National Museum of the United States Air Force

USA / Ohio / Belmont /
 United States Air Force, aviation museum
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official national museum of the United States Air Force and is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, east of Dayton, Ohio. Over 300 aircraft and missiles are on display, most of them indoors. Admission is free.

The museum has many rare and important aircraft and other exhibits, including one of four surviving Convair B-36s, the only surviving XB-70 Valkyrie, and "Bockscar" - the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the second atomic bomb in World War II.

The museum has several Presidential aircraft, including those used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The centerpiece of the Presidential aircraft collection is SAM 26000, the first aircraft to be called Air Force One, used by John F. Kennedy through Richard Nixon during his first term, after which served as the backup Presidential aircraft until 1990. That aircraft was most used by Lyndon B. Johnson.

There is a large section of the museum dedicated to pioneers of flight, especially the Wright Brothers, who conducted some of their experiments at nearby Huffman Prairie. The Wright's 1909 Military Flyer is on display, as well as other Wright Brothers artifacts. The building also hosts the National Aviation Hall of Fame (nationalaviation.blade6.donet.com/components/content_ma... which includes several educational exhibits.

The museum holds 3 variations of the famous SR71 Blackbird. 1st - YF-12A Interceptor 2nd - MD21 reconnaissance, with the D21 Reconnaissance Drone, 3rd SR-71 Blackbird (#61-7976)

The museum completed the construction of a third hangar and hall of missiles in 2004. It now houses Cold War-era planes such as the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter and others. Fundraising has begun for a fourth hanger to house the musuem's space collection, presidential planes and an enlarged educational outreach area, making all more accessible to the public.

The museum has an IMAX theatre that mainly features aviation and space oriented IMAX films.

1100 Spaatz Street, Dayton, OH 45433-7102
www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/museums/oh/usafm.htm
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Force
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   39°46'56"N   84°6'37"W

Comments

  • no entrance fee!
  • This is one of those "must see" places in the Dayton area that the majority of residents have never been to.
  • I grew up across the street from this museum. Neat place! It has really grown since the 70's If your into aviation its a must see. Stay away from Dayton!
  • This was actually a pretty fun museum. The highlight for me was seeing the Avrocar - the prototype flying-saucer inspired craft from the 50s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avrocar http://www.avrocar.com/
  • I'm not even from the USA and I've been to this place! My host in Ohio asked: is that museum ok?
This article was last modified 10 years ago