The National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida, was established in 1962 to provide a permanent home for the United States’ long and varied naval aviation history. Situated on a vast 37-acre site, with 150 aircraft and spacecraft on display, the sheer size and number of exhibits required two full days to cover properly.
A public practice session by the US Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, made a spectacular start to the visit and was a personal highlight of the trip. The museum itself contained many Blue Angels-related exhibits, with a stunning static display of the team’s former McDonnell-Douglas A-4 Skyhawk mounts taking pride of place in the central atrium.
National Naval Aviation Museum 1750 Radford Blvd, NAS Pensacola, FL 32508, USA. FREE Admission (photo ID required). Open Daily 9am to 5pm Tel: 001-800-327-5002 E-mail: namfoffice@navalaviationmuseum.org
Access to the back lot was very kindly granted, along with the huge restoration hangars and workshops. A freshly restored North American B-25 Mitchell, painted to represent one of the ‘Doolittle Raiders’, looked resplendent in the sunshine. Many other more obscure aircraft were also on display, including the last remaini…
