National Museum of the United States Air Force

My father-​in-​law suggested this to us while we were visiting him. This has been a great day and very educational. The kids loved it and will be recommending this to our friends.

Simply put, the top free attraction in America.

My family and I make the trip from Cincinnati about once a month. With young kids, it’s hard to find indoor activities that can keep both the parents and kids engaged. And the Air Force Museum has hundreds (maybe thousands) of planes and exhibits that both parents and kids will enjoy.
There are a few planes that you can get in the cockpit, though not as many as I’d expect from a place so large.
The best part is that it’s completely free. Highly recommend for people of all ages, especially families.

Best collection of fighter jets and rockets any where in the USA! Both old and new (F22 new!) I especially loved the SAMs collection which is unique in the many aerospace museums I visited so far.

If it ever flew, then it’s probably at the AF museum. This is a must see item in the Dayton area.

What? This awesome museum has free admission? Wow! Yes!
We wanted to stop at the Air Force Museum on our way to Illinois this weekend, so that we did. We had some time to kill so we took our time exploring the museum and it’s awesome airplanes. I have loved airplanes since I was a boy. I once wanted to be a fighter jet pilot! Before we went in, we scoped out the planes outside, which were fun to look closely at, especially the C-​17 Globe Master, which was enormous.
Upon entry to the museum, I bought a souvenir. Then we walked through the many hangars that were full of historical planes such as the SR-​71 Blackbird (my favorite), an F-​22 Raptor (totally awesome), several amazing bombers, and Bockscar, to name a few. I saw what a nuclear bomb looks like and the plane that dropped one over Nagasaki many years ago. Seeing the plane with a replica atomic bomb next to it actually made me sad. The planes were truly amazing, but that’s not all there is to see. We spent at least two hours walking around, but you could easily spend a day or two if you’re a history buff.
This place is amazing. If you haven’t visited, put it on your calendar.

This was my third or fourth trip to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. It has been quite some time since my last trip. I was excited to go for my first visit as an «adult». It’s very easy to find and easy to get parking. Parking and admission is free.
When entering there is a security checkpoint with metal detector. No drinks or weapons of any kind are allowed. This should seem obvious. There are several museum curators and uniformed Air Force members providing security.
The beginning of the tour starts in the «Early Years». Examples of primitive hot air balloon technology, to a complete bicycle from the Wright Brothers shop. The flow of the floor was pretty good I thought. My only real complaint is that a few of the corners were not lit and hard to see items or text there. My favorite part was the WWII section. There is a lot more than just military planes here. Uniforms, machine guns, explosives, and a few other military vehicles.
I am very interested in this kind of stuff but would not call myself an aircraft buff or even anyone that interested in them. Seeing these magnificent pieces of engineering and realizing how for the technology came in such a short period of time is more than impressive. There was a section of the museum dedicated to the holocaust which featured a striped uniform worn by an inmate at the Buchenwald concentration camp. There was such a weird energy coming from that thing.
In summary, GO! Please do yourself a favor and go to this museum. You will not be disappointed. Plan on staying for several hours, give yourself plenty of time. There is a lot to see.

This museum left me awestruck and speechless. It is the most incredible collection of air, space and military that there is anywhere. If you plan to attend here you will want to plan at least two days if not three. It is absolutely huge and if you want to see everything they have you will need at least that much time to walk through. You start in the front part and work your way back starting with the very first aircraft all the way to some of the jets. You’ll see aircraft from each of the wars as well as the plane and the bomb that was dropped on Japan. This is an absolute must see for any aircraft enthusiast.

Very nice museum. Lots of volunteers and very organized! I had a great time! I didn’t see any reason to mark this place down.

How incredible is it that this collection of aviation artifacts is just hanging out in Dayton?* For sheer volume, I’d put the AF museum up against anything. And that’s not even counting the fact that it is free (funded through taxes, anyway) — another option if the Smithsonian is too far away for someone to visit. You’ll find everything from aircraft to spacesuits to early atom bombs.
Plenty of reviewers have mentioned the astonishing collection of aircraft and memorabilia, and yes, they are absolutely incredible. (I can’t get enough of the nose art, either. PC this ain’t!) But what jumped out for me was a separate, truly moving collection of Holocaust artifacts and information. I didn’t expect to find something like that here, and it’s impressive both for its artifacts and the way it’s discussed. They have a prisoner uniform (rare since many of the uniforms were burned and/​or confiscated upon camp liberations), and they tell the story through ties back to the Dayton community. It’s not just a horrible thing that happened, it’s something that happened to the Dayton area’s parents, and children, and friends. It’s pretty remarkable that American soldiers would liberate the nieces and nephews and uncles and aunts of their own neighbors back in the US, and says something good about us at a time when we could use a reminder of it.
The AF museum works both as an aviation museum and a history museum. A cool place, and the upcoming expansion will make it even more ridiculously large and awesome. Well worth a long visit.
* Rhetorical, I know — Wright brothers had their business here, one of the biggest AF bases out there sits in Dayton, etc.

