San Diego Air & Space Museum facts for kids

San Diego Air & Space Museum

Museum entrance in 2009, with a Convair YF2Y-1 Seadart on the left and a Lockheed A-12 Oxcart on the right.
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Former name	San Diego Aerospace Museum
Established	October 12, 1961; 63 years ago (1961-10-12)
Location	Ford Building 2001 Pan American Plaza San Diego, California, US
Type	Aerospace museum
Accreditation	American Alliance of Museums Smithsonian Affiliate
Key holdings	Apollo 9 Command Module Blue Angels F/A-18A Hornet General Atomics RQ-1K Predator Lockheed A-12 Oxcart Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI
Collections	The Pioneer Era World War I Golden Age of Aviation World War II Space Age
Visitors	270,000 (FY 2017)
Public transit access	MTS Bus Bus 7, Rapid 215
Nearest parking	On site (free)

The San Diego Air & Space Museum (also known as SDA&SM) is an exciting museum in San Diego, California, USA. It focuses on the history of aviation (flying) and space exploration. The museum is located in the beautiful Balboa Park. It is housed in the old Ford Building, which is a special historic place. The museum first opened its doors on February 15, 1963.

History of the Museum

The museum first welcomed visitors on February 15, 1963. It was originally in the Food and Beverage Building, built for an event called the Panama–California Exposition in 1915. In 1965, the museum moved to a larger building called the Electrical Building.

Sadly, on February 22, 1978, a fire destroyed the Electrical Building and the museum inside. Many unique aircraft were lost. This included the Beecraft Wee Bee, which was the world's lightest aircraft, and a copy of the famous Spirit of St. Louis. More than 50 other aircraft, along with many historical items and records, were also destroyed. It was a very sad day for the museum.

Entrance of the Ford Building with Firestone Singing Fountains, 1935.

Even before the fire, there were plans to move the museum to the even bigger Ford Building. This building was also in Balboa Park and was built for another big event in 1935-36. Luckily, many new aircraft that the museum had collected were in storage, so they were saved from the fire. The community also helped a lot by raising money and donating items. The museum reopened in its current home, the Ford Building, on June 28, 1980. A new copy of the Spirit of St. Louis was built for the new museum.

In 2005, the museum became connected with the Smithsonian Institution. This is a very special honor, as only a few aerospace museums in the country have this connection.

The San Diego Air and Space Museum as seen from above in 2013.

Exploring the Exhibits

The museum has many different areas, called galleries. These exhibits show how much San Diego has helped in the world of aviation. You can explore the Theodore Gildred Rotunda, special exhibit areas, and galleries for World War I, the Golden Age of Flight, World War II, and the Modern Jet & Space Age. There's also the Edwin D. McKeller Pavilion of Flight. You need a ticket to enter, and some special exhibits might cost a little extra.

The museum also has a workshop where they fix up old aircraft. You can sometimes take a tour to see the restoration work happening!

Theodore Gildred Rotunda

The Apollo 9 Command Module Gumdrop flown in 1969 by James McDivitt, David Scott, and Rusty Schweickart in preparation for the first lunar landing missions.

When you first enter the museum, you'll be in the Theodore Gildred Rotunda. Here, you can see the actual Apollo 9 Command Module called Gumdrop. This is the part of the spacecraft that carried astronauts into space and back! You'll also see aircraft made by local San Diego companies. This area shows you the different kinds of exhibits you'll find in the museum, from original planes to models and even flying copies.

Special Exhibits and Hall of Fame

Besides the changing special exhibits, look up! Many early aviation displays hang from the ceiling. If you don't go into the special exhibit, you'll walk through the International Air & Space Hall of Fame hallway. Here, you can see pictures of famous aviation pioneers. You'll also learn about amazing women like Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran and the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Hanging above this area are models and copies of very early flying machines, like the Leonardo da Vinci Ornithopter and various gliders.

