USA air museums to visit
 

Assuming a modest budget and a 2 week time frame, what air museums on mainland USA would be worth visiting? Would be prepared to cross the country as required. Obvious choices would be USAF in Dayton, Steven F.Udvar-Hazy Center and Smithsonian, Davis Monthan. Any hidden gems or slightly off track/beat places to be recommended?

The Smithsonian should be on your must-see list.

A browse here may give you some ideas.

US Demobbed - Out of Service Military Aircraft in the USA

Pima Museum in Tucson should not be missed

There is a small museum dedicated to Neil Armstrong in Wapakoneta, Ohio, near the border with Indiana. There is a collection of rockets in Huntsville Alabama, including 2 Saturn Vs, one standing and providing a place to gather some road traffic from.

If your interests include vintage light aircraft, the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum at Hood River is excellent.

If you want to stick to your two weeks, don't get talking to the guides....

https://www.waaamuseum.org/

Valiant Air Museum Titusville Florida - lots of post war US military kit - some exotic Russian and occasional UK V friendly and very close to Canaveral as well

https://www.valiantaircommand.com/flyingcollection

Museum of flight in Seattle. In San Diego there are several ones. I like the one in Balboa park. And don't forget USS Intrepid in NYC.

Visiting the states - it is what you have to miss out on that makes planning difficult LOL
Udvar - Hazy definitely
The Mid Atlantic at Reading,Pa is not too far from U-H ,we did not visit the Mid Atlantic museum per se but attended the great airshow/reenactor event in June (?).
Next door to that is the lovely Golden Age Air Museum at Bethel,Pa - a gorgeous grass field with lots of lovely biplanes etc.
Old Rhinebeck (NY State) is a different sort of experience but great fun if they have a flying day on.
New England Air Museum,Windsor Locks - has the gorgeous Sikorsky VS44 Flying Boat,the unique surviving Burnelli CBY -3,B29 and some rare helicopters,one of the docents came in on his day off to show us round the restoration hangar where the Burnelli was (at that time) being restored and also took us into the storage hangar.
Depending on your route - the Curtiss Museum at Hammondsport is a lovely little spot and also fairly close to the Soaring Museum at Elmira.

Over to the west
WAAAM - (Western Antique Aeroplane And Automobile Museum) at Hood River,OR is an absolute WOW - a phenomenal collection of aircraft,cars and gliders.
Erickson Collection at Madras,OR is a lovely collection of mostly airworthy a/c.
Evergreen at McMinnville,OR of course has the Spruce Goose and other lovely a/c.
Tillamook,OR is worth visiting just for being inside the huge wooden airship hangar.
Further south - Castle AFB is quite a collection with a couple of real rarities.
And depending on time of year you are visiting - it is the final ever Reno Air Races at Reno/Stead this year (september),definitely worth a visit to the pits.

https://www.midway.org/

Try that. Gutless Cutlass latest exhibit.

Meanwhile in Colorado
At Colorado Springs you can dine either inside or underneath a KC97 at the The Airplane Restaurant :)
Then just down the road is the lovely National Museum of World War II Aviation/West Pac restorations - then just across the runway is the Edward J. Peterson Air and Space Museum which is based around the original Air terminal - but is located on an active AFB so one needs to email prior to visit (for permission to visit) and then pick up permit from the 'Guardroom' on the way in.
There is a Fly In at Montrose,CO which we attended in 2018 - it was a really well attended fly in inc a B52 but don't know what it will be like post covid.

@ desertjockey - if you are interested in Steam Railroads we have loads of info on some of them too ;)
2 weeks is never enough time to do the states unfortunately - our last visit to colorado was squeezed into a paltry 12 days :)

I recall going to one near Galveston in Texas which was good. I have been to the Evergreen museum with the Spruce goose. If its any use even my ex wife commented that it was interesting and one of the better ones we had visited.

Pima and the Boneyard are a must, San Diego is also good and obviously the Smithsonian goes without saying.

Personally I was recentally in Savannah where there is a museum dedicated to the 8th Air Force. A B47 and B17 etc however the sheer amount of history, memorabilia and dedication to those who served in the East of England was simply fascinating. I bitterly regret not allocating more time to it as it was simply one of the most interesting museums I have been to.

Palm Springs has an excellent museum foccusing on naval aviation.

Dayton
 

The National Museum of the USAF, in Dayton, Ohio is the premier collection of aircraft in the US. Give yoursel two days, three if you
can. Great collection of all nations aircraft in a great setting.
After that, Pima, Az. is way up there too.