Best place to go regardless of age, lace up some sturdy walking shoes and head on over. A perfect place to go when the weather is bad.

What can I say this is the place for an aviation buff. Airplane after airplane about history. No cost is the bomb, the snack bars are reasonable the gift shop has something for every one.

One of the few things in the Dayton area that people travel here to see. If you are a plane, air force, war, history space program enthusiast … this is worth a stop. truthfully I am not but it’s one of the few free things in the area to do in bad weather so we spend about 3 hours looking around. it was more interesting than I expected … took lots of pictures and glad I stopped by.

There is no way this museum receives less than five stars. No way.
It is the official museum of the United States Air Force, and its predecessor, the Army Air Corps. It is also the largest aircraft museum in the world, in terms of aircraft displayed. It sets a very high standard for World Class aircraft museums.
In a few months (June 2016 is scheduled) a fourth massive hangar will be opened to the public. It will house presidential and special mission aircraft, among others. The mighty B-​70 will no doubt be the main attraction.
Time to schedule another trip to Dayton, Ohio. The last time I visited this museum it took two days to fully explore and appreciate this national treasure. Now, with new displays and a whole new hangar full of aircraft, I’m thinking a three-​day window of plane-​fantastic heaven.
This museum is as good as it gets. Bar none. Besides, I need a new souvenir T-​shirt and mug.

I’m not a plane person nor was I interested in touring this museum with my coworkers. It was free, and I needed to get my daily steps in so I followed them in… WOW. Just WOW. This place is amazing! I learned so much great history and saw many amazing planes up close and personal.
The volunteers were at every corner and answered all of our questions (yes, we got lost).
The gift shop has something for everyone and is crazy inexpensive. I purchased a post card for $.20.
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is incredible! Every person MUST come here at least once in their lifetime.

This was probably my third or fourth visit to the museum and I must say visiting it as an adult is much more impactful than visiting it as a youth with classmates.
There were several moments in the war exhibits where I found myself reaching for my phone wondering and searching, «what was that war about? Why did suchandsuch attack us/​vice versa?»
A few important notes on this museum:
–noted as one of the top ten museums in the country on Unilocal
–free admission and parking
–it’s HUGE!
–kids may lose interest after an hour
–pictures are allowed
–I appreciated the Holocaust museum which offered a refresher before exploring the WWII planes
–the gift shop is expansive
–this is the largest Air Force museum in the world

A little over two years ago, I separated from the Air Force after ten years on active duty. I was a crew chief (and later a crew chief instructor) on the F-​22 Raptor stealth fighter. Sometimes, I find myself missing the Air Force. Visiting the National Museum of the United States Air Force on a road trip between Atlanta and Detroit gave me an opportunity to reconnect with that past chapter in my life.
There’s no better value than free admission and free parking. The three aircraft hangars that house most of the aircraft are simply massive. Nearly every airframe ever used by the Air Force /​Army Air Corps was on display here.
The first hangar featured mostly early aviation /​WWI /​WWII era aircraft such as the P-​38 Lightning, P-​51 Mustang, P-​47 Thunderbolt, B-​17 Flying Fortress, B-​29 Superfortress (Bockscar, the one that dropped the nuke over Nagasaki), P-​40 Warhawk, etc. Heck, even opposing Nazi aircraft were on display like the Me-​262, Me-​163 Komet, BF-​109, and the FW-​190. Really cool.
The second massive hangar housed, among other things, my cherished F-​22 Raptor. Also in the hangar, «Southeast Asia War» and Korean War era aircraft such as the B-​52 Stratofortress, F-​111 Aardvark, F-​5, F-​105 Thunderchief, F-​4 Phantom, and F-​86 Sabre.
The third hangar took me off guard. I wouldn’t have expected to come face to… uhm, cockpit with a B-​2 Spirit stealth bomber. Sucker was huge! Also in the hangar — Cold War era aircraft like the SR-​71 Blackbird, B-​1 Lancer, F-​117 Nighthawk, U-​2 Dragon Lady, A-​10 Thunderbolt II, and F-​15 Eagle. There was even a Soviet MiG-​29 Fulcrum and a mock up of the Space Shuttle.
Aside from the aircraft, there were numerous exhibits featuring various Air Force and war artifacts and memorabilia. One could easily spend the better part of a day here. It truly is a shame that I didn’t have more time to take in all that was on display here.
Though I had a special appreciation for this museum, being an Air Force Vet and aircraft mechanic, just about everyone (short of anti-​war/​anti-​military types) should enjoy learning from this enormous museum. Highly recommended.

