Best Aviation Museums?

[flymeaway]

Any favorites or noteworthy inclusions? Must-see's? I love hitting local exhibits and museums on trips...any suggestions?

My list:

Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum, NYC
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/
A must-see!

Swift Aircraft Museum, Athens, TN (my hometown) :grin:
http://www.napanet.net/~arbeau/swift/
Very interesting - Memorial Day fly-in

Tennessee Museum of Aviation, Sevierville, TN
http://www.tnairmuseum.com
Very, very cool museum, almost as well put together as its website....nice (normal) distraction from the tourist-trap that is Gatlinburg. (US military vets get in free)

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, Rhinebeck, NY
http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/
If you'd ever enjoy seeing vintage WWI aircraft *flying*, then this is definitely a must-see. Excellent show and hangars full of old (non-airworthy) planes.

Fun. :grin:

[Ryanair]

In the UK, former? RAF-base Duxford has a fabulous set of civil and military aircraft on show.
I'll try to find you a website!

[Nighthawk79]

In germany there are also a few good museums.
The "Technik Museum" in Sinsheim and in Speyer (located south and southwest of Frankfurt) displaying a varierity of aircrafts, submarines, ships, cars, tanks, trains and other "mashines".
In Sinsheim u´ll find the russian "Concorde" TU144 on display and in Speyer the Antonov An22, the world largest prob. :plane:
http://www.technik-museum.de

Another fantastic place is the "Deutsche Museum" in Munich. It is splitted in 2 museums, the main part in down town Munich displaying everything, from Aircrafts, rockets, cars, trains and industrial mashines combined with german history. But there is also just an aviation part of the german museum close to the airport.

www.Deutsches-Museum.de (http://www.Deutsches-Museum.de)
:plane:

:windsock: all is worth to see :wink_2:

cheers and have fun
night
:pilot_2: :plane: :pilot:

[Paddles_up]

You forgot the Evergreen (Michael King Smith) Aviation Museum in McMinnevile, Oregon.

It houses the HK-1 formerly of LGB, CA.
(The slang name for the aircraft is "The Spruce Goose") :windsock:

[Docent75]

The Museum of Flight in Seattle, http://www.museumofflight.org/ is good. It's intimate, and give a feel for what the industry was like in the days of wood and cloth.

Some people like Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., http://www.nasm.edu/
The Air Transportation Gallery is scheduled for a major up date in the next few years. Currently the most modern a/c in the gallery is a DC-7 nose sectiion. There is a small exhibit on crew uniforms as you leave the DC-7. The annex at IAD will open next December. It is located on the south end of the field.

[nwacrew]

I agree with you, Ryanair! It's Duxford. Worth the trip just to be able to walk around and board that beautiful BOAC Super VC10 they have on display!

[Mystere IV A]

For those in Europe I suggest you to have a look at the European Aircraft Preservation Council web site at the following URL :
EAPC (http://www.aeronauta.com/eapc/)
If you click in the left column on members, you'll find there web sites URL for major European museums.

Fly High :windsock:
:pilot_2:

[NWAFrontliner]

Though a tiny air museum, the Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver, Washington (about 15 minutes from PDX, next to the historic Fort Vancouver National Monument) has a few interesting items. One that they have tucked away on their second floor is the only surviving piece of the Zeppelin airship Hindenburg, a lounge seat, along with a photo of the seat as it appeared on that fascinating aircraft before its disasterous last voyage.

[SUPERGUY]

One of the best that I have visited is the San Diego Aerospace Museum. Located in Balboa Park near downtown San Diego, it has a vast collection of aircraft and spacecraft spanning from the dawn of flight to the space age.

If you are ever in San Diego for a visit, do yourself a favor and take the museum in. You will not be disappointed!

[Paddles_up]

Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver, Washington



DITTO!!!! I live right near it. One of my favorite parts of this museum is the "hands on" kids lab! The entire museum is kid friendly! :smile_2:

Last month, we held an aviation youth camp there and the staff was just fantastic!

