USAF Museum - Dayton, Ohio
The official US Air Force museum - our review with pics.
by Staff Writer

Here's what our camera lens caught that day (Pics!)

The Official USAF Museum Website is located here.

May 23, 2009 - Dayton, Ohio - The Air Force Museum located in Dayton, Ohio is the official museum of the USAF. MilitaryFactory.com recently headed out there from our Chicagoland location to see the installation - tied to the fully operational Wright-Patterson Air Base and home to the world's first airport - to see if it was all it was cracked up to be. Our impressions? With over 300 individual items and exhibits, each with a unique story to tell all its own and volunteers there to help you along, any military aviation aficionado will find something to like about the Air Force Museum.

The museum is divided into three full-size hangars connected by smaller exhibit houses. A fourth hanger showcasing developmental aircraft in the history of America was temporarily closed during our visit. The three hangars are separated into the ages of military aviation, from the early years covering World War One all the way through to the modern age. The early years showcases a plethora of aircraft from the early days of flight, including the Wright Military Flyer. From there, visitors step through some pretty impressive World War One pieces that includes Nieuports, Camels and Fokkers. We were actually quite impressed with the amount of World War One-era aircraft available for close up viewing including several full size bombers and a dirigible hanging in the center of the hanger.

From there, the next obvious step is into the World War Two gallery. Starting from the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor, this portion of the first hangar is where the museum really shines. There are a ton of planes filling this exhibit hall with exotic pieces such as the Me262 and the Me163 to go along with the actual B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Fan-favorites are also found here and include the Fw190, P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk (complete with Flying Tigers teeth decal) and the P-47 Thunderbolt. A B-25 Mitchell, B-24 Liberator and a B-17 Flying Fortress are also on display allowing one to get in nice and close to the details making up the various crew placements - from nose to tail in some cases. Sprinkled about are a variety of systems such as targeting reticules and reconnaissance cameras to go along with samples of armaments ranging from machine guns to cannons and the first developmental wire-guided rockets. For those looking for a European flair, you will not be disappointed as the Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito and Beaufighter are all accounted for here.

If going in order, you will most likely end up in the Cold War Gallery next - which in fact is more of mix of Cold War and modern fighters. Somehow, they've actually managed to fit an entire B-52 Stratofortress that visitors can walk under to peruse the open bomb bays. Scattered about are various MiG's covering the MiG-15, MiG-17 and MiG-21. The Korean War is represented by the F-84 and F-86 systems (two samples of the latter). A fully-fledged developmental model of the F-22 in the form of the YF-22 is also present here as is the mammoth Global Hawk UAV, and its smaller cousin, the Predator UAV.

Exhibits Quality Mannequins not of the best quality but that's not really the reason you're here. Some exhibits have their cockpits available for you to peer down into. Part of the inventory includes the F-117, B-2 and SR-71.
Entry Cost/Applicable Fees As inexpensive as FREE gets. In fact, with all you get (over 300 exhibits to peruse) you'd be a fool to pass up this stop if you love military aviation. Think of this trip as your personal pilgrimage.
Knowledgeable Staff From what we saw on this day, they are mostly made up of elderly - perhaps veterans - and all extremely knowledgeable on the subject matter. Feel free to ask anything about the museum and be prepared to listen for those inside tidbits.
Gift Shop Very expansive gift shop with anything from caps and tees to throws, paintings, drawings, books, toys and posters. Books covering just about any aviation topic - foreign and domestic - are represented here. Cost of the books a bit high.
On-Site and Nearby Eateries There's a nice place onsite and upstairs to eat at. If that's not to your liking, the nearby downtown area has whatever your looking for. Didn't really get to sample the museum's on-site cafeteria.
Nearby Hotels We stayed across the street - doesn't get any better than that. The barbed-wire fence around the museum/base forced us to still have to drive in.

The final gallery takes the visitor to the last leg of Cold War and modern flight, covering aircraft from the Voodoo and B-36 to the A-10 and F-15. The B-2 stealth bomber is here, as is the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, looking as though it has been stripped of its top-secret skin. The super-sexy SR-71 is a sight to behold, looking every bit as sleek as you've seen in the pictures. A look into the cockpits of an F-104 and an A-10 are also offered for those interested.

In all, the museum offers up a grand display of all the major systems associated with American military aviation over the last century. Entry to the establishment is FREE OF CHARGE, open during normal business hours and offers a competitively priced gift shop and on-site cafeteria. A separate shuttle is supplied to take you to the developmental hangar on the actual airbase and this location also contains full-walk through mothballed presidential transports from the Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Nixon administrations. A full size XB-70 Valkyrie is also kept in the adjacent hangar, though this portion was off limits to us during our visit for whatever reason, we were able to look inside as they had the main hangar doors wide open.

Beyond the natural choices of visiting the hangars, don't overlook the outdoor park that contains several of the larger transport planes including the C-130 Hercules (an AC-119 Spectre is located indoors), a Nazi Junkers transport tri-motor and several other weather-research aircraft. Nearby the outdoor park is an actual World War Two barracks building and control tower ported over piece by piece from England soil! The gentlemen staffing this facility were very well informed and offered up an interesting look into what life on an English base from an American perspective must have been like.

The right price, helpful and knowledgeable staff and nearby eateries and hotels make for a prime vacation spot for the aviation connoisseur. We recommend reserving a day and a half for your total visit. The main sections of the museum will take you your first day covering three hangars and hundreds of text to read through. Your second day is best reserved for the developmental hangar and presidential aircraft displays offsite. Beyond that, you will walk away with a mind full of knowledge. Get in early to get your pictures unobstructed by people passing by. Enjoy the rest of your day in the memorial park or the gift shop chock with just about any book, poster, painting, toy or article of clothing you can think of.

Be sure to check for the latest hours and construction news before you go!

The Official USAF Museum Website is located here.

Here's what our camera lens caught that day (Pics!)