If you are going to Tucson for Davis Monthan AFB and Pima Air Museum make time for the Titan Missile Museum as well.
https://titanmissilemuseum.org/

Should you end up driving from Washington to Dayton, you might consider a stop a the Hagerstown (Maryland) Aviation Museum. It's a collection of Fairchild aircraft, housed at the former Fairchild plant. (Photos of the collection: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmJLLw1v )
Don't be put off by the lack of information or published hours on their website (their FaceBook is a better source); they're very tolerant of walk-ins.

I was lucky enough to be shown around 'The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force' whilst on a GE CF6 course; it a ride outside Cincinnati towards Dayton.

If you are in California, a visit to Chino, near LA, is a must. There are 2 excellent museums, both with a large number of airworthy warbirds, as well as various restoration companies.

Home Page | Planes of Fame Air Museum

Yanks Air - Airplane Museum California, Air Shows at Chino Hills, Aviation Museum

It very much depends on your aims for the holiday, are you mixing aeroplanes with leisure /sightseeing?

San Diego is a wonderful place to visit with its harbour & beaches. As mentioned above, the Museum there is very good, but not huge. There is also a collection on a Carrier. You could spend an hour or so at Coronado Beach and watch the US Navy in operation from North Island.
March AFB further North has a very good Museum too.

Most Bases have a nice collection of Gate guards which are often easy to see, as in HaveQuick's post #3.

Boeing Field in Seattle is also recommended, as is the Carrier in New York.

2 most excellent Museums are The US Navy Museum at Pensacola, Fl, and the US Army Museum at Fort Rucker, Al. However (according to conversations on "Fighter Control" website) you need to pre-book your visits and this is a bit hit and miss.

Museums
 

Dayton - See the Memphis Belle
8th Air force museum - Pooler Georgia.....a lot on money spent here, by those that came back in honour of those that didn't
https://www.mightyeighth.org/

If you are passing - https://warbirdsnews.com/aviation-mu...n-in-2023.html
here you can see the Miracle on the Hudson plane, flown by Sully!

The EAA museum in Oshkosh

A very good Navy one in Pensacola.

https://www.navalaviationmuseum.org

Forty years ago ,having previously seen most of the Museums near Washington,I drew up a map of locations of museums which likely fulfilled my interests and which could be most visited in a 16 day or so circuit . In my case this resulted in a swing though the Southern States down to to Texas and back in a hired ( cheap) Plymouth Chevette staying in mostly small town hotels with generous hospitality. I can't think much has changed to negate a similar approach..

Of the ones I've visited, here is my ranking:
1) Tie - USAF Museum in Dayton (be sure to see the lone surviving XB-70) and Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy near Dulles Airport (Washington DC Area).
3) Smithsonian Air and Space on the Capitol Mall
(big gap...)
4) Seattle Museum of Flight (Boeing Field) (I contributed to a few displays there)
5) Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum (Paine Field near Everett, WA - this used to be the private collection of the late Paul Allen - his heirs sold it to one of the Walton family (Walmart) who has said they intend to leave it as is - it's been closed since Covid hit but is supposed to re-open soon)
5a) If you're at Paine field, be sure to also check out the Future of Flight (connected to the Museum of Flight) and the Historic Flight Museum (another rich guy's private collection that he's put on display)
6) San Diego Air and Space Museum
7) New England Air Museum (Bradley Airport in Connecticut).
8) Pueblo Air Museum (Pueblo, Colorado Airport)
9) Palm Springs Air Museum (Palm Springs, California airport)

It actually has a variety of warbirds, not just Navy. Excellent display of the real stuff.

I like what the others have suggested, been to most of them. Pima Air Museum in Tucson is a don't miss,not far from the boneyard at Davis-Montham. It has perhaps the broadest variety of extremely interesting aircraft, plus an excellent building dedicated to an 8th Air Force bomb group with a restored B-17, plus a ton of personal momentos, oral histories, etc. I needed several days to plum the depths of this museum.

Another fascinating museum is the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson Kansas. https://cosmo.org

We were lucky enough to get a tour of the Air Force Flight Test Museum within Edwards AFB, lots of unique stuff. Check their website for details of when it’s open to the public.

If visiting Pima Air Museum, AZ, there is a Titan ICBM Museum nearby https://titanmissilemuseum.org/

Also note that it is no longer possible to get a bus tour of the Boneyard

https://www.visittucson.org/listing/...boneyard/1134/

There is a SR-71 indoors at March Field, Riverside, CA

https://www.marchfield.org/aircraft/sr-71-blackbird/

A collection of Century Series fighters outside the gate at Edwards AFB https://www.air-and-space.com/200709...y%20Circle.htm

Visited that in 2015 ... many detailed exhibits, a bit short on airframes. Much enjoyed.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the Air Mobility Museum at Dover AFB, Delaware, which has a great collection of "heavy metal" - tankers and transports of all sizes and other types besides. Also in the general area of Washington DC is the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum at Martin State Airport near Baltimore. There are good indoor displays about Martin aircraft, many of which were built there, and an outdoor collection further down the field, which is accessed with an escort from the museum staff.

