Air Power Park facts for kids
The Air Power Park is a cool outdoor museum in Hampton, Virginia. It shows off amazing aircraft and space vehicles from the 1950s and 1960s. The park helps us remember Hampton's big role in early space exploration and airplane testing in America. You can visit the outdoor part of the park all year, from sunrise to sunset. It's a great place to see real planes and rockets up close! The park is about 15 acres big and even has a playground for younger kids.
The indoor museum at the center of the park was reopened after some updates in 2011. It has more limited hours than the outdoor park. Inside, you'll find eight themed rooms. These rooms hold over 325 models of aircraft, spacecraft, and even ships. These models represent all parts of the U.S. military. You can also see models from other countries. The park also has a special time capsule.
Inside the Museum
The indoor museum has different rooms, each with a special theme:
- NASA Room: Learn about America's space agency and its amazing missions.
- United States Air Force Aviation Room: Discover the history of the Air Force. This room highlights how nearby Langley Air Force Base helped the USAF.
- General Aviation Room: See models of planes used for everyday flying, not just military.
- Library: A place to read and learn more about aviation and space.
- Cold War Era Room: Explore models and items from the Cold War period. This was a time of tension between countries.
- International Plastic Modellers' Society Room: This room shows off cool models made by local hobbyists. The displays change regularly.
- United States Navy Room: Learn about the Navy's aircraft and ships.
- United States Army Aviation Branch Room: Discover the history of the Army's aircraft.
Cool Things on Display Outdoors
The outdoor park has many exciting real-life aircraft and rockets. Here are some of the amazing machines you can see:
- P.1127 Kestrel: An early jet that could take off and land vertically!
- F-86L Sabre: A famous fighter jet from the Korean War.
- Mercury capsule: A real space capsule, like the ones used by early American astronauts.
- A-7E Corsair II: A powerful attack jet used by the Navy.
- F-101F Voodoo: A fast interceptor jet.
- F-89J Scorpion: An all-weather interceptor jet.
- RF-4C Phantom II: A reconnaissance (spy) version of a very famous jet.
- F-105D Thunderchief: A large fighter-bomber jet.
- T-33A Trainer: A jet used to train pilots.
- Jupiter IRBM: A powerful intermediate-range ballistic missile.
- Nike SAM: A surface-to-air missile.
- Nike Ajax SAM: Another type of Nike missile.
- Nike Hercules SAM: A larger, more powerful Nike missile.
- F-100D Super Sabre: The first U.S. Air Force fighter capable of supersonic speed in level flight.
- Polaris A-2 SLBM: A submarine-launched ballistic missile.
- Corporal IRBM: An early guided missile.
- Little Joe/Mercury: A booster rocket used to test parts of the Mercury space program. It was launched from Wallops Flight Facility, about 90 miles north.
See also
- List of aerospace museums
- Rocket garden
