Best Museum worldwide
 

Ideas on which is best museum worldwide to view both Civil and Military historical aircraft.

Have done Pima in Tucson and the Boneyard on couple of occasions and like it simply because guaranteed warm weather but thinking worldwide which is best,

Hugely subjective - but here are 4 suggestions for the list.

RAF museum.
Duxford.
Old Warden
Smithsonian.

3 out of 4 in Britain - which probably just shows my limited experience of air museums.

Bit surprised this is in 'Military Aircrew'.

Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace in Paris. Five years since I was there but remember going on board an early Concorde, seeing a Mirage that had dropped a nuke, as well as various bits of the French space programme, with fabulous hot weather to boot and food to die for. Only downside is that it's a bit of a hoof if getting there by public transport, but worth it once you arrive.

A couple in the USA
 

I don't know about the best in the entire world, but the museum at Boeing Field in Seattle and the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville, Oregon are pretty good. The Spruce Goose is housed at the Evergreen Museum.

The Boeing Museum has a Concorde that you can walk through as well as a 707 Air Force One. The first 747 is there also. There is a very well done WWI and WWII section that you walk through, and it gives you the feeling that you are actually there with sounds and life sized figures, etc.

I have been told that there is a very good helicopter museum just south of San Francisco International which is on my list being a former rotor head myself.:ok:

Ain't nobody gonna mention good old NM of the USAF at WP AFB, Dayton OH USA? I go there on an annual pilgrimage! AF One that took Kennedy's coffin back from Texas, five hangars full of what I think is the biggest and best. I haven't been to them all, but Duxford, Yeovilton, and Forvarsmuseet in Oslo come to mind as others I have compared it to. As well as the Gander, NL North Atlantic Aviation Museum just last month on a much smaller scale.


cheers,
Nigel

Just walk through the entrance at the Smithsonian in Washington DC..

Spirit of St Louis
Original Apollo 11 Capsule
etc etc

They also have the Enola Gay inside.

The quantity isn't there, but the quality is!

PS, The "Petting Zoo" at Nellis isn't bad for a play either.

All great museums so far... Many that I really want to go to at some point. Do you know I've never been to the RAF Museum at Cosford. Shame on me.

I'd also add Planes of Fame and Yanks at Chino, and the EAA Museum at Oshkosh and also the Airspace Museum at San Diego all of which have some unusual aircraft. And Kermit Weeks' place at Polk City, FL.

One I forgot - RAF Cosford. A lot of the external exhibits were viewable from outside my office window on my last posting in the RAF. It was scary to see a lot of aircraft related to my career parked there - made me realise I was a bit of a museum piece myself!

The Palm Springs Air Museum is well worth a visit. Has a very interesting library also.

The CAF at Mesa AZ is another wonderful place to while away a pleasant afternoon.

Check before you go to Cosford. I went there on especially from Aberdeen. After I had paid my entrance fee I was informed that the Battle of Britain area was unavailable because it had been rented out for a corporate lunch.

ZFT

Forgot the CAF at Mesa as have been there but felt Pima in Tucson was better.

Good thing about Pima is you can also take in the Titan Missile Silo South of Tucson as well, this was used in one of the Star Trek Movies.

Did Pima again (and Boneyard) just before Mesa. Missed the Titan though. Personally I prefer museums that have a higher percentage of airworthy aircraft hence my choice. Liked Chino for the same reason. They are all fantastic though.

I prefer to see active aircraft so like Duxford, Old Warden and La Ferte Alais. Not done much outside of Europe apart from Seattle and Washington which are both very good.
Of the other static aircraft museums I especially enjoyed Sinsheim in Germany, more for the sheer range of exhibits than specific historic interest and Belgrade and Moscow - Monino for the rarity value.

This must have been a while back as admission is now without charge, although you will be paying for parking from 01 Aug.

However I too have visited when Hangar 1 has been closed due to some corporate bash. Surely public access should take precedence over private events. Rent it out by all means but the event and preparation for it should take place while the museum is closed.

Planemike

Canadian Warplane Heritage at Hamilton has got to go some where near the top of the list.

Not a large collection, but several interesting a/c, flyers among them. The museum is immaculate and as I recollect there are few if any barriers.

Planemike

Monino, eastern outskirts of Moscow. All kinds of weird and wonderful stuff that never got past prototype stage.

Racedo,

Sorry I just picked up on this one. It really depends what you like. Civil and Mail? Clean, neat, clinical presentation or meaty historic goodies? How old (WW1? WW2?)?

I've not seen so many and if you use Pima as a benchmark as you say you went there, there are lots of others with a wealth of interesting exhibits that also portay the international nature of aviation. I'm a Brit and I'd agree that Hendon is great, and so is the site at Duxford where, on a show day, you'll see a lot of oldies in action, but I apppreciate and relish the idea of out-of-the-way places with unusual exhibits. I'd offer Belgrade Aviation Museum at the Airport, Brussels National Musuem, Kiev-Zhulyany, Cuatro Vientos in Madrid. There are lots more. I'd recommend searching on the net a little.....

Good luck!

RR

Can't believe no one has mentioned the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton... extremely well done, from the way you enter the mueseum to the last exhibit.

I was quite impressed by USAF Museum close to Wright-Patterson in Dayton, Ohio, but it is not quite up to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at Dulles.

For airworthy stuff in the US, I'd also add Old Rhinebeck in upstate NY. These are working aeroplanes dating between about 1909 to 1939 and the accent at the regular (every weekend or every other weekend) airshows is on fun.

The strip carved out of the woods has to be seen to be believed. And don't forget to visit the Quonset Hangars on the other side of the road above the car park - the contents may not be flying this year, but they reckon a quick rag overhaul and they could be.