Kitty Hawk, NC for the site of the first powered flight. It’s surprising how short that flight was - and they didn’t even lose Wilbur’s luggage!

Kermit Weeks’ Fantasy of Flight museum and restoration center in Central Florida was a fantastic day out when I was there in 2013, but sadly it has scaled back to a very small display, with only about 25 aircraft on regular show.
According to their website, it is still possible to book a personal guided tour to the complete collection - pricey at $500 per head, but if money is no object, a fascinating view of restoration workshops as well as a vast collection.

(Kermit Weeks’ YouTube videos are a great watch as well, walk rounds and in flight video of his collection).

The SAC & Aerospace Museum, a few miles south east of Omaha off I-80. Visited a few years ago. They have a B36 and it is huge! They also have a Vulcan.
https://www.sacmuseum.org/what-to-se...6j-peacemaker/

The US Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama as well as the US Navy Museum at Pensacola, Florida....not all that far from the Army Museum.

The USMC Museum near Quantico is also a good one.

Patriots Point in Charleston, SC is a good stop as well.

Pima Museum next door to Davis-Monthan AFB and its Boneyard where US Military Aircraft go to die.

Oh, I totally forgot about the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. The "Spruce Goose" along with lots of aircraft and a very, very good Space Museum. I'd put it 4th on my list, ahead of the Seattle Museum of Flight.
Plus, if the rest of the family doesn't share your interests, there is a waterpark right next door, featuring a 747 on the roof (yes, a waterslide is incorporated into the 747).
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....553d3a1eff.jpg

Mideast coast gems
 

Charlotte North Carolina is a relatively big hub, so if you're passing through, they've got a good museum that covers a wide range of space and includes Sully's a320 that ditched in the Hudson.

Hampton roads Virginia (includes Norfolk, Newport News, Virginia Beach) has tons of great museums. If you're there check out the Hampton Air and space museum and there's a small museum at the entrance to Langley Field. Of course Norfolk has all of the naval aviation and ship tours and Newport News has the incredible maritime museum.. And keep in mind that Williamsburg and Jamestown are less than an hour away.

Give yourself a couple of days, or a full day each to visit the National Air and Space Museum in downtown DC and the Udvar-Hazy Museum near Dulles Airport in Virginia. Both are free, but you have to pay for parking at Udvar Hazy. If you have extra time, there are small museums at the College Park Airport in Maryland (oldest continuously operated airport in the entire world) and at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center visitors center in Greenbelt, Maryland, but they pale in comparison to the National Air and Space museums.

https://www.mncppc.org/1593/College-...viation-Museum

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard...ome/index.html

https://usnasw.org/home/history-2-2/

NAS Wildwood at the Cape May Airport in New Jersey, but it is out of the way.

National WWII Museum in New Orleans is worth a visit.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/visit

USS Midway aircraft carrier museum in San Diego, California.

https://www.midway.org

With all of these, check about availability of tickets in advance (some places have “timed tickets” saying when you can visit to minimize crowds.)

My 2.5 week itinerary.
 

In January 2020 I flew to the USA from Australia and did the following in 2.5 weeks:

Land at LAX, pick up hire car and drive:
Chino- Planes of Fame/ Yanks Air Museum.
Riverside- March Air Force Reserve Base.
Palm Springs- Air and Space Museum.
San Diego- USS Midway and Air &Space.

Fly San Diego- Tucson:
PIMA Air & Space (3 days)
Davis Monthan AFB Boneyard bud tour.
Titan Missile Museum.

Fly Tucson- Reagan National:
Udvar Hazy Museum (2 days)
Smithsonian Air & Space (1.5 days)
DC sightseeing (1.5 days).

Fly DC- Orlando, collect hire Car:
Kennedy Space Centre (2 days)
Valiant Air Command Museum in Titusville.

Fly Orlando- LAX:
Chilling out on Santa Monica Pier-
fly home.

I was tired by the end, but absolutely loved it.

Kalamazoo, MI - especially if you have kids with you https://www.airzoo.org/

Another vote for Kermit Weeks here.......wasn't aware it had been scaled back though. Watching the Fieseler Storch take off was really something.......as was just sitting in the Short Sunderland.