homepage Forums SimHQ Community Community Hall Best aviation museums in California?

Hello everyone,


Early May I will have a chance to fly to San Francisco, then Palm Springs and possibly San Diego, then Los Angeles.

Which museums do you recommend? There are plenty of air & space museums in California. I will have only limited time and need to choose museums not too far from the airports I go through.

Here is what I have so far selected:

USS Hornet at Alameda near San Francisco

USS Midway or San Diego Air & Space museum at San Diego (but I'll have time only for one).

Palm Springs Air Museum at Palm Springs

Flight Path learning Center at LA airport?

Thanks in advice for your advice.

Planes of Fame at Chino? I'm planning on visiting there in September.

March ARB museum has several aircraft, including the A-9 that lost out to the A-10, but they're not always in the best condition.

The Midway and San Diego Aerospace Museum are not that far from each other, so you might be able to do both in one day.

Planes of Fame in Chino is definitely worth it. If you've got some time, you may also want to check out the Southern California Wing of the CAF (formerly the Confederate Air Force, now the Commemorative Air Force)at Camarillo airport. They have a nice little museum and a number of planes (including a Bearcat and a Zero). Camarillo is about an hour NW of downtown LA (considerably more at rush hour) and is just inland from Ventura.

Try the Hiller Aviation Museum near Redwood City (south of San Francisco). They have many interesting displays (some interactive) and many examples of Hiller's work. The flying platform is right out of 50-60s sci-fi and the simulator of it is pretty fun!

http://www.hiller.org/

It's about 30mins south of the city in clear traffic (45-60mins in heavy traffic)

East of the city in Sacramento (probably 1-2 hr drive) is the Aerospace Museum of California, haven't been there yet but looks like some interesting exhibits!

http://www.aerospacemuseumofcalifornia.org/

Damn and this place is an hour or so away from my home. Gotta plan a roadtrip soon!

Looks like another north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa (hour or more drive at least).

http://www.pacificcoastairmuseum.org/

Looks like an interesting place another road trip for me someday!

Here is a site with several Air museum located in California. Most of them have phone numbers so you could call them before visiting them if the description doesn't give you enough information to decide. http://www.skytamer.com/6.1.USA.California.htm

Yanks Air museum and Planes of Fame are both at Chino airport. Depending on how much time you spend at each of them you could visit both of them on the same day. Planes of Fame is open everyday except for a few holidays but Yanks is not open every day. If you want to visit both on the same day you should call Yanks to find out their hours of operation.

Planes of Fame - http://www.planesoffame.org/index.php

Yanks Air Museum - http://www.yanksair.com/About_Yanks.html

March Field Air Musuem - http://www.marchfield.org/


Wheels

Palm Springs and Chino are definitely worth it. March is as well, but it may be a bit out of your way.

Thanks guys, I'll have a look at all these options and check the logistics.

Never been there, but maybe it's worth a few hours? http://p38assn.org/museum.htm

If you also manage to see the mobile exhibit, could you take a few pictures of the inside? Oh, say about a hundred or so, with macro shots?

Unfortunately I am afraid it will be too far, I will have little time; however if I go, I will take pictures, and you will be informed!

The P-38 museum is a small quanson hut type hangar on the March Air Field museum grounds. It used to be open on Saturdays only. The 475th fighter group hangar at Planes of Fame is about the same size. The P-38 at the P-38 museum is a replica and I don't believe it is flyable. The 475th fighter group hanger has "23 Skidoo" which is a flyable P-38.

475th fighter group @ PoF: http://www.planesoffame.org/index.php?page=475-sup-th-sup-fighter-group


Wheels

BTW what do you recommend in terms of transportation between LAX and Chino, and which place/area would be good to stay between LAX and Chino? I can only use public transportation or taxis, no driving.

The cab fee would be pretty expensive, as the Chino Air Museum is about 60 miles (100 km) from LAX. You might consider adding an extra leg to your flight and fly from LAX to Ontario (ONT). There are a number of hotels in the Ontario area, and taking a cab from Ontario to the Chino Air Museum is a much shorter trip.

Sadly public transportation is almost non existant is Southern California. If you are going to use a cab you should see about getting flat rates for the trip instead of paying per mile.

Curious why you can't rent a car?


Wheels

Actually, I think you can get from LAX to Ontario airport (or at least the vicinity) fairly easily by public transport. There are busses that run between the two airports, and you could also take the subway (LA Metro) from LAX to Union Station in downtown LA and then take Metrolink (a commuter train)to the East Ontario station (which is about 7 miles from Ontario Airport). Perhaps you could get a SuperShuttle from Ontario to the museum; they seem to run all over the place and are fairly reasonable. Be sure to check the schedules for everything (particularly the Metrolink) VERY carefully- the service is very sporadic over the weekend.

Thank you Guys!

I think taking the Metrolink would be your best bet, provided it fits in with your schedule. Taking a connecting flight from LAX to ONT just isn't worth it, IMO.

Please be aware that the Metrolink train serving the East Ontario station, the Riverside Line, does not run on weekends. Plan ahead if you intend to use public transportation.