The Top 5 Aviation Museums Across the United States

Even though it’s been less than 125 years since the Wright brothers made their first successful flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, since then mankind has produced enough aviation artifacts to fill hundreds of  museums around the world! Fortunately, some of the very best aviation museums are located right here in the United States, five of which I am highlighting in this post. I’ve teamed up with three other travel bloggers who have shared with me their favorite aviation museum to visit. So please make sure your seats and tray tables are in their full upright position, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

Located in Dayton Ohio, the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is one of the most important sites for Aviation nerds. It’s a bit of a pilgrimage site, as it contains many of the important early American flight sites. The park includes incredibly important sites including the Wright brother’s bicycle shop, the Huffman Prairie Flying Field (where the brothers practiced and housed their planes close to home), Carillon Park (home of the original 1905 Wright Flyer III),  as well an interpretive center.

The site is quite impressive for early aviation fans, getting to explore the real sites that most only read about in history books. The bicycle shop contains many original artifacts and the ranger led tours provide great information on the site.

The Huffman Prairie Flying field is a great stop for visitors. It is a massive field with a few historical places you can explore. Note, the field is located on Wright-Patterson Airforce Base and closes periodically and is strict on security and locations visitors can access.

The park does require travel to visit all locations with some locations more than 20 minutes driving apart. Visiting all the locations can be accomplished in a day, just be sure to pay attention to opening times of the various sites.

The Lone Star Flight Museum

While not a huge museum, the Lone Star Flight Museum outside of Houston, Texas is at the top of my list of favorite aviation museums. It’s perfect if you’re into planes like I am, packed with over 60,000 square feet of beautifully restored aircraft and awesome exhibits! The museum features dozens of historically significant aircraft, including planes like the B-17 Flying Fortress. For kids and adults who like to have fun there’s an Aviation Academy filled with almost 30 different hands-on activities demonstrating scientific principals of aerodynamics, airplane design and flight. There is also a Space Gallery exhibit featuring a crew compartment trainer as well as other interesting artifacts from NASA. A really cool thing about this aviation museum is that many of the aircraft are not just static displays, you can book rides on them (just make sure you book well in advance)!

The Naval Aviation Museum

The Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida is one of the country’s top aviation museums not only because it’s the home base for the Blue Angels, but also because it’s free to visit, it’s one of the largest aviation museums in the world, and you can even shake hands with a World War 2 vet.

If you visit the Naval Aviation Museum between the months of March and November, you can typically catch the Blue Angels practices for free at the museum on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and select days even have meet and greets with the pilots. It gets really busy though, so I recommend arriving early on these days.

The museum and the Blue Angels practices are completely free to experience, though the museum does have a few extra paid activities you can add on like the theater, flight simulators, and cockpit trainers.

And while the museum is enormous and offers one of the largest aircraft collections, one of my favorite and most special experiences at the museum was getting to talk to and shake hands with World War 2 Veteran Cash Barber who does regular meet and greets at the museum for the time being.

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

An extension of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Center is made up of two hangars – Boeing Aviation Hangar and the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar – that together have over 32,000 square feet of hundreds of aircraft and historical artifacts on display from the early days of aviation, the space program, commercial and military aviation and more. No matter how many times I go, I never get bored. There is so much to see you can easily spend a couple of hours or more. Some of the highlights include the SR-71 Blackbird, the Enola Gay and the Space Shuttle Discovery. There’s also a restoration hangar where you can watch aircraft being restored and a an observation tower where you can watch airplanes coming and going from Dulles International Airport. And maybe the best part of all – admission is always free (though you do have to pay $15 for parking).

Museum of Flight

One of the best aviation museums to visit in the US is the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

The Museum of Flight has a large number of exhibits for visitors to enjoy.  A  popular interactive exhibit at the museum is The Tower at Boeing Field.  Here visitors learn about what happens in the control tower and how air traffic controllers keep travelers safe in the air.

Some other highlights that shouldn’t be missed include, the World War I and II fighters, the Lockheed M21 Blackbird, and the Aviation Pavilion which includes some of the first Boeing aircrafts, the first Air Force One, and the Concorde.

The Museum of Flight is easily accessible by both car and public transportation.  It’s open every day from 10-5, and admission is free from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM on the first Thursday of every month.  Admission is otherwise:

Adult (18+): $29
Senior (65+): $25
Youth (5-17): $21

Child (0-4): FREE

Museum Member: FREE 

Enjoy your visit to the Museum of Flight!

These are just a few of the many great aviation museums that can be found across the United States! Whether you’re a history buff, an aviation enthusiast, or simply fascinated by the wonders of flight, these museums will surely provide you with an unforgettable experience. What is one of your favorite aviation museums to visit?