National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Picture of the Day for 7/15/2011. I spent the day at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. This is a massive museum with exhibits focusing on:

The early years of aviation...

Replica of the Wright 1909 Military Flyer which was purchased by the U.S. Army for $30,000 and became the first military airplane.

World War ll...

Bockscar is the plane that dropped the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb on Nagasaki.

Korea and Vietnam...

The Hanoi Taxi was used in the final days of the Vietnam war to return American POWs from North Vietnam. Senator John McCain was one of the POWs who flew on this plane. In 2005, this aircraft also helped evacuate people from Hurricane Katrina.

Cold War...

B-2 stealth bomber.

Missiles and Space...

My buddy Blake and I standing in front of the actual Apollo 15 capsule.

Experimental Aircraft...


XB-70 Valkyrie.

Presidential Airplanes...

JFK's plane which carried him and the first lady to Dallas and then his body back to Washington D.C. after the assassination.

The thing I loved about this museum is the fact it wasn't just a collection of aircraft, but it had exhibits with memorabilia and vignettes:

Jimmy Stewart's jacket.


Ronald Reagan's coat.


Glenn Miller's trombone.

The museum is also home to the National Aviation Hall of Fame. I'm pictured below with Fitz Fulton, pilot of the XB-70 (pictured above) and a 1999 enshrinee.