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Fly-In Aviation Museums

Too often, modern aviation museums are totally inaccessible to fly-in visitors – the ultimate irony.  For inclusion on THIS very specialized list, an aviation museum MUST be easily accessible to fly-in visitors.   This means within walking distance of where you park your plane! 

Alabama, Birmingham.  Located at the airport in Birmingham, Alabama.  Two blocks from Birmingham International Airport. (KBHM) www.southernmuseumofflight.org  

Another museum on an airport's grounds is:  www.njahof.org/ 

Arizona, Mesa. Commemorative Air Force Museum, AZ wing; located on Falcon Field (KFFZ), AZ  www.arizonawingcaf.org

Arizona, Valle.  (40G) Planes of Fame also has a branch in northern Arizona, at the Valle airport near the Grand Canyon. www.planesoffame.org/valle.htm

California, Atwater.  Castle Air Museum, Atwater, CA   Right next door -- easy walking distance -- to Castle Airport (KMER), the old Castle Airforce Base. Yes, you get 11,000' of runway to play with and an apron built for dozens of B-52s on the way to the tiedowns.  The museum itself is great -- everything from an SR-71 and a B-52 to a Cessna "Blue Canoe".  I've spent several days there... but the food there is dreadful.   www.elite.net/castle-air

California, Chino. (KCNO) The Planes of Fame Museum www.planesoffame.org

California, Los Angeles  The Western Museum of Flight at Hawthorne Muni. in Los Angeles (KHHR)  www.wmof.com

California, Palm Springs.  (KPSP) The Robert Pond Air Museum also provides visitor rides.   The aircraft in this museum are restored to a condition that probably exceeds that when they were newly constructed. www.air-museum.org 

California, San Diego. Gillespie Field (KSEE) Annex  From a small one-hangar beginning, the San Diego Aerospace Museum's annex at Gillespie Field has grown to become an integral part of the Museum's aircraft restoration and replica reproduction program. www.aerospacemuseum.org/gillespie

California, Santa Monica. (KSMO)   The museum at Santa Monica, CA will open in  2004.  www.museumofflying.com

California, Santa Rosa.  (KSTS) Pacific Coast Air Museum, Santa Rosa, CA  www.pacificcoastairmuseum.org   

Canada, Hamilton, Ontario.  (CYHM) There is also the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton where you can taxi up and park on the museum ramp.  If you visit the museum they will also waive the landing fees.  www.warplane.com   Email: museum@warplane.com

Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.  The Canadian National Aviation Museum is at Rockcliffe Airport in Ottawa.  Due to the layout they need to escort you in a back door.   Here are their directions:  "When you arrive in Ottawa, contact the Rockcliffe Flying Club at radio frequency 123.5.  The Museum will be contacted and notified of your visit.  Taxi over to the Museum and park next to the Northeast corner of the Museum Building.  The Museum's Visitor Services staff will greet you and escort you into the museum."    www.aviation.nmstc.ca/eng/english_home.html 

Canada, Victoria, BC's British Columbia Aviation Museum  have a nice collection of mostly non-flying aircraft, and a few flying ones. They just (summer 2003) restored a Noorduyn Norseman to full flying status. There are always several aircraft in the restoration hanger as well, which is also open to the public.  They're right on Victoria Int'l Airport (CYYJ) grounds, and have a taxiway to the apron, but I'm not sure what the deal would be about taxiing right to the Museum. www.bcam.net

Canada, Wetaskiwin, Alberta (CEX3) The Reynolds-Alberta Museum, at, not far south of Edmonton. It's a great collection of antique cars, trucks, tractors and airplanes. Right on the airport!  www.eidnet.org/local/aqueduct/ram.htm

Colorado, Pueblo. (KPUB) There's a small WWII museum at Pueblo, CO. It's right behind the FBO. www.pwam.org

Connecticut, Windor Locks. The New England Air Museum, Bradley Intl Airport (KBDL).   Inquire FBO about a courtesy shuttle to the museum.  Open daily.  Very nice museum. It has an early Cub, maybe a J-2? No brakes, in any event. A Corsair with a stairs for kids' tour groups; I sweet-talked the docent into letting me go up and sit in the cockpit, a real thrill. A B-47 outdoors (maybe indoors now?) that I also went through, since I was at a B-47 vets' reunion. A wonderful old flying boat, with a vintage car to go with it. A gift shop.  www.neam.org/cont_about.htm 

Florida, Lakeland. (KLAL)  Don't think I saw any mention of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland, Fl at the site of the Sun N Fun EAA fly in.

