Air Mobility Command Museum — Attraction in Dover

So, I didn't include this in our Delaware trip but saw it on the map when I was confirming our route for the next day. We had an hour to spare in our itinerary so I decided to make this a last-minute addition. And whoa. Little did I know that it is THE must-do attraction in Dover! This place blew my mind. The plane park is huge, full of massive aircraft that boggle the mind as to how they can possibly fly through the air. Huge aircraft take off regularly from the Dover Air Force Base runway just beyond the fence. We even saw Air Force One take-off and fly over us - and learned the President had just been visiting home! How cool, and what a surprise. Outdoor highlights included the regularly scheduled free self-guided access to the inside of the massive C-141 and C-130 cargo planes, plus an Air Force Two (for Vice Presidents and/or First Ladies) and a seriously big C-5 Galaxy - one of the largest aircraft in the world. We started with this outdoor area because it was supposed to rain that day. We then finished up inside, so we did things kinda in reverse. Inside they have three main aircraft on the ground (a B-17 Flying Fortress, a C-47 that flew over Normandy in WWII, and a Waco glider) with excellent displays supporting each - plus you can walk right up to the planes and stick your head in to see the inside, which is NOT as common as it should be. They also have four training aircraft hanging from the ceiling, and a neat two-rotor helicopter, plus a history of Dover AFB and a rocket display that explains what the WWII-era hangar that houses the museum was used for. And, all this was free. They have flight simulators, which I didn't try, and guided tours, which we didn't do. If we had more time, I would have loved to find out how to tour the inside of the C-47 - apparently it still has battle damage! I also read that they do an open house once per month and let people go inside more of the aircraft outdoors. I will be back from Virginia for one of those days in the future, for sure. The gift shop was also great, I cleared out their naval books that were on clearance. And paid $1 for a soda, which I haven't gotten for such a good price since... maybe 2009! All in all, this place was perfect. We did manage it in an hour (actually an hour and 10 minutes) but I was rushing by the end and my wife was reminding me that we'd only allocated an hour. I wish I had two hours instead. I missed some of the "barracks" exhibits and didn't get to go up in the Control Tower as a result. Parking was free, admission was free... nothing not to like. Just make sure you use the Rt. 9 entrance, which is a special public road that runs between the fenced off fields of the Air Force Base. If you use Route 9, you DO NOT have to go through base security to access the museum. It is public via that road. Any other route from older maps will take you to base security, and I don't think you can even get to the museum from within the base anymore. So check & make sure your GPS is taking you to the Rt 9 (Bayside Drive, intersection with Heritage...

We wanted to visit Delaware to say we visited Delaware. Where we are from that’s a mystery state. I ended up researching places to visit and this little gem popped up. I honestly thought it was a bunch of retired airplanes wasting away on a tarmac being goggled by a bunch of plane nerds. Even though I was kind of right it was so much better than that. The museum is literally in the country side. You will pass farm after farm. You will start to question if you made the right choice since it seems you’re in the middle of nowhere but stay the course. The Air Mobility Command Museum is on Dover Air Force Base so you would expect a lot of action but we went on a Sunday and it was very quiet. When you arrive parking is free and make sure you wear sneakers and comfortable clothes. Lots of walking and climbing. If you have mobility challenges don’t worry they have options and access for everyone. The museum is free and you can link up with a guide when you first walk in. Make sure you do because the guides bring this place to life. The free guides are what makes this visit exceptional. The history of each plane is shared and also interior access to some of the planes are only available with a guide. With that said give yourself minimal 3 hours for this tour. Without a guide you could bang it out in an hour and a half but it’s literally you just walking around looking at planes without any history or background. Our family literally had THE BEST guide ever Dave Ferguson. His knowledge of the planes was outstanding and his stories are truly captivating. I literally could have hung out with Dave for hours just listening to all his tales and we literally did. Our family learned so much and truly enjoyed our visit. This facility is a well kept secret because we basically had the place to ourselves, zero crowds and no waiting. The museum is extremely well kept and the bathrooms are very clean. The museums gift shop had very reasonably priced item and had something for everyone. There isn’t any food options at the museum so eat before or after your visit. I’m not sure if we will ever return to Delaware but if we did we would 100% come back to this museum. We enjoyed it that much. If you’re traveling to Delaware put this place on your itinerary it’s a must!!! Tell Dave we...

This museum rivals any other aircraft museum in the world. Having visited the Smithsonian Udvar Hazy center earlier this year, that should help understand the gravity of my statement.

The quantity of aircraft not only on display, but also able to enter and explore is astounding. Some of these aircraft can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

The real show stopper is the C-47 that dropped the 101st Airborne on D-Day and Market Garden. Again, not only on display but also available to enter and check out with your own hands. Astounding. The aircraft is complete with battle damage from D-Day as confirmed by the former crew chief when he visited years ago.

I have never felt history like this place. Having just recently watched Band of Brothers also made this exhibit hit hard.

I also have to brag on the staff. The museum was hosting two special events the day we visited which had the small crew of volunteers spread thin. The museum operations manager (Michael) saw that my family wasn’t able to see some areas because of the events and offered to personally take us into the control tower and the C-47…and he did it with a smile.

Being located within an active Air Force base is a huge plus. The chance to see active aircraft flying is very high. We were lucky enough to see a C-17 doing touch and goes right next to the parking lot.

Lastly, the gift shop. They could do like other places and gouge visitors, but they don’t. Everything is very reasonable. Even the snacks/drinks.

Make the drive from DC or Philly to see this museum. You...