World War I Gallery

Step back in time to World War I! This gallery has copies of famous planes like the Albatros D.Va and the Fokker Dr.I. You can also see real examples of a SPAD S.VII.c.1 and a Nieuport 28. One cool display shows how a special gear allowed pilots to shoot their machine guns through the spinning propeller without hitting it! You can even press a button to see how it worked.

Golden Age of Flight Gallery

This gallery celebrates a time when aviation really took off! You'll see many aircraft on the ground and hanging from the ceiling. Some planes here include a Consolidated PT-1 Trusty, a Lockheed Vega (a copy made for a movie!), and a Piper J-3 Cub.

You can also see many different aircraft engines from this time period.

The museum's education center is in this section, where they host fun Family Day activities. You'll also find the restrooms here.

There's an exhibit about Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), known as the "airline with a smile." You can see copies of their first ticket office and flight attendant uniforms from the 1950s to the 1980s.

A memorial plaque honoring those who died on PSA Flight 182 is located near the Theodore Gildred Flight Rotunda.

World War II Gallery

Replica Ho 229

A special plane in this gallery is a copy of the Horten Ho 229 flying wing. This unique aircraft was given to the museum after being tested for its stealth (ability to avoid radar). You can learn more about it and its history.

Other aircraft from World War II include a P-51D Mustang, a part of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain cockpit, and a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVI.

This section also has a copy of a USS Yorktown aircraft carrier deck. You'll see Navy planes like the Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless and the Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat displayed as if they are on the carrier. You'll even see a Mitsubishi A6M7 Zero-sen flying low over the deck!

Many different aircraft engines used during this period are also on display.

Modern Jet and Space Age Gallery

This gallery shows off modern jets and spacecraft. You can see a Douglas A-4B Skyhawk, a F/A-18A Hornet "Blue Angel 1" (the famous Blue Angels jet!), and a copy of a Gemini spacecraft.

At the end of the gallery is a Boeing GPS-12 Satellite. This was a spare satellite ready to be launched into space if needed for the GPS system we use today. It's a real, flight-ready satellite!

You can also see the cockpit canopy of the North American X-15, a super-fast rocket plane. This plane first flew in 1959. You can even see the flight suit of one of its pilots, Scott Crossfield, and an air conditioning case used by Neil Armstrong when he was an X-15 pilot. Many astronauts from the San Diego area, like Wally Schirra, are also highlighted here.

Edwin D. McKeller Pavilion of Flight

This large area used to be a showroom for cars! Now, it holds many of the museum's bigger aircraft. You can see a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina, a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, and a Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor. There's also a copy of the Beecraft Wee Bee and some racing planes. You might even spot two Ford cars on loan from another museum!

The McDonnell Douglas F-4J/S Phantom II on display here was flown by famous pilots Duke Cunningham and William P. Driscoll during the Vietnam War. This plane has both radar-guided and heat-seeking missiles.

Outside the Museum

Right outside the museum, you can see two impressive aircraft: a Lockheed A-12 and a Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart.

Gillespie Field Annex

The museum also has another location called the Gillespie Field Annex in El Cajon. This annex has even more aircraft on display and workshops where planes are restored. Some of the cool aircraft and spacecraft you might see here include:

• Convair F-102A Delta Dagger
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis
• Grumman F-14 Tomcat
• General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
• Bell UH-1 Iroquois
• Ryan X-13 Vertijet
• Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harrier
• SM-65 Atlas missile
• North American F-86F Sabre
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis

Collection Highlights

The museum has many original and copied historic aircraft and spacecraft, including:

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is one of the biggest aviation museums in the country. It has a huge collection of historical records and books. The museum has two places where they restore aircraft: one at the main museum and another at Gillespie Field. The Gillespie Field Annex is open to the public and has many aircraft displayed outdoors, a large missile, and a restoration shop.

Special Events

The museum often hosts interesting talks, programs for students, and other fun events. You can even rent the Pavilion of Flight for your own special event or dinner!

See also

In Spanish: Museo aeroespacial de San Diego para niños

• USS Midway Museum - Another air museum in San Diego, which is a former aircraft carrier turned into a museum ship.
• List of aviation museums