National Naval Aviation Museum facts for kids
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F-14A Tomcat in front of the National Naval Aviation Museum (front-left view)
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| Former name | National Museum of Naval Aviation and Naval Aviation Museum |
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| Established | 1962 |
| Location | Pensacola, Florida |
| Type |  U.S. Navy |
| Founder | Rear Admiral Magruder H. Tuttle |
The National Naval Aviation Museum is a super cool place in Pensacola, Florida. It's where you can explore the amazing history of planes and spacecraft used by the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard.
This museum first opened its doors in 1962. It moved to its current, bigger home in 1974. After being closed for a while, it happily reopened to visitors in May 2023!
Contents
This museum is all about showing how naval aviation has grown. It aims to "select, collect, preserve, and display" important items. These items tell the story of how planes and space travel developed in the U.S. Navy.
You can see more than 150 different aircraft and spacecraft here! Some of the awesome things on display include:
- Four A-4 Skyhawk planes that used to belong to the famous Blue Angels flight team.
- The Curtiss NC-4, which was the very first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
- Cool helicopters and biplanes from the U.S. Coast Guard.
- Part of a K-47 Airship, which is like a giant balloon that flies.
- A plane that former President George H. W. Bush trained in.
- The S-3 Viking plane that took President George W. Bush to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in 2003. This plane was even called Navy One for that special trip!
These amazing aircraft are shown inside the museum's huge exhibit space. It's about 300,000 square feet, which is like five football fields! More planes are also displayed outside on the museum's 37 acres of grounds.
The museum also helps manage other retired Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aircraft. These planes are often on display at military bases or other museums. They are still owned by the Department of the Navy. You might see a sign saying "On Loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum" next to them.
Fun Things to Do at the Museum
Besides seeing all the planes, the museum has lots of other fun activities:
- A Giant Screen Theater where you can watch exciting films.
- Flight simulators that make you feel like you're really flying a plane.
- A "Blue Angels 4D Experience" that puts you right in the action.
- A museum store where you can find cool souvenirs.
- The Cubi Point Café, which has neat items from a famous old Navy club.
Inside the museum, you'll find the Emil Buehler Naval Aviation Library. It opened in 1992. This library is a treasure chest of naval history! It's named after Emil Buehler, who was a pioneer in aviation. He helped fund many education programs.
The library has tons of books, old stories, pictures, and technical manuals. It has about 400,000 photographs! Many of these are easy to search through. You can even find Buzz Aldrin’s flight training records from when he was in the Navy. He was one of the first people to walk on the Moon!
National Flight Academy
Right next to the museum is the National Flight Academy. This is a four-story building that looks like an aircraft carrier! It has over 30 flight simulators that are all connected.
During the summer, more than 200 students each week come here. These are students from 7th to 12th grade. They take part in a 6-day program. The goal is to get them excited about STEM. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The Naval Aviation Museum Foundation helps support the museum. This group has raised millions of dollars since 1966. They use the money to build exhibits, fix up old aircraft, and create educational programs like the National Flight Academy.
Watching the Blue Angels Practice
You can often watch the Blue Angels practice their amazing flight shows from the museum! They usually practice on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. This happens between March and November. Just remember, their practices depend on the weather. You can check their website for a practice schedule.
Captain Robert L. Rasmussen, a retired Navy pilot, was the museum director for 27 years. He was also a Blue Angels pilot! Some of his artwork is even displayed in the museum. Captain Rasmussen retired in 2014. Captain Sterling Gilliam, Jr. took over as director.
Museum's Journey Through Time
The museum first started on December 14, 1962. It was in a small building that was only 8,500 square feet. This building was built during World War II. The museum was officially opened in June 1963.
Building the current, much larger museum started in November 1972. The first part opened in November 1974. The second part was finished in 1980, and the third part in 1990. In May 1989, its name was changed to the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
In September 2004, Hurricane Ivan caused some damage to the museum and its outdoor planes.
In 2019, the museum had to close temporarily. This happened after a sad event at the air station.
The museum also closed for seven months in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, museum officials started planning to reopen to the public.
By 2022, they began talking about making a special road just for visitors to get to the museum.
Finally, on May 3, 2023, the museum announced its grand reopening! It welcomed the public back on May 17, 2023, after being closed for three and a half years. Visitors now need to show a valid REAL ID or passport to enter.
