What’s your favorite aviation museum besides the “big ones”?

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FredA said:
Locally, Evergreen is pretty spiffy. Pay the fee to get inside the Spruce Goose as it's pretty cool.

I remember touring Wright Patterson as a kid and was impressed. They had a SR-71 on display back then and it was the first time I had seen one....they were still being flown daily.

Huntsville is good for rockets.

Was in the UK this summer and had tickets to the RAF museum on Armed Forces Day.
Priorities got shuffled that day and I missed it - looked awesome.
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Not only "get inside" the Spruce Goose, but actually get to sit in the command seat and touch the controls. Evergreen is definitely on my list of tops but I haven't been to many "big ones" to compare it with.
 
techrat said:
There was a "warbirds" museum in Florida, near NASA, they had a working C-47 you could get a ride in and they'd fly you over the NASA facility, and you could look down on the VAB. Pretty cool. We have a pretty good little Museum of Aviation out on Long Island's south shore, near Babylon. Ironically, I live right next to Teterboro, and they have a museum, but I've never been to it. There's a "History of Spaceflight" near Alamogordo NM that I'm planning to visit when I get some free time... And of course, I have been to Dayton and that was Mind-blowing -- much bigger than Smithsonian. I don't think you can do Dayton in a single day and take it all in.
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the one on the Space Coast is Vailiant Air Command that I mentioned. I've been to the "Grumman" museum on long Island by all the sports arenas but I hey had power issues that day and only got to see very little of it. My friend who has inlaws on long Island says it's good too.
 
I will second the Planes Of Fame Museum in Chino California.

They put on a great airshow over the Memorial Day weekend.

Fun story.

I first leaned about this 'Museum' in the late 1970s.

My Father and I would go to visit every 3-5 years and the place kept getting more modern and improved.

In the 'old days' (1990s) parking was pretty hit-or-miss. Depending on if they were adding new buildings/hangers one may not find a parking spot.
Well, there WAS a way to resolve that issue. ;)

During one trip there in 1994 there was no parking at the museum.
So I just drove on to the property and went weaving between the buildings/hangers looking for a parking place, hopefully one that had shade (It was hot that day).

I saw other vehicles parked in this one location and it had shade. I parked my white Nissan 240SX next to a small pickup truck and my Father and I walked over to the Museum.

I turned and took a picture.

It's not everyday you park under the wing of a World War II A-26 medium bomber. :cool:
 

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Two that I have visited recently, the Air Force Armament Museum, Great collections of unique planes, and lots of guns, missiles, and bombs.
It is located at Eglin AFB in Florida.

IMG_1907.JPG MOAB_Small.jpg

The other is the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, in Pueblo Colorado. Two hangars crammed full of everything airplane, outside displays, and no ropes to keep you away from anything. One of the volunteers there showed me how the rollerons worked on the Sidewinder missile, pretty cool. This is what greets you when you enter:

IMG_3406_Small.jpg
 
Bravo52 said:
Do you have a favorite aviation museum that is not one of the big ones like the Air Force museum or the Smithsonian? I love the Pensacola Naval Air museum but I’m thinking smaller, maybe out of the way type museums like the Stanford Air Museum in Ok. Doesn’t have to be military. Thoughts?
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The Stanford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford Oklahoma is excellent. There is a lot of cool stuff packed into that place. If you are a Gemini-Titan fan this is a must-see.
 
Kartman said:
Try the Commemorative Air Force Airbase Arizona Museum in Mesa. Crawl inside a B-17. Very nice.
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B-17 is my favorite aircraft of all time. It is amazing how many of those planes we built.
 
The Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, OH. I am part of the team restoring a B-17 (it will be 80-90% new). "The Champaign Lady" will be returned to flying condition. This is a long-term project, and we are in year 16 with years to go. I have been there since the beginning of the restoration. One of the first things we did was remove the skin from the wings. My partner and I are currently making the bottom of a pilot seat for another museum before we return to making a stainless-steel turbocharger inlet scoop and diverter. Stainless steel is very difficult to work by hand, so the pilot seat (aluminum) is a great diversion.

Sadly, our B-25 had engine trouble in Indiana and is currently grounded there until they can buy and mount a replacement engine. This is not cheap; approximately $135,000. Donations are gladly accepted on their website (see below).We have a number of interesting displays and are worth a visit if you are visiting the nearby National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Champaign Aviation Museum
 
cwbullet said:
B-17 is my favorite aircraft of all time. It is amazing how many of those planes we built.
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I checked the travel time from your city to Warner Robins and it said just over 2 hours. . .if you haven't been to that museum, it would not be a waste of time to take that drive. I'm not a huge fan of that particular area of GA, but the museum is my 3rd favorite, after the Smithsonian and the Boeing museum. I went there 3 times before I got to see the SR-71 (they use that hangar for some base activities) but really fell in love with the B1 because of that museum.