Florida, Lakeland. (KLAL)  Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight, near Lakeland, Fl. www.fantasyofflight.com  Note: Fantasy of Flight does not allow individual fly-in. You must make prior arrangements and have a group of 10 or more planes. Or participate in the Florida Pilots Associations fly-in: www.floridapilot.com and www.sun-n-fun.org/content/museum/main.asp?section=museum

Florida, Titusville. (KTIX) The Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL is accessible from GA.  Warbird Airshow- March 13 & 14, 2004.  See site for fly-in info.  www.vacwarbirds.org

Idaho, Sagle  (ID24) Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center.  This museum is located centrally in Sagle, Idaho, 3 miles south of Sandpoint, Idaho.  Bird Museum is 16,000 square feet and is fly-in accessible.  Bird Museum has a total of over 20 aircraft ranging from Ercoupes, Cessnas, Piper Cub, Stearman, Decathlon, Float Planes, Bell Helicopter and more.  There is a full café and gift shop. Contact Information: Rachel Riddle or Pam Bird at birdmuseum@hotmail.com 208-263-2549.

Updated Info Received 10/6/09:  "The correct airstrip to use for this museum is located about 2.3 nm ENE, (ID19) (Bird Ranch Airport or Bird 2 on the chart). Note from their information (link below) that it is for use by invitation only, and that KSZT (Sandpoint Airport) 8 nm NW is “the preferential landing site”.  I expect that is because Bird Ranch Airport is 1900 ft, uphill, with a dogleg mid-field, perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea? The photo on the Airnav page is from North of the uphill end of this one-way-in, other-way-out strip, not the approach end of the 'LAND TO THE NORTH AND TAKEOFF TO THE SOUTH' runway."

http://www.birdaviationmuseum.com/map_flyin.htm

Indiana, Columbus. (KBAK) Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum.  It's very small but still has some interesting exhibits.  There is a restaurant in the terminal building but be advised that it's closed on Sundays.  www.atterburybakalarairmuseum.org

Indiana, Valparaiso. (KVPZ)  Indiana Aviation Museum  We offer rides in the airplanes. www.in-am.org

Iowa, Greenfield. Iowa Aviation Museum and Hall of Fame.  Small, but very good. See it at www.flyingmuseum.com

Iowa, Ottumwa.  Airpower Museum and Antique Aircraft Association.  This is on a small, private, grass strip which is home to the most amazing annual fly-in every summer.  Call ahead for permission to land. See it at http://www.aaa-apm.org 

Kansas, Liberal.  The Mid America Air Museum in Liberal, KS.  It has about 100 aircraft in it and on the ramp and is located on the airport at Liberal. One of Max Conrad's record breaking Comanches is on display there. www.swaviator.com/html/issueON99/liberal.html

Kansas, Topeka.  Combat Air Museum.  Ditto above.  Another great museum located on the old Forbes Field air base. See it at www.combatairmuseum.org

Kentucky, Lexington (KLEX) has an air museum on the field that you can park in front of. www.aviationky.org

Kentucky, Middlesboro.  See Glacier Girl, the P-38 Lightning melted out of the deep Greenland Icecap, where she lay buried since the forties.   I take it she's still there, one of only a half-dozen remaining Lightnings.  www.p38.com/glaciergirl/default.html  

Maine, Owl’s Head. (RKD) The Owl's Head Transportation Museum in Owl's Head Maine (RKD).  www.ohtm.org

Maryland, College Park. College Park Aviation Museum. Of course you have to have prior permission to fly in the CGS these days.   I've been through the fingerprinting and rectal probing required however.  College Park Aviation Museum, College Park, MD  www.pgparks.com/places/historic/cpam

Michigan, Kalamazoo.  The Kalamazoo air museum is on the field, and you can taxi right to the museum.  The Flight and Restoration Center is open by special appointment only.  www.airzoo.org

Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan/Canada. The Canadian Bushplane Museum is on the St. Mary’s river in Sault Ste. Marie.  Free docking if you have a floatplane.   ;)  The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre is located in the historic former Ontario Provincial Air Service hangar at the edge of the St. Marys River in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Sault Ste. Marie (also known as the Soo) is located on the border between Canada and the United States at the hub of the Great Lakes. It is easily reached through Ontario via Trans-Canada Highway 17 or through Michigan via US Interstate I-75. The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre is also an official, registered water-based airport for floatplanes (PX8), as well as an excellent helicopter landing site.  www.bushplane.com 

