Fly Like an Eagle: National Museum of the US Air Force / Fifth Street Brewpub

History

The National Museum of the United States Air Force traces its roots to 1923, when the Engineering Division at McCook Field in Dayton began collecting obsolete aircraft and engines for study. By 1927 the growing collection was moved to a small building on Wright Field (the eastern portion of today’s Wright-Patterson AFB), and in 1932 it officially became the Army Aeronautical Museum. The museum remained a technical reference library for Air Corps engineers through the 1930s and World War II, with public access limited to special open houses. After the war, the collection continued expanding rapidly as surplus aircraft poured in from every theater.

In 1954 the Air Force created the Air Force Museum Foundation and began planning a proper public museum. The original museum building on Wright Field opened to the public on a limited basis in 1955, but space quickly became an issue. A much larger modern facility was constructed on the main side of Wright-Patterson and opened in 1971 with 70 aircraft on display. President Richard Nixon formally dedicated the new museum that September, marking its transition from a technical archive to the world’s largest military aviation museum.

The 1970s and 1980s saw steady growth, including the addition of the SR-71 Blackbird, B-36 Peacemaker, and the only remaining XB-70 Valkyrie. A major expansion in 1988 added a second hangar, allowing the museum to display Cold War bombers and fighters under one roof. The early 1990s brought the end of the Cold War and a flood of newly declassified aircraft, including the stealthy F-117 Nighthawk.

The museum’s most dramatic growth came in the 2000s and 2010s. A third hangar opened in 2003 to house presidential and research aircraft (SAM 26000, the “Air Force One” that carried Kennedy to Dallas, is the centerpiece). In 2016 a fourth hangar dedicated to Space and Intelligence opened with the Space Shuttle Crew Compartment Trainer, Titan IVB, and reconnaissance aircraft. Restoration teams in the museum’s massive annex continue bringing rare warbirds back to museum-quality condition year after year.

The museum’s Presidential Aircraft gallery, housed in its own 240,000-square-foot hangar, is home to one of the world’s finest collections of aircraft that carried U.S. presidents. The undisputed star is SAM 26000, the Boeing VC-137C (a specially modified 707) that served from Kennedy through George W. Bush and is forever known as the plane that carried JFK’s body back from Dallas and on which Lyndon Johnson was sworn in. Nearby sits the smaller VC-54C “Sacred Cow,” Franklin D. Roosevelt’s personal transport and the first aircraft built specifically for presidential use, complete with an elevator for his wheelchair. Other highlights include Harry Truman’s elegant Douglas VC-118 “Independence,” Dwight Eisenhower’s sleek Lockheed VC-121A “Columbine II,” and a VC-9C that flew First Ladies and vice presidents in later years. Together these aircraft let visitors walk through seventy years of airborne Oval Offices.

Today the National Museum of the United States Air Force covers more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space, draws well over a million visitors each year, and remains completely free to the public, including parking. Current restoration projects include bringing the last flyable B-29 “Doc” to Dayton for display, preparing a full-scale B-21 Raider mockup for the hangar floor, and returning rare types like the XB-70’s sister ship components to pristine condition. With new aircraft retiring from active service almost every year, the museum’s staff and volunteers are already planning the next wave of expansions to keep the collection growing.

Summary

For this event, we will start by touring the aforementioned Museum. It's a huge place with a lot to see. Then we'll head over to Dayton's only co-op brewpub and swap war stories.

The Museum is free.

Where We'll Meet / A Very Minor Note on Parking

We'll meet at the main entrance. It's literally emblazoned with "MAIN ENTRANCE" and a large arrow to direct you where to go, which you can easily see as you ambulate toward the building from the main parking lot.

The very minor issue is just finding the main parking lot. As you approach the Museum in your car, you'll see a (smallish) parking lot on your left that isn't actually the main lot (it's for staff parking).

You have to drive a smidge farther to a roundabout. You'll then see the (free) huge main parking lot on your left. There are signs for all this, but they're small and easy to miss if you've never been to the Museum before.

After the Sortie

After earning our wings, we'll head over to the Fifth Street Brewpub for drinks and food. The actual address of the Brewpub is 1600 E 5th St, Dayton, OH 45403. We should be there by 5 if you live in the Dayton area and just want to meet us for drinks.