Amazing Aircraft Collection
The National Naval Aviation Museum has a huge collection of historic aircraft. Here are just some of the incredible planes and other flying machines you can see:
- Beechcraft GB Traveller
- Beechcraft SNB-5P Expeditor
- Beechcraft T-34 Mentor
- Bell AH-1 Sea Cobra
- Bell HTL-4
- Bell HTL Sioux
- Bell HH-1K Iroquois
- Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger
- Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight
- Boeing F4B-4
- Brewster SB2A Buccaneer
- Cessna JRC Bobcat
- Cessna O-1 Bird Dog
- Consolidated N2Y
- Consolidated PBY Catalina (Suspended)
- Consolidated PBY Catalina (Cutaway)
- Consolidated PBY Catalina (Flight Line)
- Consolidated PB2Y Coronado
- Consolidated PB4Y-2/P4Y-2G Privateer
- Convair C-131 Samaritan
- Curtiss A-1 Triad
- Curtiss BFC Goshawk
- Curtiss F6C Hawk
- Curtiss F7C Seahawk
- Curtiss JN-4D Jenny
- Curtiss Model F
- Curtiss NC-4
- Curtiss N2C Fledgling
- Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk
- Curtiss-Wright R5C Commando
- Curtiss-Wright SNC Falcon
- de Havilland Canada NU-1B Otter
- Douglas AD Skyraider
- Douglas A3D Skywarrior
- Douglas A-4A Skyhawk
- Douglas A-4E Skyhawk
- Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (Blue Angels)
- Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (Blue Angels)
- Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (Blue Angels)
- Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (Blue Angels)
- Douglas R4D-5L Skytrain
- Douglas C-117D (R4D-8) Skytrain
- Douglas R6D/C-118 Liftmaster
- Douglas Dolphin
- Douglas F3D Skyknight
- Douglas F4D Skyray
- Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak
- Douglas JD Invader
- Douglas SBD Dauntless (Underwater Display)
- Douglas SBD Dauntless (Midway Veteran)
- Fokker D.VII
- Ford RR-5 Trimotor
- Franklin PS-2 glider
- General Dynamics F-16N Viper
- General Motors FM-2 Wildcat (Quarterdeck)
- General Motors FM-2 Wildcat (Pacific Island)
- General Motors TBM Avenger
- Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
- Goodyear K-47 Airship Control Car
- Goodyear L-8 Airship Control Car
- Goodyear ZPG-2 Control Car
- Grumman A-6 Intruder
- Grumman AF Guardian
- Grumman C-1 Trader
- Grumman E-1 Tracer
- Grumman E-2 Hawkeye
- Grumman FF
- Grumman F3F
- Grumman F4F Wildcat (Underwater Display)
- Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat
- Grumman F4F-3A Wildcat
- Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat
- Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat
- Grumman F7F Tigercat
- Grumman F8F Bearcat
- Grumman F9F-2 Panther
- Grumman F9F-6 Cougar
- Grumman F9F-8 Cougar
- Grumman F11F Tiger
- Grumman YF-14A Tomcat (Pedestal outside)
- Grumman F-14D(R) Tomcat
- Grumman F-14A Tomcat
- Grumman HU-16 Albatross
- Grumman J2F Duck
- Grumman J4F Widgeon
- Grumman JRF Goose
- Grumman S2F Tracker
- Grumman TC-4C Academe
- Hanriot HD.1
- Hawker Siddeley AV-8C Harrier
- Hiller HTE
- Interstate TDR
- Kaman H-2 Seasprite
- Kawanishi N1K2 Shiden
- Lockheed C-130T Hercules (Fat Albert)
- Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star
- Lockheed KC-130F Hercules
- Lockheed L-10 Electra
- Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon
- Lockheed P2V-1 Neptune (Truculent Turtle)
- Lockheed P2V-7/SP-2H Neptune
- Lockheed P-3A Orion
- Lockheed S-3 Viking (ex-Navy One)
- Lockheed TV-2
- Martin AM Mauler
- Martin SP-5B Marlin
- McDonnell FH Phantom
- McDonnell F2H Banshee
- McDonnell F2H-2P Photo Banshee
- McDonnell F3H Demon
- McDonnell Douglas C-9 Skytrain II
- McDonnell-Douglas F-4N Phantom II
- McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet (Blue Angels)
- McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet (Tactical)
- McDonnell-Douglas RF-4B Phantom II
- Messerschmitt Me 262
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
- Mitsubishi A6M Zero
- Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 Canary (Wheels)
- Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 Canary (Floats)
- New Standard NT-1
- Nieuport 28 C.1
- North American AJ Savage
- North American FJ-2 Fury
- North American FJ-4 Fury
- North American PBJ Mitchell
- North American RA-5C Vigilante
- North American SNJ Texan
- North American SNJ Texan (Cutaway)
- North American T-2 Buckeye
- North American T-28 Trojan
- North American T-39 Sabreliner
- Northrop T-38 Talon
- Piasecki HUP Retriever
- Project Apollo/Skylab Command Module
- Ryan NR-1 Recruit
- Schweizer LNS-1
- Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave
- Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion
- Sikorsky H-3 Sea King
- Sikorsky HH-52 Sea Guard
- Sikorsky HNS Hoverfly
- Sikorsky HO3S
- Sikorsky HO5S
- Sikorsky HSS/HUS Seabat/Seahorse
- Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk
- Sikorsky VH-3 Sea King
- Sopwith F.1 Camel
- Stearman N2S Kaydet
- Temco TT-1 Pinto
- Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout
- Timm N2T Tutor
- Vought A-7 Corsair II
- Vought F4U-4 Corsair
- Vought F7U Cutlass
- Vought F-8 Crusader
- Vought OS2U Kingfisher
- Vought SB2U Vindicator
- Vultee SNV Valiant
More Places to Explore
If you enjoyed learning about the National Naval Aviation Museum, you might also like to check out these related topics and places:
- Naval Aviation Hall of Honor
- List of maritime museums in the United States
- Aeronauticum, a German naval aviation museum in Nordholz.
- Fleet Air Arm Museum, a museum in the United Kingdom about naval aviation.
- Fleet Air Arm Museum (Australia), an Australian museum of naval aviation.
- Naval Aviation Museum (India), an Indian naval aviation museum in Goa.
- Shearwater Aviation Museum, a Canadian naval aviation museum.
- Pacific Aviation Museum, a museum in Hawaii about the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Japanese aviation.
Other U.S. Museums
- Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum
- United States Marine Corps Aviation
- U.S. Navy Museum
- National Museum of the United States Air Force
- United States Army Aviation Museum
Other Related Topics
- A and T Recovery
- R.G. Smith Award
- List of aerospace museums