Missouri, Kansas City (MKC) Airline History Museum www.airlinehistorymuseum.com

Missouri, St. Louis.  Creve Coeur. The Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum at Creve Coeur, MO.  Fly in, land on pavement or grass.  If you come on Sunday join the throng for lunch, $5 for a good carnivorous meal that the charge must barely cover. Catch an eyeful of more antique rare and homebuilt aircraft flying around than you'll see at most fly-ins.  www.historicaircraftrestorationmuseum.org

New Jersey, Cape May.  Cape May County Airport (WWD). The Cape  May museum is called the NAS Wildwood Museum.  It is small but nice.  In addition to the aircraft, they have a number of engines of various types that can be viewed up close (radials to jets).  Worth a visit if you're in the area.     www.usnasw.org

New Jersey, Milville (MIV) uses the original operations building as a museum of P47 memorabilia from its training days in WWII. No aircraft but is staffed w/people who worked or were stationed there during the war. Good diner also on the field.  www.p47millville.org

New Jersey, Mt. Holley.  South Jersey Regional  (VAY) has the Air Victory Museum on field www.airvictorymuseum.org

New Jersey, Teterboro. The Aviation Hall of Fame & Museum of New Jersey, at Teterboro Airport. (KTEB).  Open Tues-Sun 10-4.  Not sure about ramp or courtesy shuttles, KTEB can be extremely busy, so best to call ahead.  www.njahof.org  

New Jersey, Wildwood  Naval Air Station Museum.  www.usnasw.org

New Mexico, Moriarty. (KOEO) There is a soaring museum at Moriarty, NM. There are taxiways all over the place. www.swsoaringmuseum.org

New York, Elmira. (KELM) The "Wings of Eagles Discovery Center" is right next door to the FBO at Elmira, New York (ELM) www.WingsOfEagles.com

New York, Farmingdale (KFRG) has the American Airpower Museum on the east side of the field. Good exhibits & some of the WWII a/c fly on weekends.

New York, Farmingdale. At KFRG farmingdale/republic NY.  On the NE side of the field in a hangar next to an FBO. The last time I was there a WWII vet was giving a tour that was really good - including showing us a piece of shrapnel that came out of him.  I also attended the opening that featured "Gabby" Gabreski.  The museum tour seems to me to be overpriced. They sometimes have a B17 and a B25 when they are not at shows or otherwise generating revenue.  www.americanairpowermuseum.com

New York, Schenectady (SCH) has the Empire State Air Museum on field www.esam.org

North Carolina , Kitty Hawk. (FFA) Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, NC: www.nps.gov/wrbr/indepth/grounds_menu.htm  

North Carolina, Asheboro. (HBI) Petticord Foundation for Aircraft Construction in Asheboro, NC (704) 359-8442 

North Carolina, Charlotte. (CLT) Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, NC www.chacweb.com

North Carolina, Hendersonville.  WNC Air Museum is accessible by two runways --- 0A7 and the Museum's own sod field. www.wncairmuseum.com 

North Carolina, Manteo. (MQI) Civil Air Patrol and Manteo Navy Aviation Air Station Museum: www.fly2mqi.com/museum.asp  

Oklahoma, Weatherford.  There is the Thomas P. Stafford Museum at the Weatherford, Ok.airport, (F91).  It is a very nice, fairly new, smaller sized museum that is accessible from the G.A. ramp.  In case you didn't know, Stafford is a famous astronaut and Weatherford is his home town. www.staffordairandspacemuseum.com

Oregon, McMinnville.  (KMMV) The museum is across the street from the airport. You can park where ever you want (within reason) on the airport and it's a relatively easy walk to the museum. www.sprucegoose.org  

Oregon, Tillamook.  (S47) I live 10 minutes by RV-6 from the Tillamook air museum. The building is almost as interesting as the aircraft. It is an old WWll blimp hangar and is the largest wooden structure in the world. There used to be two hangars but about 10 years ago one of them burned down while being used to store hay.   www.tillamookair.com 

Pennsylvania, Beaver Falls. Air Heritage Musem, Beaver County Airport (BVI),  www.trfn.clpgh.org/ah

Pennsylvania, Brandwine. (N99) Helicopter museum.  One of the prototype V-22 Osprey sits in front. www.helicoptermuseum.org  

Pennsylvania, Lock Haven. Piper Museum, William T. Piper Memorial Airport (LHV), Lock Haven, PA  www.pipermuseum.com

