DeLand Naval Air Station Museum — Attraction in DeLand

What a wonderful little museum! Much smaller than your average type place, but it is packed with history, photos, historical items and model ships and airplanes hanging from every nook and cranny. Barbara and Al were wonderful tour guides. Friendly and full of information about everything there! The highlights for me were the large vehicles on display - The Vietnam era PT boat, Grumman Avenger Torpedo plane and the F-14 Tomcat that sits out front! Exciting stuff! Make sure you check out their website and book a tour so that you can get inside the grounds and see everything with a guide. You can walk around by yourself after and look at things and take pictures! A short 50 minute drive north of Orlando. It was the perfect break from the busy nature of the theme parks. Highly, highly recommended especially for those who are military history buffs! They are a free museum but I bought some stuff from their gift shop to...

I’ve visited many aviation museums, but NAS DeLand stands out despite its small size. The volunteers are incredibly passionate, and the tours are thoughtfully designed, engaging, and completely free. What makes this museum truly special is the flexible, one-on-one tour experience—something rarely found in larger institutions.

Because of its size, restoration work here is even more challenging in terms of funding and manpower. Yet their progress is remarkable. The TBF-1 Avenger restoration and the PTF-3 restoration show the dedication and craftsmanship. The behind-the-scenes stories and technical details are something you can only fully appreciate by visiting in person.

Highly recommended—especially for aviation and military history...

As a WW2 Aircraft enthusiast, I absolutely loved this place! They have an F-14 Tomcat on display in all it's decommissioned glory which you can look really up close and personal. They also have a TBF Avenger they are currently restoring which they'll gladly let you see. Aside from the aircraft the museum staff are (I believe) all WW2 veterans.

As a pilot I spent about 2 hours talking with one of the staff in particular, Captain Chuck. His knowledge about aviation, his stories, and his experiences are just mindblowing.

I highly encourage any and all pilots/WW2 history enthusiasts to check out this hidden gem in the Deland airport. Trust me, you won't be...