A Visit to the National Air Force Museum

We needed a break on Sunday.  Despite being exhausted from the craziness of week last week, family time and a change of scenery were at the top of our “to do” list.  We needed a place where we could let Mayhem stretch her legs a little.  But with a high temperature around 25 degrees, outside was not going to be an option.

So we took a little drive.  Under an hour from our home and a place I’ve only visited once before.  The National Museum of the United States Air Force.

It’s MASSIVE.  It’s dripping with incredible information and history.  It’s wildly inspiring.  Oh, and did I mention it’s FREE???

Hanger after hanger after hanger of real planes, helicopters and other aircraft and aviation equipment.  These are all “retired” aircraft that were actually flown to the museum to be part of the displays.

It’s literally a journey through the history of aviation.  And I love that it’s designed to walk you through in chronological sequence.

Not only are there planes on the ground, but there are planes and helicopters suspended above you everywhere you look!

Stuff that doesn’t even look real.  But it is.

This one reminds me too much of the Madagascar movies.  I was totally looking for the penguins…

There were even some “shells” of planes you could walk through.  To get an idea of how tight the space was …

This is a pilot’s seat …. can you even imagine?

Most of the space on this particular plane was dedicated to carrying bombs.  It was strange to walk between those.

I can’t even begin to show you the scale of this place …

And of course I had to grab a shot of some of the early on board camera equipment the Air Force used.

And when Mayhem started getting a little fussy, we just locked her in the crosshairs…

Have you ever seen a B-2 stealth bomber?  I have.  And it’s holy freaking incredible!

There’s even a missile and space gallery.

This part really got me anxious.  It was so strange to be up close to these missiles and to see just how massive they are.

To say that this museum is amazing is nothing short of an understatement.  But should you find yourself anywhere near the Dayton, OH area, you need to put this on your must visit list.

It’s located next to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base and you will never look at aviation or our Air Force the same way again.

We were there for a solid 2 hours and didn’t see everything.  We didn’t even stop to read many descriptions or displays around the aircraft.  You could easily spend an entire day here and still not see and do it all.  And it’s great for ALL ages!

We will be back for another visit.  And I’m thinking sooner rather than later

Bottom line: You should go!  They are open 7 days a week from 9am – 5pm and admission is FREE.  But do note that you can’t take a backpack in.  There was a sign outside with items that you can’t take in and backpacks was on the list.  I’m not sure why, and purses and other types of bags were fine to take in.  I happened to be carrying a backpack that day (a camera bag) so I just left it in the car and carried my phone/wallet in my pockets and put my camera on a strap to carry.