National Museum of the United States Air Force
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The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official national museum of the United States Air Force and is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, east of Dayton, Ohio. Over 300 aircraft and missiles are on display, most of them indoors. Admission is free.
The museum has many rare and important aircraft and other exhibits, including one of four surviving B-36s, the only surviving XB-70, and Bockscar—the B-29 that dropped the second atomic bomb in World War II. It also has several Presidental Aircraft, including those used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and SAM 26000, the first aircraft to be called Air Force One, used by John F. Kennedy through George H. W. Bush, but primarily by Kennedy through Richard Nixon (Nixon, during his second term through Bush used the second aircraft to be called Air Force One, SAM 27000).
There is an large section of the museum dedicated to pioneers of flight, especially the Wright Brothers, who conducted some of their experiments at nearby Huffman Prairie. The Wright's 1909 Military Flyer is on display, as well as other Wright Brothers artifacts. The building also hosts the National Aviation Hall of Fame, which includes several educational exhibits.
The museum completed the construction of a third hangar and hall of missiles in 2004. It now houses planes such as the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. Exhibits are currently being rearranged to make use of the new space, but the buildlings are open to the public.
External link
- Official website (http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/)
- The USAF Museum Foundation - a private non-profit organization supporting the mission and goals of the National Museum of the USAF (http://afmuseum.com/)