Pennsylvania, Reading. The Mid Atlantic Air Museum, Carl Spatz Field (KRDG)   Request taxi to the museum.  Open daily.   Don't miss their WW II weekends, usually the first weekend of June.  "The Museum's collection includes award-winning warbirds, classic airliners, rare & unusual military and civilian aircraft and historic exhibits."  www.maam.org

Rhode Island, North Kingstown. (OQU)  Quonset State. It is a short walk from the tower/field.  (About 1/2 mile) http://www.theqam.org

Tennessee , Tullahoma.  The Staggerwing Museum at Tullahoma, Tennessee (THA).  www.staggerwing.com

Tennessee, Sevierville.  Tennessee Museum of Aviation.  (Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport GKT) Check this one out, I taxied right up to the front door and enjoyed visit:  www.tnairmuseum.com/index2.html  (Jay’s note:  This is a VERY cool website!)

Texas, Abilene. Yet another, this one at Elmdale Airpark near Abilene, TX.  www.bigcountrysquadron.org

Texas, Big Spring. Hangar 25 in Big Spring, TX www.hangar25airmuseum.com/main/index.asp 

Texas, Brownsville. The Commemorative Air Force at Brownsville, Texas, with an FBO and Barnstormer's Lounge. www.rgvwingcaf.com/hanger.html 

Texas, Burnet. (KBMQ) Museum of the Highland Lakes Squadron, CAF, Burnet, Texas. Small, but fun.  You can definitely taxi right up to their hangar!  www.gtwn-sqr.com/caf/index-1.htm

Texas, Dallas. Frontiers of Flight in Dallas will be opening soon www.flightmuseum.com 

Texas, Dallas. The Cavanaugh Flight Museum. on the grounds of Addison airport (ADS).  Addison is a highly-developed suburban city on the north side of Dallas, TX. Most of the aircraft are in flyable condition.   www.cavanaughflightmuseum.com 

Texas, Ft. Worth. Vintage Flying Museum in Ft Worth, TX - "Chuckie" B-17 www.vintageflyingmuseum.org 

Texas, Galveston (KGLS) Lone Star Flight Museum, Galveston, Texas. "Fly-in visits are encouraged—Unicom 123.05"  www.lsfm.org 

Texas, Midland.  American Heritage Airpower Museum.  www.airpowermuseum.org

Texas, Rio Hondo. The Texas Air Museum in Rio Hondo which is a crop-dusting/grass strip field with an on-site museum of 25 vintage aircraft www.texasairmuseum.com

Texas, Slaton.  The Texas Air Museum in Slaton, TX www.swaviator.com/html/issueMA02/Slaton3402.html  

United Kingdom, Bedfordshire, England. The Shuttleworth Collection, also sometimes known as "Old Warden" is still grass and operating every season.   It's a fantastic place and the airshows they put on have to be experienced.  http://www.shuttleworth.org/shuttleworth/

United Kingdom, Duxford, Cambridgeshire. The Imperial War Museum,   Duxford is definitely flyable into if you want to visit the museum -- which IS the airport.  Duxford started life as a World War I Royal Air Corps station, laster used for Spitfires and Mustangs during World War II.  It's an amazing place with everything you can imagine in hangars, most of it still flyable.  Each summer Sunday afternoon they put on an airshow locally called "The Lion Feed."    www.iwm.org.uk/duxford/airfieldinfo.htm  

Virginia, Richmond. The Virginia Air Museum at Richmond International is on the airport property and one of the FBO's is right next door, so you can walk from your plane to the museum.  www.vam.smv.org

Washington, Vancouver (KVUO) Jack Murdock Aviation Center, a 1/4 mile walk from the transient tie-downs on Pearson Field (KVUO). This place has more than 20 vintage aircraft, including a Curtiss Pusher, all in airworthy condition (they take 'em out and fly 'em from time to time, I'm told), all on display. You can visit the restoration shop where they work on the airplanes.  There's also what I think is a DC-3 on the field, and though I'm not sure if you can get tours inside it, or if it's been restored to airworthiness.  www.pearsonairmuseum.org

Wisconsin, Oshkosh.  EAA Airventure Museum.  Ironically, this museum is only "sort of" accessible by air.  When I flew in during the winter of 2004, I had to park on the opposite side of the airport (miles away) at Basler Flight Service, and they drove us over to the museum.  It's worth the hassle, though.  See it at  www.airventuremuseum.org