The S-3 Bird Impact Range at Arnold, more famously known as the “chicken gun,” was used to test windshield materials and full-scale canopies for various military and commercial aircraft. Chicken carcasses were fired at the range to simulate in-flight bird strikes to test articles. Such tests were conducted to research the damage caused by avian collisions and to prevent harm to aircrew members.
The chicken gun was first fired in 1972. The last tests involving it occurred in the early 2000s.
McCowan said she and other Materials Management personnel could offer no conjecture on the intended purpose of the drone motor. The broken F-4 canopy, referred to by those involved as the “Romero canopy” due to the “Capt. Romero” marking on its frame, appears to have either been salvaged from an ejection or, more likely, represents the remnants of chicken gun testing.
There was never a threat of the items being relegated to the scrap heap, as test materials are not disposed of without proper due diligence and approval. On top of this, each item had been marked with a message to keep it for the AEDC Museum.
This planned museum, however, had failed to materialize in the years since the items were first placed in the warehouse and designated for future display.
Seeking guidance on what could be done with the materials, McCowan reached out to AEDC Historian Kenneth Sloat.
“Since the AEDC Museum has not come to be and these items have been stored since the ‘80s, I decided to take a chance on calling the historian for any other ideas,” McCowan said.
Sloat, who has been an Air Force historian since 2007, used his knowledge of historic property management to look for avenues to display the items. The Air Force Materiel Command History Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, materialized as the “perfect solution” for some of the items, as the office has been working to continually improve its heritage displays, Sloat said.
“It’s always great to see historic items used to tell our story,” Sloat added. “These links to our heritage are a great way to give people a physical representation of the history. It’s not just listening or reading, it’s seeing, and that translates to an experience.”
The items were shipped to the AFMC History and Heritage Directorate over the summer. Sloat said the team there accepted all of the items and relayed their intent to use several of the items in hallway and lobby displays, particularly the drone motor because of its size and link to both the past and the future.
“I love that a piece of our history here at AEDC is going to be displayed,” McCowan said. “I’m glad this worked out so well and I was part of the process.”
McCowan said Materials Management team members are continuing to excess and clean up old materials located in Arnold warehouses and laydown yard to prepare for future growth at the base. She is calling on personnel across Arnold to aid these efforts should materials team make contact. The knowledge shared may give additional articles discovered new life as well.
“There are so many items that have been forgotten by time,” McCowan said. “Unfortunately, listed contacts for these materials have retired or moved on. We are doing our best to find people who can help us, but it can be a struggle.
“Our biggest request is that if someone in Materials Management reaches out to you for assistance, please respond to us and be willing to help in our ongoing effort.”
| Date Taken: | 11.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.19.2025 10:53 |
| Story ID: | 551701 |
| Location: | ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENNESSEE, US |
| Web Views: | 12 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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