[NWAFrontliner]

A really fabulous air museum that I visited and took a number of photos of the aircraft at, is the RAF Museum in Hendon (London). It is breathtaking!!! Their "Battle of Britain" collection includes British, American and German aircraft of every type, even down to the service vehicles used for each plane type. You'll find the B17 Flying Fortress, various Spitfires, and even several wonderful flying boats, including a Shorts Sunderland MR5. There is a collection that gives you the complete history of the aircraft engine, with the actual engines for you to see and touch.
There are two RAF Museums. The one I visited is in Hendon. The other is in Cosford (which I will visit next trip). I looked for the web site and found it. If you would like to visit it, it's: www.rafmuseum.org.uk (http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk)
I also made friends with the father of the owner of the B&B where I was staying. He had been a Lancaster pilot during WWII, and he also highly recommended the Hendon location. His stories really brought to life the aircraft I was seeing. :plane: :plane: :plane: :plane:

[Nighthawk79]

In germany there are also a few good museums.
The "Technik Museum" in Sinsheim and in Speyer (located south and southwest of Frankfurt) displaying a varierity of aircrafts, submarines, ships, cars, tanks, trains and other "mashines".
In Sinsheim u´ll find the russian "Concorde" TU144 on display and in Speyer the Antonov An22, the world largest prob. :plane:
http://www.technik-museum.de






Since I`ve posted this information exactly one year ago, the museum in Speyer is having now in addition a LH B747-200 on display and for the museum in Sinsheim an :windsock:AF Concorde :windsock: just arrived and will be ready for display eastern 2004 :laugh:

:pilot_2: :plane: :pilot:

[flymeaway]

One that they have tucked away on their second floor is the only surviving piece of the Zeppelin airship Hindenburg, a lounge seat, along with a photo of the seat as it appeared on that fascinating aircraft before its disasterous last voyage.



I met a man who claimed to be the son of the photographer who took those famous photos of the disaster. He said he had the original prints and negatives (or whatever format they were taken in? can't remember) that his father had taken. He was looking for a place to auction them at the time...

[Paddles_up]

He was looking for a place to auction them at the time



It's sad that people look at these things as money makers! It's too bad he couldn't donate to a formidable museum. Perhaps the Smithsonian. I HATE to see relics such as those fall into the wrong hands!

[Studley]

In Dallas, it's the Cavanaugh Flight Museum.

www.cavanaughflightmuseum.com/ (http://www.cavanaughflightmuseum.com/)

I live and work close to there, and love hearing the WWII warbirds as they take off and fly around the neighbourhood, practicing for airshows on Memorial Day and July 4. :cool_2:

If you're going to be in town and want to visit the museum, drop me a line. I'll tour it with ya. :smile_2:

[flymeaway]

It's sad that people look at these things as money makers!



Agreed...and notice I said the guy 'claimed' to be...he was in pretty rough shape, and would have sold them to my friend and I on the spot if we'd not been very suspicious.

[747Les]

The Brooklands College in Weybridge has a VC10 out front of it. There's the Fleet Air Arm at Yeovilton, in Somerset. And the RAF Museum at Cosford. They have a British Aiways collection of aircraft.

[Jenny@Nw]

well this isn't the best but if anyone is stuck @ HNL during the afternoon should check out the aviation museum AT THE AIRPORT, between gates 12-13 and gate 11.
It's pretty cool.... got some WW2 uniforms, models of german planes... some computer stuff. real interesting stuff.

[NWAFrontliner]

Yes, the HNL Aviation Museum inside the airport is a good way to kill time there. I've visited it several times. HNL is a "hurry and wait" type of airport, it seems. It's a nice distraction. :smirk:

[747Les]

BWI Airport has a neat little display as well.

[Archer]

The Brooklands College in Weybridge has a VC10 out front of it.



Actually it's The Brooklands Museum. Apart from the VC10 they have the only surviving Vanguard, a Viscount, a 1-11, a Wellington and many more aircraft. (Web Site) (http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com)