At one time, I believe they did a model train display around Christmas. I think it was a hobby club that did it and not related to the museum itself, but it was cool to see. No clue how things have changed there since COVID, though. Last time I was at the base, I was with a co-worker and he wasn't interested in going to the museum. . . kids now-a-days. . .

Sandy.
 
I presume the reason the Museum of Flight in Seattle is not mentioned is that it's considered "one of the big ones" as posited by the OP.

Several of the smaller ones in the Northwest have already been mentioned (Tillamook, Evergreen, Flying Heritage). It looks like the Historic Flight Foundation has left Everett and is now based in Spokane (and currently closed — *sigh*).

Speaking of going aboard the Spruce Goose.....The Museum of Flight lost a bid to get one of the Shuttles, but I think we landed on our feet as we got the Full Fuselage Trainer. All museum visitors can walk into the cargo bay, but there are small tours of the inside of it wherein you can go both to the flight deck and mid deck — where everyone who ever flew on a shuttle trained. (I say "we" because I'm a member and have been since the collection, such as it was then, was stored up at the Pacific Science Center (on the old Seattle Worlds Fair grounds).
 
Locally, the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run, MI is a nice little place. Usually has some good exhibits on the B-24 and it’s production (the Rosie the Riveter exhibit they just introduced is very well done), and the kids love the KC-135 cockpit they can play in. If you’re able to see them, the flying collection is really cool too (B-17, B-24, C-17, Huey and a Ford Tri-Motor). And the Thunder over Michigan air show is a great show, usually has both warbirds and some excellent armed forces demo flying.

https://yankeeairmuseum.org/

The Kalamazoo Air Zoo is also pretty nice, the SR-71 trainer is a unique piece of aviation history to get up close and personal with.

https://www.airzoo.org/
 
goose_in_co said:
Two that I have visited recently, the Air Force Armament Museum, Great collections of unique planes, and lots of guns, missiles, and bombs.
It is located at Eglin AFB in Florida.

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I drove through McAlester, OK this morning and they have a MOAB sitting in the median of the freeway along with some smaller bombs and their sign with the city name on it. They call it the "Defending Our Freedom" monument. The smaller bombs are on the pylons in the background.
1697861552358.png

I've heard of the Pueblo museum and I drive through their occasionally so I'll have to stop some time.
 
bjphoenix said:
I drove through McAlester, OK this morning and they have a MOAB sitting in the median of the freeway along with some smaller bombs and their sign with the city name on it. They call it the "Defending Our Freedom" monument. The smaller bombs are on the pylons in the background.
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There is a munitions storage facility not too far from there. I understand that they make the MOAB there.
From the satellite photo, the monument looks like a bomb.

Mcallaster_OK_MOAB.JPG
 
I absolutely LOVE The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, home of the Hercules (Spruce Goose) in McMinnville, Oregon! Huge museum with a huge Space building!
 

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The Museum of Flight is very good, but not in my top 5.

It's definitely worth a visit, and has some great displays.

The Lear fan, SR-71, and the DC-3 in Alaska paint are all great.
The personal courage exhibit is good, as is the outside aircraft pavilion.

It used to have a model rocket exhibit, I'm not sure its still there.
 
cwbullet said:
B-17 is my favorite aircraft of all time. It is amazing how many of those planes
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When ever we'd give windshield tours to visiting VIPs one of the lines we'd tell them is it would take 18 B-17s to deliver the same amount of ordinance that a single B-52 could (conventionally). Given we only had 77 B-52s now, that would be the equivalent of 1385 B-17s... I'd then go on to tell them that they made enough B-17s to equal 725 of today's B-52s. Guess how many B-52s were ever made...740!
 
One vote for the Hiller Museum in San Carlos, CA. Lotsa helicopters. Great public outreach and kid programs.
 
mach7 said:
The Museum of Flight is very good, but not in my top 5.

It's definitely worth a visit, and has some great displays.

The Lear fan, SR-71, and the DC-3 in Alaska paint are all great.
The personal courage exhibit is good, as is the outside aircraft pavilion.

It used to have a model rocket exhibit, I'm not sure its still there.
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Some of the G. Harry Stine display is still in the Great Gallery that was there long before the G. Harry Stine collection was given to the museum. The more recent display the was over in the Space Gallery with the shuttle FFT I don't know about. I need to get back up there and look.
 

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