We’ll be in Dayton Ohio this week (for a drumline competition), and I see they have a highly regarded museum run by the US Air Force. Has anyone been there lately? (There was a thread from back in 2003, mostly a Dopefest.)
We have about three hours to spend; I hope that’s enough time. Does anyone have advice for any “must see” items? I’d like to see space-related items, perhaps some weird prototype jets from the 1950s and 1960s, the big WWII bombers, etc.
Are the movies worthwhile? Are there transports or tours on site? It looks huge! I’d like to see some sites with suggested itinaries or tour plans. Thanks!
I was there about 20 years ago. My favorites (and it sounds like they might be yours, too) were the experimental X planes; X-1A, X-3, XB-70, and a few others. The Museum is on the grounds of the base, but outside the security fence. When I was there, the X planes and Air Force Ones were in hangars on the airfield, so I needed to sign up early for a bus into the secure area. I dont think it’s still done that way, but you might want to check.
There was also an exhibit on the Doolittle raid from WWII. There were small silver goblets for each of the participants (the few survivors were right-side-up) and a bottle of cognac to be drank by the last two survivors. Since then, I think it’s been drunk, and the last man died in 2019.
I was there a few years ago and it was massive! I think they have tours of different museum areas at different times. You can call or check it out online.
When I was there I saw some knowledgeable people in various locations to answer questions (retired air force I think).
Having the opportunity to see all of the WW II planes was surreal. Well kept but brutal machines with a devastating history.
My favorite was the B 52 Stratofortress bomber from the 1960s (I think). It was so huge I just walking around it amazed that something this big could even get off the ground. The wings were unbelievably long. Photos do not do it justice.
I was only there for about 3/4 hours and did not get to see everything.
As you probably know, the museum has large galleries of aircraft on display from different eras, along with one that features Presidential aircraft. To give you an idea of the size of the place, here’s a panoramic video of the Cold War Gallery.
When you say “three hours”, that’s measured from when to when? Three hours away from your competition is very different from 3 hours from building entrance to exit.
I’m an airplane nut but I spent 3 full days there to see everything. That was a bunch of years ago; I have no current advice to offer. Except to say that it’s big. Both a large number of items on display and lots of those items are large on a human scale.
It’s about the size of modern long range airliners; smaller than most in fact. When you ride an airliner you don’t get a sense of the size of the thing from inside. Walking around underneath one is a very different perspective. As you saw.
Re old I have been there probably a dozen times and it never gets old for me. I love airplanes, my Dad served on the ground crew for the 69th Fighter squadron in the Pacific in WW2. In the 80’s they had the fuselage of “Bocks’ Car” (the plane that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki) set up on blocks. You could walk through and touch everything. That is changed now of course.
Yea, was there just last week. It helps that my office is only a half a mile away, though.
I love the cold war hangar and the (new) missile exhibit in the very back. The Air Force One planes are cool. And their XB-70 Valkyrie is a sight to behold.
I think you can get a tour guide. But most people don’t, and I personally wouldn’t bother. With only three hours, I would just roam around. Would also not recommend a movie, as it will just eat into those hours.
You have to see the ones they have that there are only one (or not many) of. The XB-70 (one) B-36 (six I believe in museums), X-15 (two), YF-12A (one).
They also have the “cornfield bomber” F106. There are lots of F106s on display but only one that landed unpiloted.
The video of the Cold War Gallery looks like the first place I’d want to see (a SR-71!)
I think it’ll be three hours on site. Your 3 full days is similar to what I’ve read on TripAdvisor; sometime there suggested three days, which why I want to know what to see before going. It seems kind of like having limited time at a Disney park, where you need a plan of attack before setting foot in the place.
I’ll skip the movies. We were at Kennedy Space Center a few years ago, and I wanted to see the real things, not a video. At KSC you had to take a bus around the site, but we just roamed around the displays, so I’ll probably skip the tour guide in Dayton too. I can see what time we are free, but it might be hard to plan on meeting. Thanks for the offer.
Are there any websites with more videos or itinaries? I’ll check what’s on YouTube.
It’s huge. My grandparents lived nearby, so I have been there dozens of times. I don’t think I’ve ever spent less than a day there. Sorry.
And I just looked at the Wikpedia page. The 4th building was opened in June 2016, and we were last there when it was under construction. Oof. I still have a mug which I bought at my last visit, and I used it today.
It’s a darn shame the National Museum of the USAF official website doesn’t have a map of the displays. But scrolling through the slide show of one pic for each of the ~11 galleries gives a sense of scale. Big. Plus stuff stored outside.
Know that the museum is free, but they have a very professional person encouraging you to donate money to them right near the entrance.
In November it was not exactly warm in the museum. Which made sense in retrospect, but might be a thing you should consider when preparing.
We saw the WWI and WWII exhibits, and then tried to hurry all the way down to the Air Force One exhibit. It was much farther away than I expected. If the space stuff and the presidential stuff is what you are most interested in, go there first, you can at least glance at the other galleries on your way out and back.
The Air Forces Ones were all really cool, although also a little repetitive. (I think I went in all of them, my dad went in the first one, my mother sat them all out).
My biggest piece of advice is that you should not walk all the way up the Shuttle Display. Walk around it, know that it is (sort of) cool and very huge, but you don’t get to see much actual Shuttle Stuff relative to the amount of time you spend walking up and down the ramps.
We barely saw anything else space related, because I was hungry, and my parents were exhausted. (I believe they had food available somewhere, we opted for food outside the museum).
I loved how much signage explaining history they had near most of the planes. (I did not love a lot of the actual history).
(note: it is my impression that they do have a fleet of free wheelchairs and electric carts one can borrow. Good luck convincing my mother to use one).
Another vote for the XB-70. Probably my favorite plane ever, yet I honestly forgot it lived there. When I walked into the Cold War gallery my jaw dropped being in it’s presence. The wrinkles on the fuselage cantilevered beyond the nose gear made me sad, but I was amazed to be standing under it.
Bocks Car was humbling to see, as was the Memphis Belle. The collection of ICBMs and RVs was kind of disturbing in an interesting sort of way.
The Apollo 15 Command Module was the big reason for me to make the trip there (I was in Columbus for a work trip and made the drive to Dayton). If you’re into space like me, that was a Big Deal. I managed to see six Apollo CMs in 2023-2024, that was number four.
Honestly, it’s 10x better than Air and Space and/or Udvar Hazy. One of my three favorite museums in the world (Chicago Science and Industry and London Science round out the best - huh, they all have Apollo CMs…).
I don’t know if I should say this or not, but you may have missed the best part. I was at the KSC visitor center about 3 years ago. There’s a main campus with exhibits on some of the early rocketry, Mercury, Gemini, and Space Shuttle. If you board the bus, it takes you through the security checkpoint on to the actual KSC grounds. It goes past the VAB and there’s a big building with all the Apollo stuff, including a complete Saturn V on its side. It’s only a few miles from the launch pad for the Apollo and Shuttle launches; I think it’s the site of the VIP viewing area you see in old newsreels.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Of course we used the buses to get to the gantries area and the VAB area. Seeing the full Saturn V really gives you a chance to see how big the rocket was. I don’t recall a real tour guide at KSC, other than the bus narration. We just walked around the Saturn V with mouths agape.
I didn’t know Dayton had an Apollo capsule; now we’ll have to go! I’ve seen the ones in Chicago (8), Washington (11), Hutchinson (13), KSC (14), so I’d love to add 15 to my list.
Interesting. I hadn’t thought of trying to see them all, but it would make for an interesting bucket list. I’ve seen five of the Concordes since they were retired.
