About Us

National Museum of the United States Air Force

Overhead view of Presidential Aircraft at the museum.

Presidential aircraft at National Museum of the United States Air Force

Welcome to the official website of the National Museum of the United States Air Force -- the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world -- located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. This site is provided as a public service by the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Public Affairs Division.

Use the top navigation bar to find information about planning your visit as well as events and activities taking place at the museum.

Meet the Director

Learn about museum divisions.

The National Museum of the United States Air Force collects, researches, conserves, interprets and presents the Air Force’s history, heritage, and traditions, as well as today’s mission to fly, fight, win … air power anytime, anywhere to a global audience through engaging exhibits, educational outreach, special programs, and the stewardship of the national historical collection. With our educational outreach, we motivate, educate, and inspire youth interest in the United States Air Force (USAF) and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The statutory duties delegated by the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF) are accomplished on behalf of the American People.

We are the keepers of their stories™

Video by NMUSAF PA

ISR Tour: C-47

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

May 23, 2013 | 1:58

OPERATION FORTITUDE was the Allied effort to deceive the Germans about the timing and location of the upcoming Allied invasion of Normandy. The plan called for intelligence to make the Germans believe that Norway was the primary target for the initial invasion. They also wanted to hide the buildup of forces in Southern England and to convince them that Pas de Calais not Normandy was the real landing site. In addition, once the invasion began at Normandy, they wanted the Germans to believe it was a deception before the real landings began at Pas de Calais. The Allies had to make the Germans believe an entire 250,000-man army was in Scotland. They used false radio transmissions, allowed German reconnaissance planes to photograph decoy ships and depended upon double agents to provide evidence that the fictitious Fourth Army existed (although it was only forty people). It tied up 27 German divisions that could have made Normandy worse. In Southeast England, deception efforts attempted to create a million-man army with Maj. Gen. George Patton in command. Huge tent cities with smoking camp stoves, roads to nowhere, fake landing craft, scripted radio transmissions and true, unimportant messages from double agents kept the Germans near Pas de Calais. It was the best case of Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace (IPB) in history.

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heritagemuseumreconnaissancesurveillanceISRhistoryWWIIaviationIntelligence