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Pima Air & Space Museum: 125,493 Reasons to Visit

Megan Kopp · February 25, 2022 · Leave a Comment

A day at an Air & Space Museum? Our time in Tucson, Arizona is limited, so when my guy happily agrees to see a museum for a second time with a couple of friends, I know it must be something special. Three hours later, we all agree that this massive facility has something for everyone! Read on for 125,492 reasons why you should visit the Pima Air & Space Museum.

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Pin image for Time.Travel.Trek. blog featuring blue header and footers with white text reading Tucson AZ, USA on top and Time.Travel.Trek. on bottom. Middle shows 9 circular images of various aircraft below text reading Pima Air & Space Museum: 125,493 Reasons You Need to Visit. Two paper plane graphics point to Pima.

Table of Contents

  • Let Your Imagination Take Flight at Pima Air & Space Museum
    • A Museum for Everyone
    • How Did It All Begin?
  • Touring the Exhibits
    • The 390th Memorial Museum
  • 125,493 Reasons You Need to Visit the Pima Air & Space Museum
  • When You Visit the Tucson’s Best Air & Space Museum

Let Your Imagination Take Flight at Pima Air & Space Museum

You don’t need to be an aviation buff to be astounded by the wealth of riches to be found in the Pima Air & Space Museum. From the moment you enter the first exhibit hangar to witness Wilbur and Orville Wright and their unforgettable 1903 flight, you are drawn in the wonder and freedom of air and space.

I started reading the voluminous rows of printed information on the interpretive panels but was quickly sidetracked by the cute little black and yellow Bumble Bee – designed and built specifically to take the record for world’s smallest aircraft.

Tiny black and yellow single-person airplane with wooden propeller sitting on floor of a massive hangar filled with other aircraft in background.
How small can you go and still take flight? (Photo credit: Megan Kopp)

And then I hear a quiet laugh from our friend, Rande.

“That’s it!”

“That’s my plane.”

Man standing on concrete floor of massive hangar pointing up at white plane suspended from ceiling.
That’s it! (Photo credit: Megan Kopp)

Down memory lane we trip as he reminisces about building a beauty like this as a two-seater in his teens – and how he had a problem with fuel and crashed, wrecking it beyond repair!

“I haven’t seen a Volksplane since then,” he adds, looking up once again.

Information panel with picture of single person white plane above green fields beside text and specifications about the Evans VP-1 Volkplane.
This information plaque in the Pima Air & Space Museum has all the details about the Volksplane! (Photo credit: Rande Mergerenn)

A Museum for Everyone

It didn’t take long before we naturally separated, the guys wandering off discussing the merits of jet engines and airplane design while Melanie and I are waylaid by a fascinating, fact-filled display of women in flight.

Woman sitting on wooden step wearing purple silk on piece outfit with high black boots, yellow scarf and orange hat.
Harriet Quincy was renowned for her colourful flying attire (Photo: Pima & Air Space Museum interpretive displays)

Ever heard of Harriet Quincy and her purple flying togs before? Neither had I before today. Imagine a whole post on ‘Flights of Fashion!’ It could include the bizarre, the practical, the designer influence… Oh yeah, there is plenty of information in this museum to work with!

And that is just the tip of one hangar. The facility keeps growing in scope as each year passes. Hang on – this visit is going to take hours and that still won’t be enough. This could be why they also sell two-day admissions!

Looking for more things to do in Tucson and area during your visit?
Take a Colossal Cave Tour
Explore Arizona’s Empire Ranch
Hike Wasson Peak

How Did It All Begin?

History buffs enjoy learning background stories – and this museum has a fascinating backstory. In the late 1960s, a few people from the nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base wanted to preserve some aviation history before it became scrap metal.

So, they started lining up historic aircraft along the fence. Visitors would drive by and admire the planes.

It took a few more years and lots of dedicated hours from passionate volunteers, but the county granted land and in 1976 the Pima Air and Space Museum grew wings and officially took flight.

Statue with three fighter jets arcing out of rocky base labelled with words: Beauty of Flight.
The Beauty of Flight is a rock, metal and fiberglass sculpture of three Northrop-McDonnell Douglas YF-23 twin engine fighter aircraft (Photo credit: Megan Kopp)

Touring the Exhibits

We took our time in the Main Hangar, dipped into Hangar 3, viewed the B-24 Liberator, the Hawker Hurricane and the rare German “Buzz Bomb” and took time to view the artifacts and photographs illustrating African American contributions to the history of aviation.

