Last minute cancelled plans Saturday left me with nowhere to go even though I was dressed and ready to leave the house by about 7:30 a.m. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day so I asked my fella if he was interested in a different adventure than we had planned. We opted for a trip to the National Museum of the United States Air Force and some bookshopping, because well, bookshopping is what we do best. It was a true adventure day complete with an unexpected stop for a pre-museum snack at Tudor’s Biscuit World and lots of cool museum stuff to appreciate.

Dayton, Ohio is the well documented birthplace of aviation and the Dayton/Cincinnati region made quite the hub for the innovative technology that is necessary for aviation and aerospace development. We are fortunate to have so many cool aviation related spots in the Dayton area and the grandmama of them all is the Air Force Museum. 

As many times as I go, I still stand in awe of some of these planes, missiles and artifacts. I still seek out the stories of the people who bring the legends of these great machines to life. I still become overwhelmed by the awesome amount of knowledge and inspiration accessible in one place. 

And it’s no wonder. This museum dates to May 1923 and it is a world-renowned center for what the museum calls “air and space power technology and culture preservation.” Friends, there are 20 indoor acres as well as outdoor spaces to explore.

You know something? It’s all FREE. Admission, the parking, the tours – all free. There are ways to spend money – you can buy tickets for some simulators, you can buy food and there are museum souvenirs as well. But you can also pack a picnic to eat outside, skip the gift shop and make this the most extraordinary frugal adventure day you’ve ever encountered.

IF you like history and airplanes, of course. If you hang out here with me, I assume you like those things because I talk about them all the time. 

Every time I go, I think I should spend a couple of hours exploring a single area of the museum like just early aviation or just Vietnam. It would be less overwhelming and I could absorb more information. Of course, I never manage to do that because I want to see everything! Plus, they do sometimes rotate items in and out so there’s a good chance there is something new to see when you only go occasionally. 

I always look forward to seeing this fifties era experimental aircraft called the Avro Canada VZ-9AV Avrocar. It was part of Canada’s effort to develop a supersonic, vertical takeoff and landing fighter bomber and it looks like a flying saucer! Read more about that here.

Seeing this display of World War II era bomber jackets always makes me wonder what happened to the men who wore them. Did they make it home safe? Did they ever dream their jacket would be exhibited in a world renowned museum?

And then there are new things like the Apollo 15 Command Module Endeavour which is on loan from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

Of course, I don’t always approve of their changes. I told you a few years ago about the Memphis Belle being permanently installed here. I took my dad and we had a fabulous day including the exploration of the Memphis Belle exhibit which included biographies and pictures of all the crew and a thought provoking explanation of why this plane is so important.

They seem to have taken away all of those extras and have downgraded to just a small sign that makes the Memphis Belle seem like any other plane. Hopefully they will rotate all that back in at another time because the story is important. Read more about that here.

I have written about this museum some here but there are a few specific stories I want to tell so I will spend this week highlighting some of them. Come back tomorrow to get started.