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Favorite Air Museums?


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NASM rocks.  There is also an awesome display of aircraft outside of Barksdale AFB (located in charming Bossier City, LA).  Well worth a few hours of your time if you are in that neck of Cajun Country.  Good selection of SAC aircraft, also got a Vulcan.  You can pretty much get right up on the aircraft and if you time your visit right, you can often seen some BUFF's airborne.  

Edited by 11bee
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PIMA for sure and not just for the museum, I saw 5 A-10's in formation that day, F-16's, Apache's and a EC-130H.

 

Udvar Hazy center because of the rare German WWII stuff. It's also nice to be able to look down from the walkway and see the topsides of some of the aircraft. Having never seen an F-14 fly, this view really gave me an appreciation of the shape and size of the beast.

 

I also recommend the outdoor museum at Palmdale, CA, because where else can you see an A-12 and a SR-71 side by side? There is also the worlds only B-52F on display. I was there on a Sunday and the guide who opened up the museum was super nice guy, we bonded over our experiences with hard drinking Australians (he served in Vietnam on the same base as Australian Canberra crews).

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Me personally it doesn't get any better than the Air & Space Smithsonian. I never have been to the Dulles expansion though as all my visits were as a kid when my old man was posted at the Pentagon in the early 90s.

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I should get out to more, but there are a few near me that I like.

 

The most obvious would be the San Diego Air and Space Museum:

http://sandiegoairandspace.org/

 

There's also the USS Midway:

https://www.midway.org/

 

A little further away is the March ARB Museum, and the planes can get a little faded, but they have a good collection

https://www.marchfield.org/

 

They have the A-9, the "loser" to the A-10:

IMG_0312.JPG

Edited by Ken Cartwright
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For the Midwest of the US, you have the SAC museum in Omaha, NE, the Combat Air Museum and Liberal Museum, both of which are in Kansas. There is also a random Tomcat on display in a park off of Interstate 70 by Wikeeny, KS. Don't ask me how they got an F-14. I don't have a clue!

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16 minutes ago, Darren Roberts said:

 There is also a random Tomcat on display in a park off of Interstate 70 by Wikeeny, KS. Don't ask me how they got an F-14. I don't have a clue!

 

WaKeeney. The F-14 is in Eisenhower Park. It is literally the only thing in the park. 

 

It is meant to be a tribute to Veterans and is near the Kansas Veterans Cemetary. 

 

https://wakeeneytravelblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/20/i-70-eisenhower-park-and-the-f-14-fighter-jet-of-trego-county/amp/

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Also in Kansas is the Cosmosphere museum in Hutchinson. While not strictly aviation (it is primarily space exploration) they do have an SR-71 in the lobby and a replica Bell X-1 in the museum. I think the replica is from the movie The Right Stuff. 

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The Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma TN is pretty good if you're a general aviation fan. Lots of Staggerwings too. Too bad it is on such an out of the way location but it is easily gotten to off I-24. 

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3RD on Pensacola. You can get right up on a lot of the planes. Bonus if you time it right on, I believe, Tues. and Wed. you can catch the Blue Angels practice and get some pretty good shots for free. If you check the blues site they show which weeks they are there. 

 

Bill

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On 1/27/2019 at 1:20 PM, P-38 guy said:

MAPS is up there on my list. It's not the biggest or anything but because they let you in a lot of the planes and helicopters. You can also walk through the restoration hanger. If your ever in Ohio on I-77 stop off at the Akron/Canton airport and check them out.

https://mapsairmuseum.org/

 

Mike

 

 

Have to agree Mike, I visited MAPS when my son played at the Football Hall of Fame.

 

Don

 

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