National Museum of the United States Air Force: Dayton, Ohio

When you wan to learn more about the aviation industry, there is no better place than the birthplace of aviation - Dayton, Ohio. Large enough to visit/adventure for an entire weekend, the National Museum of the United States Air Force is completely free to the public. It has something to offer children, adults and everyone in between,

Starting from the entrance near the picnic area, parking and memorial park doorway, there is free parking for everyone. It has a large reception lobby with an entrance to the left for IMAX move-goers. To the right patrons can talk with a friendly receptionist at the reception desk or walk through the gift shop to get to the museum. I highly suggest going to the reception desk the first visit to hear the special daily activities and to pick up a map printout of the entire museum. It is a well laid out museum but it is generally easier to navigate with a map to alleviate guessing and reduce time searching around.

There are five basic sections of the museum:

1. Early Years: includes aviation historical machines and memorabilia from World War II.

2. National Aviation Hall of Fame: Admittedly this is not the most exciting part of the museum however it does hold some interest to those whom love the history side of the aviation industry. It contains photos of previous professionals on the wall along with a quilt made from different countries represented. In addition when my husband and I visited, we found there was a lovely minute representation of Bob Hope and his involvement during World War II.

3. Modern Flight Gallery: This includes many different parts of aviation throughout involvement in Korea and Southeast Asia during the wars. Of special interest to children and young at heart are the B29 and the C-124 that are available for a free walk-through.

4. Cold War Gallery: Less involved than the other galleries, this is a more open layout with planes from the cold war. The special interest areas of this section are the open cockpits of the F-4 and F-16. (This is a wonderful spot for taking photographs of people visiting with you while sitting in a real airplane.)

5. Missile & Space Gallery: Although it may not sound like much, just standing in front of these massively large missiles came bring a jaw-dropping moment to anyone. The missiles are on display to get right up next to and feel the power right in front of you. The strength and height of these missiles makes the entire gallery become hushed and is an extremely powerful experience that everyone should come across at least once.

Operating Hours are from 9A.M. to 5P.M. daily and is only closed on major holidays. Admission and parking is 100% free (although you can give a donation if you wish). There is plenty of parking available and there is a drop of circle drive in front of the building for those needing a direct drop-off at the front entrance.

From my personal experience, I highly suggest planning at least one full day at the museum. We went for one full day and there was so much that our heads were spinning by the end of the day; there is too much to grasp all in one day. In addition, I found that the large hanger-style galleries were a bit cold due to the vast open space, so I highly suggest taking a jacket or light sweater if you are easily cold.

If you are planning a whole day I suggest setting up the Presidential tour that you can arrange when you get to the museum. It is a tour that takes less than one hour and is again completely free to everyone. To sign up for the special tour, go to the information desk and show a government identification such as a driver's license or state identification. Meeting in the Carney Auditorium in the middle of the Early Years Gallery fifteen minutes before the start time, a tour guide leads the group to a retired school bus that will take everyone on to the Air Force Base to a large hanger containing two sections of ex-Presidential airplanes and experiment planes. The tour begins each hour and only has a select amount of people that can signup each hour; hence it is a good idea to sign up for a tour time right when you arrive at the museum, it is worth it!

If you would like to get directions ahead of time please contact customer service at (937) 255-3286 or visit the website at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil.