Continuing on my trip to the Winnebago facility in Forest City, IA, I spent the night at another Harvest Host, Wandering Griffin Brewery & Restaurant in Beaver Creek, OH. It’s a very nice brewery with a large restaurant serving good, casual fare. I registered there a little bit after noon and the manager asked me what I was going to do while in town. Replying that I had no plans, she offered that there’s a very popular Air Force museum in town.
Little did I realize that this was the home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, one of the largest and most important bases in the US Air Force. And they have a huge museum open to the public. I decided that, yes, I would pay a visit.
I’m not much of a student of aircraft of the Air Force much less other aircraft. Well, let me tell you, this place is impressive! It is mainly housed inside four huge hangars all connected together. Altogether, there are abut 350 full blown aircraft on display, all meticulously restored and documented along with tons of history about aircraft and the Air Force. The museum also owns an additional 5,000 or so aircraft, either in storage or on loan to other institutions.
The displays mostly follow the history of military aircraft beginning with hot air balloons through stealth bombers, the Space Shuttle and Air Force One. Each segment occupies its own space in one of the hangars. I spent about three hours in the place, walking all the displays but barely taking time to read the well signed displays. Any military aircraft buff should definitely plan at least a couple of full days exploring the place. There were probably a thousand vehicles in their parking lots yet the place was not crowded. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to read the signage and technical details provided at your leisure.
I’ll share just a few of the photos of the place, arranged by category.
Exterior:
Early Aircraft:
WWII & Korea:
Vietnam:
Stealth:
Missiles:
Space Shuttle:
Oddballs:
Air Force One:
