November 4, 2013

National Naval Aviation Museum

Pensacola, FL

I have visited many museums in my lifetime and I have to say the National Naval Aviation Museum is my second best-topped only by the Smithsonian (as a group).

And amazingly, it is FREE!  (They do accept donations)

The entrance to the Naval Air Station was less than 5 miles from the campground.  We showed our ID at the entrance gate and were given a pass that only allowed access to the museum, lighthouse, forts, golf course and cemetery. 

Arriving just a few minutes after 11AM, I foolishly thought we would spend a couple of hours at the museum and then continue on to the fort and possibly the lighthouse.  HA!  We ended up leaving the museum at 4:30 not having visited several exhibits including the Cubi Bar Café and the library.  We also did not view either of the films showing at the IMAX Theatre. 

So I would suggest if you ever plan to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum, plan on arrived when it opens at 9AM. 

WARNING—THIS POST IS VERY PICTURE INTENSIVE!  Between Monte and I, we took 496 photos.  I painstakingly narrowed it down to 120 pictures.  I am not particularly interested in planes so I didn’t think I was going to find this museum very interesting BUT I was very much mistaken.  In addition to the more than 150 aircraft (some are one of a kind) and spacecraft on display (including Blue Angel Skyhawks) there are Max Flight Simulators (for a fee), a aviation inspired Flight Deck Store, a library, and art exhibits.

The areas I found most interesting included Home Front USA (a diorama depicting life in the USA during the 1940s) and the Medal of Honor Kiosk containing video stories of medal recipients.  Each story only runs a few minutes but there are so many of them that it would take hours to view them all. 

Also located on the grounds of the complex is the National Flight Academy open to young people in grades 7 through 12. The 5 day program incorporates games to foster a desire to learn and pursue the math and sciences today that open the door to science and engineering degrees and careers of tomorrow. 

Upon entering the museum, we were greeted by a volunteer (we later learned that the museum is staffed by over 400 volunteers) who gave us a brief description of the layout and encouraged us to proceed to the Information Desk to procure tickets for the Flight Line Trolley Tour (a free 20-minute tour of the approximately 50 aircraft displayed on the flight line behind the Restoration hanger.  We had just missed the 11AM tour so we decided to wander around the museum by ourselves until the next tour at 1PM. 

The USS George H.W. Bush-only the second aircraft carrier named for a naval aviator.  The former president was the youngest aviator in the fleet at the time of his designation as a naval aviator in 1943.

USS Ronald Reagan-The ninth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Ronald Reagan, was christened on March 4, 2001 by the wife of the former president.  Stretching 1,092 feet she is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall.

The IMAX Theatre offers a choice of two movies, The Magic of Flight (Fly with the Blues and experience the thrill of cruising the skies at Mach speed) and the Rocky Mountain Express that propels audiences on a steam train journey through the breathtaking vistas of the Canadian Rockies.  The tickets were only $8.75 but we decided to skip the movies because we didn’t want use up our time.  By this point we starting seeing that by arriving at 11AM we had not allowed enough time.

The Museum has two floors and uses every available floor space for exhibitions as well as taking advantage of ceiling space to hang aircraft.

There is an entire section of the museum dedicated to patches and uniforms worn by pilots at the birth of aviation. 

 

 

 

 

Cold-weather clothing worn by explorer Richard E. Byrd-One of America's most acclaimed explorers, credited with being the first to fly over both the North and South Poles, Rear Admiral Byrd spent a lifetime leading expeditions to some of Earth's most forbidden locations.  This fur coat and reindeer skin mukluks were worn by Byrd on one of his polar expeditions.

Leather Flying Suit worn by Ensign Arthur Sease Williams served as a lighter-than-air pilot during WWI, the writing on his flying suit reflecting the South Carolinian's pride in the fast that he was the first member of the maiden lighter-than-air class at Akron, Ohio, to be designated a blimp pilot in 1917.

During WWII Disney Studios designed about 1,200 military insignias featuring famous cartoon characters.

 

 

 

 

  

Homage is given to the motion picture industry depicting the booming effect it had on aviation during the two decades before WWII. 

 

 

 

  

One diorama depicts the vision Magruder H. Tuttle, a Navy captain who in 1955 got his first taste of flying in Pensacola and with it an idea of creating a small museum commemorating Naval Aviation’s achievements.  A fundraising corporation was established in 1966 and was successful resulting in several expansion phases. 

What began as one man’s idea has evolved over the years into a steadily growing and expanding institution of national significance.

Some one of the kind craft that can only be seen at the museum.

We had planned on eating lunch at the Cubi Bar Café that is not only a Café but a museum exhibit.  The décor duplicates the bar area of the famous Cubi Point Officer’s Club that was a major source of enjoyment for Navy and Marine Corps squadrons in the Philippines.  But, again, we opted to skip the café not wanting to take time away from the other exhibits.

 

 

There are several war bond posters on exhibit throughout the museum.

 

 

The Museum is divided into sections devoted to different war arenas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Atomic Bomb-This nuclear device is representative of the type of Atomic Bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man", that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan to end the second World War. 

Play area for children 

Including big children 

 

The Blue Angels is the United States Navy's flight demonstration squadron. 

The team was formed in 1946

The Blue Angel's six demonstration pilots fly the F/A-18 Hornet. 

An estimated 11 million spectators view the squadron during air shows each year.

Since 1946, the Blue Angels have flown for more than 260 million spectators.

We decided to leave exploring the second floor to later and walked across from the main building to Hanger Bay One.  This newest addition to the museum complex was opened in November 2010.  The building houses exhibits on Naval Aviation in the Persian Gulf, Vietnam and Modern aircraft, (including the X-47B UCAS-Unmanned Combat Air System), the Sea King (a Presidential Aircraft) and Women in Naval Aviation.

President Nixon aboard the Sea King 

Delivered to the fleet in 1962, the VH-3A served in the Executive Flight Detachment of HMX-1 during the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.

 

Unmanned Combat Air Station

  

Bob Hope-USO Tours 

Vietnam exhibit 

Prisoner uniform

 

For the first three decades of U.S. naval aviation, the service of women was a byproduct of national emergencies triggered by world war.  During WWI, the Navy opened the enlisted ranks to females, largely assigning them to clerical and administrative duties.

Lt. Kristen Levasseur received her naval flight officer wings at Naval Station Pensacola and eventually joined Electronic Attack Squadron.  Flying as an electronic warfare officer in the rear cockpit of the squadron's EA-18G Growler aircraft, she wore this desert tan flight suit in 2011 while flying combat missions over Iraq and enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn.

When the first females reported for flight training the decision was made to issue them specially made blue flight suits.  Though they wore them in some publicity photos, the blue flight suits were unpopular among the women and they largely wore the same green flight suits as their male counterparts.This suit was worn by Lt. Barbara Ann Allen upon her graduation as the first female naval aviator.  She served on active duty until 1982 when she was killed in a training accident.

 

It was time to meet back at the entrance to the Museum for our 1PM Trolley Tour so we cut short our visit at Hanger Bay One.

I felt a little rushed as I am one of those annoying people who like to read every little sign at each exhibit.  Running out of time meant just taking a lot of quick pictures of the signs so I could read them later.

Our tour guide, John, is a former Navy pilot.  After twenty years of service to our country he went to work for FedEx until mandatory retirement age forced him to stop working. 

After a Brief introduction under the large aircraft in front of the museum we drove out to the Flight Line area where John gave us some history of several of the aircraft. 

 

 

After the Trolley Tour we explored the Second Deck with exhibits on Naval Art, a kiosk offering Medal of Honor stories, Home Front USA, WWII Pacific, WWII Carrier, and Space.  The 3D Flight Simulators and Cockpit Trainers are also located on the Second Deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I listened to two stories of medal recipients- They were very heart-warming.  I wish I had the time to listen to every story. 

HOME FRONT USA

 

At the movies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the pin-up girls 

 

 

34 days at sea on a raft-They were alone and lost, flying an extended search miles from their floating home.  A compass error had sent them off course and operating under strict radio silence during this second month of war the four crew members ran out of gas and landed in the Pacific Ocean.  The men spent the next 34 days in this 8 x 4 foot rubber life raft.  They fed off the occasional bird and fish they managed to catch as well as floating coconuts and marine growth.  An occasional rain shower provided the men's only freshwater.  Finally, having drifted a distance covering some 1,200 miles and 450 straight line miles from the spot where their plane went down, the men came ashore in the Danger Islands

 

 

 

 

All too soon it was time for our 2PM Guided Museum Tour. 

We joined the group a little late.  The gentleman (I don’t recall his name) was very informative but a little winded. (We are not complaining.  Being interpretive volunteers we know the value of volunteerism.  We just felt that after being on our feet for so long we were ready to leave.)  The tour generally runs 45 minutes to an hour.  Two hours into the tour we decided to abandon it. 

Having skipped lunch we were pretty hungry so we entered Pizza in the GPS and found a Dominos not too far away. 

On the road leading to the campground we encountered a couple of deer. 

What a perfect way to end an awesome day!