US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH

Mike -
National Museum of the US Air Force

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is located at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Established in 1923, this museum has earned the recognition of being the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum. It showcases an impressive ensemble of over 350 aircraft and missiles, alongside thousands of rare artifacts, all dispersed across an impressive 19-acre indoor exhibit area. Attracting millions of annual visitors, it remains one of the most visited tourist attractions in Ohio.

Where is the Air Force museum located?

The National Museum of the United States Air Force is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, six miles northeast of Dayton, Ohio and about 15 minutes by car from downtown Dayton.

Public transportation to the museum might be available through “on demand” RTA service and can be requested by Uber, Lyft, or by phone.

How much does the Air Force Museum in Dayton cost?

  • The museum and parking are both free.
  • The museum has an IMAX theatre that costs $10
  • There are also flight simulators that cost $10
  • If you want a map, they will request a donation. If you donate $20 (as of the writing of this article), then you will also get a discount card that gives you a 10% discount at the gift shop and a 25% discount for the other attractions, and a calendar mailed to your home address.

Note: prices may change.  

How large is the USAF national air museum?

  • The museum has 19 acres of indoor exhibit area.
  • The current main building opened in 1971 and has 160,000 square feet of exhibit space surrounding a 25,350 square foot core containing movie theatres, a gift shop, and bathrooms
  • The second building opened in the 1980s and is similar to the original building, except without a core. It is most likely 185,000 square feet.
  • The third building was completed in 2003 and has 220,000 square feet of space
  • The Hall of Missles opened in 2004 and is 120 feet in diamater and is 140 feet tall
  • The fourth building opened in 2016 and is 224,000 square feet

How long does it take to go through the Air Force Museum?

The museum is huge and you should plan for at least one full day to go through the museum.  You could easily spend a couple of days looking at the exhibits.  

Because the museum is free, it would be very easy spread the visit over several days.

What is there to see at the Air Force Museum?

The museum consists of 4 main buildings.  The entrance, movie theater, and gift shop are in the first building.  The exhibits are arranged in roughly chronological order through the four buildings.

This gallery is located to the right as you enter the main building.  This display has airplanes from the early years of military flight through World War I.

The Sopwith Camel is the stereotypical fighter flown in World War I. It's also the plane that Snoopy flew.

This gallery is located in the first building, opposite to the "Early Years Gallery".  It hosts a large collection of World War II military aircraft.

B-17 bomber named Memphis Belle. This is one of the most famous airplanes ever, the first heavy bomber to survive 25 missions over Europe in World War II

This exhibit is in the second building on the right hand side after leaving the first building and hosts a collection of planes from the Korean war.

F-84 Thunderjet
Douglas C-124 Globemaster II – this is one of many airplanes in the Air Force Museum that you can go inside of.

This exhibit is in the second building oppose to the "Korean War Gallery".  This exhibit has a large collection of airplanes from the Vietnam war.

Bell UH-1P Iroquois
Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor - this was in the Southeast Asia War Gallery, but I'm not sure it was in the right place...

This exhibit takes the entire third hanger and contains a huge collection of aircraft.  There is also a food court on the second level that serves pre-made sandwhiches, snacks, and bottled drinks.

SR-71 wide angle view from the cafe balcony
SR-71 from the cafe balcony
B-2 Bomber - this particular aircraft was a prototype built without an engine
Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk

The missile gallery is a 120 foot diameter, 140 foot tall building that contains a collection of missiles.  You can access this from the first floor or from the second floor food court in the third building.  It also has an elevator.

The missile gallery. From the 2nd floor balcony near the cafe.

This collection is in the fourth building as you enter from the Missile Gallery.  It has a large number of spacecraft, space planes, advanced airplanes, a space shuttle trainer, and rockets.

Space Shuttle Crew Compartment Trainer - this mock-up was used to train astronauts.

This exhibit is in the fourth building oppose to the Space Gallery.  It has a collection of presidential planes that you can walk through.

Boeing VC-137C SAM 26000 - eight presidents used this plane as "Air Force One"

Tips for visiting the Air Force Museum

  • You must go through a metal detector when entering the museum.  
  • There are no restrictions for foreign visitors, but everything is in English.
  • The museum has a limited number of free guided tours
  • There are bathrooms in every building.  If the bathroom in the main building is crowded, try the bathrooms in the other buildings.
  • Food and drink (other than bottled water) are not allowed in the museum. There is a snack bar between buildings 3 and 4, but it has convenience store quality food at best.  Picnic tables are available outside if you want to pack a lunch.  Because the museum is free, you have the option of leaving for lunch and returning later (although it may be much busier in the afternoon).
  • After the first exhibit, the airplanes get very big.  Bring a wide angle lens for photographs.  You can also access a second level balcony in some areas (especially between buildings 3 and 4) where you can get a good overhead view.
  • The museum website has a huge amount of information, history, pictures, VR and audio tours, and videos.  It also has details on almost every every airplane in the museum.  You could easily spend days browsing all of the information.