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The National Museum of Naval Aviation is Northwest Florida's Crown Jewel
If you are looking for an interesting and educational experience that offers something
for the entire family, this is it.
Located aboard Pensacola's Naval Air Station, the National Museum of Naval Aviation's 291,000 square-foot facility traces the history of US Naval Aviation, from its humble beginnings in 1911 to present in the form of 160 beautifully restored aircraft, memorabilia, displays and artwork. Established by the Secretary of the Navy in 1962, the Museum has been host to more than 15 million visitors, finally reaching the one million mark in annual visitation in 1997.
For the family on a budget, the Museum's Free Admission is a welcome change from other attractions, allowing spare cash for an IMAX movie, lunch at the Museum's historic Cubi Bar Caf, a motion-based simulator ride, or a shopping spree at the Flight Deck Museum Store.
A visit can be an all-day experience; take one of the four free, guided tours of the Museum that are offered daily, break for lunch, and take in one of the seven daily IMAX showings. From late March until the first week in November, the Navy's famous flight demonstration team practices at the air station every Tuesday and Wednesday during their show season. Grandstands behind the Museum provide visitors an ideal vantage point from which to view a Blue Angels practice. The team also holds autograph sessions in the museum following Wednesday practices. Then, the Museum's signature film, The Magic of Flight, will put the visitor "in the cockpit" for an exciting view of a Blue Angels airshow. And if you like that, you can stay for a showing of one of many of the theater's other movies. Focusing on history and education, the Museum's IMAX Naval Aviation Memorial Theater has played host to more than 2 million visitors among them, a quarter million students and educators since it opened in July 1996.
In 1997, the Museum was designated as one of Florida's ten leading attractions. Too, its Emil Buehler Naval Aviation Library has become a mecca for researchers and historians as the repository for US Naval Aviation history.
Visitor-friendly, the Museum allows the visitor to get up close to the aircraft that made American aviation famous. The huge, trans-Atlantic flier, the NC4, graces the Museum's South Wing. Completing a flight from Newfoundland to Portugal in 1919, the giant seaplane's epic journey preceded Charles Lindbergh's famous flight to Paris by eight years. In the Museum's Atrium, four A4 Skyhawk aircraft formerly used by the Blue Angels hang overhead in the Blues' trademark diamond formation. In the West Wing visitors can walk the flight deck of a World War II light carrier, see the aircraft that won the war in the pacific, then take a trip to the mezzanine level and enjoy a bit of 1943 Americana in a series of displays titled Home Front, Combat Carrier, and Forward Base Pacific. In short, there's something here for everyone, and to see it all will take the better part of what will be a most enjoyable day.
The National Museum of Naval Aviation is open from 9 am to 5 pm daily, closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Days. There is no admission charge. The IMAX Naval Aviation Memorial Theater presents seven daily showings, from 10 am hourly until 4 pm.
For more information, you may contact the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation at (850) 453-2389, or tollfree, ( 8 0 0 ) 3 2 7 5 0 0 2 . Or, you can check us on the web at w w w. n a v a l a i r . o r g .
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