Pima Air & Space Museum - Tucson, Arizona - Large-Scale Aerospace Museum

The Pima Air & Space Museum is a large-scale aerospace museum located in Tucson, Arizona adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. This 150-acre museum has been open and operational since May of 1976 and is currently the largest aerospace museum in the country that isn't supported by government funding. It currently features over 275 different aircraft and spacecraft from all over the globe, as well as over 125,000 authentic artifacts. It is also one of the largest facilities dedicated to the storage and preservation of aircraft in the entire world.

The museum facility on the whole is divided into several different sections - 5 hangars, a space gallery, a memorial museum, a barracks, and several outdoor exhibits.

The hangars are where some of the most popular aircraft and exhibits can be found on display. In Hangar 1, guests will find such wonders as a full-scale replica of the Wright Flyer, as well as a number of other vintage aircraft. Hangar 1 South is home to some of the rarest and most important pieces of the museum's entire collection, including the extremely rare North American F-107. Hangar 3 and Hangar 4 are dedicated completely to the display of WWII era aircraft such as the Mitchell B-25 and the B-24 Liberator. Last but not least, Hangar 5 is the museum's restoration hangar where guests can get a first-hand look at the restoration process itself.

The WWII Barracks is an authentic barracks of the same kind that was a staple at Davis Monthan AFB until the `60's. It was eventually designated an historic artifact and subsequently located to the museum grounds. It is currently used to display scale models of a number of different aircraft and vehicles, as well as real photographs of military training during the WWII era. Several WWII trainer aircraft are also on display here.

The Space Gallery allows museum guests to take an intimate look inside America's space program. Artifacts such as authentic moon rocks, rockets, and various space race items are on display. Guests will also have an opportunity to take a peek inside a training version of one of the Apollo space capsule. This particular section of the Pima Museum is also home to a North American X-15A-2 mockup and an OQ-3 radioplane, as well as an Arizona aviation hall of fame exhibit.

The 390th Memorial Museum section is dedicated to the preservation of the achievements and the history attached to the 390th Bombardment Group. Exhibits to be found in this area include a perfectly restored B17G Flying Fortress, as well as a number of different artifacts, documents, and other memorabilia paying tribute to the crew and staff associated with the 390th.

The outdoor exhibits at Pima are where guests can view even more rare and historic aircraft that date back to all the major eras of military and aviation history. Giant B-52's are on display, as well as authentic aircraft used in the Vietnam and Korean Wars. President John F. Kennedy's own Air Force One, as well as presidential aircraft used by such luminaries as Johnson and Nixon can also be seen and toured here. A selection of modern aircraft still in used by the current United States military rounds out the museum's extensive collection in order to present a full circle view of the country's aviation history.