Wright Patterson Air Force Museum

One of the highlights of our Ohio trip was visiting the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum.  It was the first time taking the kids.  It was part fun, part field trip.  J had studied World Wars I and II so I thought it would be a great museum for him.  It did not disappoint.

Here are the boys in front of some aircraft.  (Don't tell my husband that I can't identify this craft just by looking at it's nose gear.  I know- I am a failure as an aeronautical engineer's wife.)

I will admit that I enjoyed this museum.  My husband would have stayed there for days.  The kids loved it!

They have every (I mean every) aircraft that has existed for the military since the Wright Flyer.  There were several models with their "skins" off so you could see inside them.

The museum was set up by time periods, so you could get a good grasp on the development of the aircraft over time.

This was an early model of a wind tunnel that the military used.  They showed several wind tunnel models throughout history.

This was the "Bug" used during World War I.  It was the first development of a cruise missile.  

The boys were greatly disappointed that they could not climb into most of the planes.  There were a few things they were allowed to touch.  Here they are in the bomb bay of a World War II bomber.

They also removed two cockpits from fighter jets.  They kids were allowed to climb in these.  These had a blast.  They did this multiple times.

This has to be my first picture of the whole day.  Baby girl started fussing pretty loud.  She decided that she needed in the cockpit too.  She was so excited!

In the third hanger, we are looking at modern rocketry.  These things were huge.  

This room was full of complete or partially complete Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) used during the Cold War.  Their size was impressive and intimidating.

  

The boys thought the display of astronaut food was quite entertaining.  They showed what Mercury astronauts ate and compared it to modern day astronaut food.  It did not look appetizing.

The truly amazing part was that the museum was FREE!  I am sure paid by my tax dollars, but that could have easily cost us $50 at other facilities.  We are sure to visit there again.