Naval Air Museum visit

Today we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum.  We have been to the museum many times but it is always changing and updating.  If you plan to visit try to give yourself an entire day and take advantage of the free guided tour.  This is one of the few museums that I have ever visited that allows you to walk right under and around the displays.  You can put your hands directly on the planes.  For anyone but especially children this is a great advantage a visit here gives you.

The museum opened in 1963 and is free to visit. Currently it houses 150 aircraft including several world record setting planes and historically significant craft. It is over 350,000 squared feet of display space on 37 acres in two huge buildings. The buildings are really gigantic.

In one area there is an old wood carrier deck and conning tower are restored and laid out. Another is a “simulated” town and shops from the 40’s. There are areas to celebrate the branches of the military. Navy and Marines have the bulk but there is a large display for the Coast Guard along with aircraft and displays for the Army and Air Force. There is even an area with a full size Lunar lander, Lunar Rover (buggy), and Command capsule.

 In an atrium 4 Blue Angels hang from the ceiling in diamond formation. Pensacola is the home of the Blue Angels. We see them fly frequently during the training season. By frequently I mean that they regularly fly over 50 training flights in a year and they do flybys along the beach on many of those days just to say “Hi” to the tourists and locals.

 Everywhere are planes and other aircraft from the first Naval planes and lighter than aircraft to modern examples and space exhibits.

 Along with the planes and exhibits there are flight simulators and a IMAX with movies on a variety of subjects including the Blue Angels, Space flight, and other flight films.

It is the largest undercover aviation museum in the world. Naval Air Station Pensacola was the first and began operations in 1914.