Very serine and sobering.
There are 5 buildings plus an outside display of planes and memorials.
Very nice gift shop along with a Theatre in which you can buy tickets to see a 3d movie as well as other informative movies.
It is free to get in and donations are welcomed.
Parking is adequate the front parking lot is the best place to park otherwise if you park in the overflow you do have a distance to walk.
They have a section for the Holocaust which was very moving and well thought out with quilts and artwork from local students as well as local residents that were involved in helping free the victims by placing their lives on the line.
Definitely a place to explore as well as support.

One of the best historical museum I have been to this side of the Potomac, The Air Force’s official historic showcase is large, impressive, and free of charge. There are so many exhibits, artifacts, and information packed in its four large hangers and connected hallways that one day is not enough to take it all in. For anyone that loves military history, the history of flight, the evolution of engineering, or just the panoramic sights of real planes and jets this is a must do — yearly. It is the Cedar Point of museums and a top stop in Ohio for anyone passing by on the I70/​I75 corridor.
It was my first time here and I never knew the vast scale of the place. There is a hanger for each time period of WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam, and a darker one for the Cold War. A connected silo is attached with rockets: minutemen, Titan 1 and 2, and other ICBMs. Another hanger, deeper inside the base here has Presidential Airplanes and a section for experimental crafts and R&D. You can be burnout by the absolute interesting; it is a total nerd overdose!
The showcase is at Wright Pat, the nations largest airforce base, home of the Air Forces’ Material Command, the place were the Dayton accords – ending the wars in Bosnia – was signed, and the secret keep place for the aliens of Roswell – or so my tin hatted uncle says. The corps’ Research unit is here too which is the main reason for all this stuff, as well as the fact that Dayton was the home of the Wright Brothers, and Ohio mastery of flight and space travel (suck it North Carolina!) Such local history on the subject makes Wright-​Pat the perfect home for it.
Ranging from the first bamboo built fixed wingers to high tech stealths the museum has everything. They have the first jet model, a Nazi craft captured after VE-​Day, a Mig got from a North Korean defector, and newer migs. They have every kind if fighter and bomber ever used by the United States Air Force/​air corps. These are real planes, the B29 still has bullet holes and flax damage. Some of them still could run, some were even flown here. There are examples of bombs, motors, and uniforms. The plane that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki is here, and the shell of the types of bombs used to end the war–
Little Boy a classic bomb shape with a collision device, and Fat Boy, a gigantic yellow implosion bomb.
They are open until 5, so get here early. To see the Presidential Planes and the R&D sections you have to get in line and have your Id checked. Do this early as the line will grow fast. They run you there on a blue bus. You can’t take picture while you are on it. (sometimes the aliens escape and walk around is the reason I guess.) This hanger has Air Force Ones for every POTUS since FDR to Reagan, including Kennedy’s, where LBJ took the oath as Kennedy’s corpse was flown back to DC. The R&D section is boss. With many strange contraptions and experimental craft including a flying saucer (see aliens!)
There is also a simulator ride and a 3D movie for those interested. A gift shop, A holocaust exhibit, and an art gallery also line the halls between hangers. The Valkyrie Café is a good lunch spot, standard cafeteria. There is way more to see here than you can get in in a day. It is a must do.

Wow!!! We took it as a good sign when we slowed down to take several pictures of the aircrafts sitting outside the museum on the grounds before we even made it through the gate to park. Make sure you plan for several hours here, maybe a full day if you’re really into airplane /​flight history.
There is so much to see and they have featured movies as well. The planes are roped off, of course, but you can still get very close to them and look all around. Detailed information available on plaques for most.
Admission is FREE. If you are able, make sure to pick up a brochure available for purchase or contribute in some way to this museum. It’s well worth it.