Review of Palm Springs Air Museum

The Palm Springs Air Museum is number 3 out of over 100 of the top tourist attractions in Palm Springs.

I decided to have a quick look around and see why it was so highly regarded.

Background

In 1993, the idea for the Palm Springs Air Museum came from the imaginations of four men: Charlie Mayer, Bill Byrne, Pete Madison and Dr. Mort Gubin. Bob Pond was trained as a Naval Aviator and had been collecting and rebuilding warbirds and classic cars in Minnesota. Bob offered to help make things happen.

The Palm Springs Air Museum was opened in November 1996. It is home to one of the world’s largest collections of static & flyable aircraft from World War II (WWII).

Located in the scenic desert setting, the 86,000 square foot Palm Springs Air Museum has one of the world’s largest collection of flyable aircrafts from WWII, Korea and Vietnam

The hangars host over 70 vintage aircraft that you can get up-close with, which focus on US military operations over the last 100 years. Some of the aircraft are still in a flyable condition.

Location

The museum is located at 745 North Gene Autry Trail Palm Springs, California 92262. It’s on the opposite side of the runways to Palm Springs International Airport.

Parking

Complimentary parking is available to guests on site.

Opening Hours

Open daily: 10:00am to 5:00pm. Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Annual Gala – the next one is scheduled for 10 Feb 2024.

Cost

It’s $23 for Adults (18-64), with a reduced rate for Seniors (65+) and Veteran/Retired Military of $21.

Kids (12 & under) can get in free. Interestingly, there’s no published price for teenagers (13-17), but there are family packages available with a reduced price for adults and teenagers.

So looks like kids can get in on their own for free, but teenagers are not allowed in on their own!

Other Facilities Available on Site

The Victory Canteen Cafe can be found in the B-17 Hangar, open from 10am to 2pm.

For those really keen on getting the ultimate vintage flying experience, visitors can pre-book flying experiences in the Warbird Rides, which cost from $125 to $4,995 (dependent on your choice of aircraft).

Entrance and Visitors’ Center

From the front, it’s an impressive-looking building and they have investment planned to make it look even better.

Inside the Visitors’ Center, you will find the gift shop on the left-hand side, which is where you need to purchase tickets for admission.

After purchasing your ticket, you can head through the central walkway to a visitors’ desk, where someone will be able to help get you started on your visit.

From here, you can access 4 hangars and a pavilion to walk around, plus an outside area housing a variety of aircraft. The four hangars are organized by theme. Aircraft are located in the hangars, together with other related exhibits.

I headed left from here, visiting the Pacific Hangar, then the Korean/Vietname Hangar and finally the F-117 Pavilion.

From here, I also took the opportunitity to look around the aircraft located outside of the hangars.

I then doubled back on myself and finished off with the European Hangar and the B-17 Hangar.

Pacific Hangar

The Pacific Hangar includes exhibits and aircraft used by the Navy in the Pacific Theater during WWII.

This hangar tells you everything you need to know about the US’ involvement in WWII and the key events that unfolded.

Some of the items on display in this hangar include:

• Pictorial time line of the Pacific.
• Pearl Harbor diorama.
• Bob Hope stage.
• The Avenger, Corsair, Dauntless, Grumman “Cats,” Grumman Goose, Invader, AT-6 Trainer,
  A-26, and the ship models.
• Display case with artifacts from the home front.
• Information about presidents who served during WWII.
• Photo of General MacArthur signing the Surrender Document.

Korean/Vietnam Hangar

This is also refered to as the Major General Kenneth P. Miles Hangar, and it houses the Cold War, Korea and Vietnam War aircraft and supporting exhibits.

It didn’t seem like a lot of this was accessible – it seemed a tad sparse in content for some reason.

F-117 Pavillion

This hangar hosts the Stealth Bomber. There were volunteer/veterans waiting for visitors to enter this hangar, so they could give visitors a quick overview of the Stealth Fighter.

I had a lovely woman attach herself to me for 5 mins. She was really enthusiastic to tell me all she knew about the aircraft.

One thing she did tell me was that there were 5 RAF pilots that flew the Stealth Fighter, but the Government wouldn’t publicly acknowledge this until after the Stealth initiative came to an end.

But she allowed me to wander around when she realised I just wanted to take some pictures! This was by far the most interesting hangar for me. The fighter bomber looked stunning in the pavilion.

The Outside Aircraft Exhibits

Just beyond the F-117 Pavilion and down the side of the museum hangars, there are numerous aircraft positioned in view of the airport.

It gets hot out here in the midday sun, so cover up if it’s hot!

European Hangar

The European Hangar features exhibits and aircraft used by the Army in the European Theater during WWII.

The highlight in this hangar was the Spitfire for me, being British and all that!

Some of the items on display in this hangar include:

• Pictorial time line of Europe.
• Living History kiosk.
• Wall murals dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen.
• Jackie Cochran display case.
• Women of WWII display which highlights the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).
• The B25 Mitchell Bomber, P-40, P47 Thunderbolt, P51 Mustang, P63 Kingcobra, Stearman,
  Spitfire and the T-33 jet trainer.

B-17 Hangar

The smallest hangar contains the B-17 Flying Fortress and the Berger Children’s Education Center.

There is also the Falcon Rides F-16 Simulator.

Summary

The well-trained and enthusiastic volunteers do the museum proud – they are the lifeblood of this type of attraction that aims at educating the young and commemorating the history of US engagement in world affairs.

A number of aircrafts are open for visitors to tour. There are also activities and displays geared for children. To top it all, the museum still flies some of the vintage aircraft.

For anyone remotely interested in this sort of thing, they could spend half a day here. For me, it was a bit of a distraction, but that doesn’t detract from what the museum has to offer. Overall, well worth the £23 admission fee.

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to Palm Springs in Dec 2023