Painting of a young African American woman wearing aviator cap with goggles sitting up on forehead.
Image of artwork in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame featuring Janet Harmon Bragg – the first African American woman to earn her pilot’s licence in the U.S. and the first to earn a commercial pilot rating (Photo credit: Megan Kopp)

And then we headed outside to stroll the grounds and appreciate the scale of many of these aircraft – including military and commercial aircraft and a parade of helicopters of all shapes and sizes.

The 390th Memorial Museum

One final stop (nearly three hours after our arrival), took us into the 390th Memorial Museum. The museum itself houses the last B-17 Flying Fortress flown by any branch of the U.S. military. Displays reflect the mission of bombers during WWII, specifically the 390th Bomb Group.

A retired Air Force Colonel shares his story with the 390th at the museum ever Thursday. As luck would have it, we were there on a Thursday. Retired Air Force Colonel Richard “Dick” Bushong turns 99 in March of 2022. He still brings his incredible story to life in a way static displays can’t begin to match.

Joining the crowd that gathered, we started soaking up the wit and wisdom garnered from Dick’s time flying the B-17. He started flying this iconic bomber when he was 19. He flew 28 missions over Germany from the 390th base in Parham, England during WWII. We could have listened to Dick all day, but sadly we were out of time. With a nod in appreciation, we headed back towards our vehicle.

What a spectacular end to our too short visit to the Pima Air & Space Museum!

Metal art installation of B-17 bombers hanging above cactus garden on wall of metal building
Metal art installation at entrance to the 390th Memorial Museum (Photo credit: Megan Kopp)

125,493 Reasons You Need to Visit the Pima Air & Space Museum

  • one of the largest non-government funded aviation and space museums in the world (and 3rd largest aviation museum in the United States
  • 400+ historic aircraft
  • 80 acres of museum space to get lost in
  • five indoor exhibit hangars
  • 125,000+ artifacts
  • one Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame (with info on noteworthy Arizonan aviators)
  • an excellent display of African American Aviators
  • another captivating display of Women in Flight
  • a bonus visit to the 390th Memorial Museum – two museums for the price of one!
  • the Aerospace Gallery – which includes a capsule from the Apollo 13 movie
  • one chance to view outdoor art exhibits – including the Boneyard Art Project where junk planes have been revived by street artists
  • and finally, one happy Pup – yup Pups, Pima Air & Space Museum is pet-friendly
Supersonic green camouflage-painted fighter-bomber with shark's teeth and eyes and long black snout.
U.S. Air Force fighter plane with yellow and black paint on gravel in front of large hangar.
Large olive green helicopter with empty space in main body area for holding large loads.
Starburst arrangement of multi-blade prop on aircraft engine.
Large grey plane with skids for landing on snow or ice; painted grey with red front paint and bulbous "nose-like projection."
Navy plane with large structure on top of fuselage used to hold special radar equipment.
Grey and Yellow painted B-17 bomber named "I'll Be Around" in hangar
Black and white artwork decorating old plane.
U.S. Marines amphibian airliner with engines mounted about fuselage and floats on either wing.
Row of multi-coloured and various-sized helicopters under blue sky.
Aircraft of all shapes and sizes! (All photos credit: Megan Kopp)

When You Visit the Tucson’s Best Air & Space Museum

Sadly, due to changes in U.S. Air Force security considerations, additional off-site bus tours of “The Boneyard” are no longer available at time of publication of this post.

However, visitors to the Pima Air & Space Museum can still enjoy at 45-minute, 1.5-mile narrated tour of the facility’s 80 acres. The tram tour includes viewing opportunities of more than 150 planes in the museum’s collection in addition to highlights of the more significant aircraft. Tram tours currently offered Thur-Sun for $8 above admission to the museum.

Directions: to get to the museum off I-10, take Valencia Rd (exit 267) east 2 miles to the museum entrance. From northeast Tucson, take Kolb Rd south to Valencia, turning west on Valencia to the entrance.

Can’t make it to see all the historic aircraft, check out the Pima Air & Space Museum’s online page highlighting the entire aircraft collection!

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