In support of an official event 

The Museum will be closed Sunday, May 25
In addition, the Fourth Hangar will be closed Saturday, May 24

Access to the Presidential Gallery will be limited from May 15 to June 5
 

Fact Sheet Alphabetical List

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  • Learjet C-21A

    Note: This aircraft is currently in storage.The Learjet (now Bombardier Aerospace) C-21A twin turbofan-engine aircraft was the military version of the Learjet 35A business jet. It provided airlift for eight passengers and 3,153 pounds of cargo. During aeromedical evacuations, it could transport one

  • Lockheed NT-33A

    Please note: This aircraft is in storage.The NT-33A was an in-flight simulator operated for decades in support of numerous Department of Defense projects. The NT-33A was used to study flying qualities, cockpit displays, control sticks, and flight control design of many, widely-varied aircraft,

  • Grumman X-29A

    In 1985 the X-29A on display became the world's first forward-swept aircraft to fly supersonically. The X-29A program explored cutting-edge aircraft design features, including forward-swept wings, advanced materials, a forward-mounted elevator (or canard) and a computerized flight control system. It

  • Scaled Composites Long-EZ "Borealis"

    In January 2008, this modified Scaled Composites Long-EZ completed the first manned flight of an aircraft powered by a pulsed detonation engine (PDE). The flight was the result of a five-year cooperative effort between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Innovative Scientific Solutions

  • Bell X-5

    The X-5 was the world's first high-performance airplane to vary the sweepback of its wings in flight. It investigated the characteristics of variable sweep aircraft in flight and the feasibility of producing aircraft with this feature. The X-5 was based upon the design of a Messerschmitt P. 1101

  • Northrop Tacit Blue

    Built in the early 1980s in great secrecy, the revolutionary Tacit Blue aircraft tested advanced radar sensors and new ideas in stealth technology.Tacit Blue proved that a stealthy aircraft could have curved surfaces -- unlike the faceted surfaces of the F-117 Nighthawk -- which greatly influenced

  • Northrop X-4 Bantam

    During World War II, engineers in the U.S. and UK studied semi-tailless aircraft, and the German Luftwaffe fielded the semi-tailless Me 163 (one of which is on display in the museum’s World War II Gallery). After the war ended, Northrop built two X-4s to test if this configuration could perform at

  • Lockheed YF-12A

    The YF-12 was developed in the 1960s as a high-altitude, Mach 3 interceptor to defend against supersonic bombers. Based on the A-12 reconnaissance aircraft, the YF-12A became the forerunner of the highly-sophisticated SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft.The first of three YF-12s flew in August

  • Beech VC-6A

    In 1966 the U.S. Air Force purchased a standard Beechcraft King Air B90 with a special VIP interior, designated as the VC-6A, to support President Lyndon B. Johnson and his family. The aircraft was faster and more agile than other light transport aircraft and featured full pressurization for comfort

  • North American T-6D Mosquito

    During the Korean War, airborne forward air controllers (FACs) chose the T-6 as the best available aircraft because it could operate from small, rough airstrips and was easy to maintain. More importantly, the T-6 was faster and more rugged than the light liaison aircraft they initially flew. Even