National Naval Aviation Museum

The National Museum of Naval Aviation is an aviation museum with a focus on the Naval Aviation Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

History

The museum opened on June 8, 1963, an exhibition area of ​​just 800 square meters and eight aircraft. Already in 1965, decided a committee convened by the then Chief of Naval Operations David L. McDonald to enlarge the museum. For the end of 1966, the Naval Aviation Museum Association was founded, which should collect donations. The chair took over Arthur W. Radford. 1975 was opened a 6,000 -square-foot building, which was completely funded by the Association. In this context, it was renamed the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation.

Under Thomas H. Moorer, the club was able to enlarge the area in 1980 to about 10,000 m². In the next ten years, this area was once again more than doubled. In 1994, the area was expanded to more than 26,000 sqm, also an IMAX theater was established, which provides 534 visitors.

Collection

Today, the collection includes 150 aircraft from the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps and the United States Coast Guard.

The west wing of the building is the Naval Aviation in World War II dedicated, there is a 1:1 replica of the flight deck of the light aircraft carrier USS Cabot ( CVL -28). Also from this period dates the SBD -2 Dauntless and the only one still in existence SB2U Vindicator.

Other exhibits include four A-4 Skyhawk aerobatics squadron Blue Angels, who flew S-3 Viking, in the George W. Bush to the USS Abraham Lincoln ( CVN -72) and the first aircraft was presented so that the radio call sign "Navy One", as well as the NC - 4, the first flying boat to cross the Atlantic. From the field space, the museum has the command module of the Apollo spacecraft, serial number CSM -116, the capsule that was used for Skylab 2.