I've driven along I-70 many times and have seen the signs advertising the National Museum of the United States Air Force but I had never had the opportunity to visit until today.
Located in Dayton, Ohio, the museum is near interstates 70 and 75, offering easy access to travelers from all directions.
Best of all, admission is FREE! That's right, four hangars filled with planes that will take hours (or multiple visits) to fully enjoy, and there is no admission fee.
The exhibit starts with the history of flying, which makes sense since the Wright brothers lived in the Dayton area and perfected their early airplanes nearby.
This is an Air Force museum, so most of the planes and the educational information about them travels through history to the cadence of wars. After the early years of flying, it's less than a decade until planes were used in World War I. Another decade and you're into World War II followed by Korea, Southeast Asia and then the Cold War. It is fascinating how quickly planes developed through the decades to fly higher, faster, further and to deliver more lethal payloads.
While all of the information and exhibits are great, I enjoyed the fourth hangar the best. The fourth hangar is home to the "Presidential Gallery" and includes planes that were used by multiple presidents. And best of all, you can board and walk through most of them. First you can climb aboard the plane that first flew a president - the "Sacred Cow" purpose-built for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Planes that served Presidents Truman and Eisenhower are next before you get to climb the stairs to the plane that served eight presidents, beginning with JFK. You walk through the aisle past the spot where Lyndon Johnson took the oath to serve as president after JFK's assassination.
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