https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media...-to-public?utm_source=epilot&utm_medium=email I was happy to stumble across this in the AOPA newsletter email. I have no plans to get by there anytime soon....but it was a shame for such a great museum to be off limits
I've only been to the AF museum once....and that was a long time ago and only there for about an hour before I had to get to the airport to catch an airline. But based on that very fuzzy memory I want to say the AF museum is maybe larger, but both are equally great. I'd say equal....and the best aviation museum I've ever seen by a long shot...
I used to go to The National Naval Aviation Museum every year before they stopped allowing civilians. I met some wonderful docents and learned a lot. It would be hard choosing between the National Museum of the US Air Force and the National Naval Aviation Museum so I will go back to visiting each of them once a year.
I went while on a business trip to Elgin and had an open weekend. It was a great museum but the best part were the tours they offered that were given by retired naval aviators who volunteered at the museum. Just looking at a display of flight suits and helmets was one thing, having someone explain how they changed over the years, why and what it meant for the pilot made it that much more enjoyable. I hope they bring those tours back with the reopening.
From strictly a size perspective, Wright Pat is far bigger. Personally, I like that they have more one of a kinds there as well. Meaning, you just aren’t going to see a run of the mill F-4. It’s one with a combat history. Or like their A-7. It’s one that took part in an Op in Vietnam that earned its pilot a MOH. Plus, a lot of them have their original paint jobs and weren’t restored. Takes at least 2 days to truly enjoy it while the Navy’s you can knock out in a day. Love NPA though. They still have some historic aircraft and seeing the Blues A-4s hanging from the ceiling is worth the trip alone. I think their imax theater is a little bigger than the AF’s. More interactive stuff (sims) for the kids as well. Kinda special place for me because their Fat Albert on display is the same one that I got a ride on back in 1996.
I will be glad to see it open again. Having been to both the Air Force and navy museums, I prefer the air force museum better,however I was a loadmaster in the Air Force. I thought the navy museum was well worth the visit having been there twice.
It's a great museum and it would be nice to see it grow to the internal size of the USAF museum to get some of the larger planes out of the weather. Took time for that to happen in Dayton too. I remember when Dayton was mostly Quonset huts before they built the big building and now they have three!
Actually FOUR buildings now. 1 Early Years + WWII 2 Korea + SEA 3 Cold War 4 Presidential Aircraft + Space + Experimental + Airlift + a Missile Gallery between 3 and 4 + an outside Air Park with several planes like the C-17.
This is great news. I live very near, would love to meet some POAers coming to visit. If I’m around, and ya fly in, happy to meet up and shuttle ya to the museum. Me three on the southeast POA fly in, Cubi Pt O-club is a great place to eat and enjoy the museum.
I've been to both Pcola and WrightPat but it's been years since. My thoughts are the Air Force has a more extensive collection but the Navy presents their collection much better. You learn a lot more about Naval Aviation at their museum because it has context than you learn about USAF aviation at Wright Pat. Just my 2 cents.
It's been 1995 since I've been there. Stopped on my last PCS move from Monterey to Maryland. I was walking around the museum and they came up and announced the OJ verdict on the big speaker. I think I'll make Dayton a stop on the way back or from Oshkosh next year.
Where does the Warner-Robins museum fit in comparison with the other two mentioned here? I was pretty surprised at the number of a/c that they had at Robins. Everything is showing its age, but they had a lot of stuff in there that you could easily spend a whole day if you actually read about everything.
Some good displays but also not nearly as big as the other two. They’ve grown substantially over the last 30 years though. When I first went there, they only had the small center section (korea / Vietnam), the large building at the hub (F-15) wasn’t even built yet and most of the aircraft were outdoors. Now they have an excellent display of aircraft restored and moved inside. Just wish they’d open the theater again. Used to show “To Fly” and “Flyers” back in the day.
It never should have been closed. A foreign student, invited by the DOD, goes active shooter, and their solution is to ban Americans from going to the museum on base for years afterward. But within months, they allow the murderer’s countrymen to continue going there. That’s some great security theater they have going on.
I've been to both Naval museum dozens of time over the years and USAF museum once. As the USAF visit was in the last year or so, I've give my impressions. The USAF had more of a museum feel than the Navy one did. It felt like a lot more planning on plane location w/in the hangers had gone on. Not that the Navy felt cluttered, but it had more of a friendly vibe to it. There was very little invitation to touch the USAF aircraft as opposed to the Navy where you were very invited to touch and get close w/ the aircraft. The Navy had more cockpits that you could climb into and see how well you would or wouldn't have fit in a fighter pit. The USAF did, OTOH have a B2 that literally left me speechless. I did not realize until I was nose-to-nose-wheel with it how big of a beast that aircraft is. The Navy, though, does have something the USAF museum does not have, and that is practice days for their demo team. You can go to the Naval Aviation Museum AND catch a practice session by the Blue Angels. To truly appreciate what the USAF has would probably take a couple of full days, whereas the Navy one can be done in half a day or so. They are both very good museums in their own rights, and I would suggest a visit to both. But if you could only visit one, Navy has my vote.
We flew into Pcola a long time ago, spent a few days on a chartered sailboat and an afternoon in the museum, I’d love to go back! Beach, ocean, and aviation, what’s not to love? How long ago? This young lady is now half way through college.
