Wright Patterson AFB Museum?

[eldirector]

I am making a run to the Dayton area this weekend, and would like to take my family to the National Museum of the ASAF while we are in the area. I will be carrying on my Utah permit while in Ohio (I have my Indiana LTCH and Utah CCW permit), but am wondering about the Museum?

I am assuming it is Federal property, and am assuming I will just need to lock it up in the car while there. However, this IS a military base, so......

 

[SEIndSAM]

I am making a run to the Dayton area this weekend, and would like to take my family to the National Museum of the ASAF while we are in the area. I will be carrying on my Utah permit while in Ohio (I have my Indiana LTCH and Utah CCW permit), but am wondering about the Museum?

I am assuming it is Federal property, and am assuming I will just need to lock it up in the car while there. However, this IS a military base, so......

It is Federal property, so you will need to leave it in the car. Lot's of security there, I wouldn't carry.

 

[YETB]

Last time there - they were doing full ID checks on everyone going in. There is a lot of security there.

GREAT museum - definitely worth the stop. Take your time and enjoy it.

 

[JWAS]

Yeah, I grew up 30 minutes from Wright Pat. and yeah, don't carry there!!!! Awesome place to visit, but it is fed property so no carrying. Yeah, the security is pretty high since WPAFB is where most of the stealth and other R&D projects for the AF are developed.

 

[lrahm]

Best air museum you will ever see.

 

[backfire]

Been there myself many times before too and like the other guys' said, it's a choice place to visit!

 

[Cemetery-man]

The surviving members of Doolittle's Raid are having their reunion there again this spring (April). Last I checked, there were still plenty of seats available for the dinner and/or luncheon but last year they sold out fast. Might want to schedule a trip there around that time frame. Could possibly be the last reunion and last chance to meet these great heroes.

 

[Classic]

Much as I hate to leave mine in the car, this is a museum that makes it worth it. Make sure you have a camera!

 

[eldirector]

You all seem to confirm what I thought: just lock it up. I was worried about any additional security in the lot, and whether or not the entire base was a disarmament zone.

We've been to the museum a few times, and have always enjoyed it. Since we will have several hours to kill in the area, I couldn't pass up the chance to stop. I heard they have updated a LOT of the exhibits, and have really expanded. One of these days, we'll have to make time for the whole tour.

Thanks, folks!

 

[gunluvr]

Two years ago I did a job at WPAFB and you better not try to sneak anything in.

 

[BroodXI]

I know first hand FT. Knox didn't want my sister's .357 Mag on the base at all. had to take it to a pawn shop to have them hold it for the day.

 

[Fedempl]

Two years ago I did a job at WPAFB and you better not try to sneak anything in.

I was stationed at WPAFB as a LEO and unless you want to taste the pavement, lock your firearm in the car. Great museum.

 

[sharpetop]

I was stationed at WPAFB as a LEO and unless you want to taste the pavement, lock your firearm in the car. Great museum.

I too was an Air Force LEO. When I was in, civilian firearms weren't even allowed on base. You are subject to search on a military base, usually happens at the entrance gate. We also had K-9 that could sniff for explosives, i.e. gunpowder and/or residue.

I would leave it home if you have to enter the base.


Things may have changed since I got out in 1977, but I wouldn't chance it.

 

[paddling_man]

No manned security gate at the entrance, so it's highly unlikely your car will be searched entering the lot. However, the signs IIRC state no firearms on the property at all and, again if I'm remembering right, that vehicles are subject to search.

I've been a couple of times in the last two years - the second time without little kids so I could geek out all day. An amazing place, to be sure. I secure mine in the car.

Take time to listen / watch some of the presentations. The one for Doolittle's Raid was especially impacting.

 

[sloughfoot]

You could always take the virtual tour while holding your handgun in your hand....if it makes you feel better.

Do not try to enter with one in your vehicle in any kind of reality.

National Museum of the USAF - Virtual Tour

 

[griffin]

Go! It is awesome! Plan to spend about 4x the time you initially allocate. If you don't you won't really be able to take everything in, including sitting in cockpits, seeing the extra exhibits, etc. See if they are having any talks that night. If so, go!

I spent two days there and didn't look at half the stuff in detail. I didn't even tour the experimental section (X-1, X-15, etc.) or the Presidential planes. If you looked at all the displays you could spend a week there, no problem.

Take the "Behind the scenes tour!" Over a million people a year visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force, but few get to see it all. Once a week a handful of people get a "behind-the-scenes" tour of the museum and are allowed to visit the restoration area. My wife and I were fortunate to be among them. Get your tickets first thing. They are very limited. You will see a lot of things including the Memphis Belle in restoration, and another B-17 "Flying Fortress" called the Swoose, named so because during the war it was repaired with disparate parts and was half Swan, half Goose, so to speak. It is the oldest B17 still intact. It survived Pearl Harbor because it was in the Philippines. You will see a MiG 21, MiG 23, an Su-22 that was traded by a Soviet general for food for his troops after the breakup of the Soviet union, and this:

Any guesses as to what it is? How about now?

Now?

Perhaps you remember this picture of it:

It is a MiG-25, one of Saddam's MiGs that was dug up in the sands of Iraq.

My wife and I attended a talk that night at the museum by Col. Joseph Kittinger, USAF Ret. His resume is wide-ranging and extensive. Not one place on-line contains it all. In 1957, Kittinger piloted Manhigh I to a height of 96,000 feet, jumped, and parachuted back to earth, making Kittinger the first man in space. (Yes, it was black up there). He made several more high-altitude jumps and on August 16, 1960, he jumped from 102,800 feet -- that's almost 20 miles high! -- reaching a free-fall speed of 614 MPH. He was working on preliminary research for the space program as well as escape systems.

He was a POW at the Hanoi Hilton where he first met John McCain. He told some stories with more candor then he did in the formal interviews he gave when he was younger.

Oh, also I happened to be wearing an OpenCarry.org polo shirt one day and got some compliments on it from the staff.

I've got tons of pictures and captions I could post, but why spoil it for you? You will have fun!

 

[Captain Bligh]

OP, so you know it is on an active military base, right? I'd leave it in at home or at the hotel. Otherwise you might have lots of explaining to do.

 

[CJK]

Worth the price of admission for sure, but you won't see it all in one day.

 

[lrahm]

Many years ago, I toured the place. The best display was a B-17 that was level with the ground. You could walk into the back and walk forward and out near the flightdeck. You went through the bombay and radio room. It was quite an experience.

 

[EnochRoot43]

As Rambone and a few others know, the Aliens that live on base can psychically detect the presence of civilian weaponry. They will rat you out in an Andromeda second for extra rations and copulation privileges.

Leave it in the car, folks.