Fort Worth Aviation Museum — Attraction in Fort Worth

Awesome, personal, and inexpensive educational museum where you can get up close and touch all the airplanes outside, after spending lots of time inside enjoying many fascinating displays spanning the time from before WWI to the present day.

FWAM's primary focus areas are on the many aircraft connected to North TX (including such major companies as Lockheed, Consolidated, Vought, Convair, LTV, General Dynamics, etc.) as well as the Forward Air Control role, and the colossal B-36 Peacemaker, though it certainly is not limited to those areas. (The OV-10 Bronco Association runs the place, and the B-36 Peacemaker Association is involved too). There's an F-102 cockpit simulator for kids to try (and adults who remember how fun it is to be a kid), a bunch of really neat memorabilia and artifacts on display (B-58 parts, anyone? Or maybe an entire engine from a dirigible?) Adults and kids alike will find a lot here to marvel at.

Outside (in the "Petting Zoo") there are lots of actual aircraft on display, which you are invited to get right up close to and touch. The ill-fated A-12 Avenger factory mockup is on display, as well as the original OV-10 Bronco factory mockup and 2 actual Broncos (1 USMC, 1 USAF). Other aircraft types on display include the F-4, F-5, F-8, F-14, F-18, TF-102, F-105, F-111, A-4, A-7, O-1, O-2, OV-10, B-36 (well, the propellers and wheels... they're huge!), CH-53, AH-1, PT-26, T-33, and T-37, with even more aircraft on the way. The museum has an active program to continually restore and maintain the aircraft, so you can often see one or a few aircraft being cleaned, disassembled, repaired, or painted. (If you ever wanted to help out with such a project, they certainly welcome the help, and the stories of some of these guys and gals are well worth the time!)

The museum is staffed by friendly folks with quite a bit of enthusiasm, knowledge, and stories to share. The folks who run this place are serious about bringing the amazing history of the local aviation industry to life, and inspiring kids to learn and be a part of it. Bring yourself and the kids for a great time that everyone will enjoy, and which won't break the bank. It is truly a must-visit kind of place if you have even the tiniest shred of interest in aviation, military history, technology, or Texas...

I came with my family just for something to do. I thought it would be Interesting to see the history they had at this place. When we got there we were kindly greeted and the older gentleman working at the front desk was very fun and pleasant to talk to. Then we met Sherry. She was our tour guide. I thought she was just going to give a quick introduction about the place and let us explore, but that wasn't the case. She was so kind and so sweet. She was very knowledgeable about aviation from her experience being in a pilot simulator almost her whole life and working for a big aviation company. We spent 2 hours of her explaining everything that was there when we could of just read it on the wall description ourselves. She was getting annoying going on and on and persistent on only following her to explain and talk about the items that was there. She kept saying she'll let us look around but she never did. I started to wander off and do my own thing I couldn't take it anymore. But when my father in law wanted to wander off and have a seat because his back was bothering him. She would stop and keep calling him to come back so she can keep talking. It felt like we were in boot camp and allowed to go where she says to go. We all just wanted check out the place and do our own thing. But Sherry is very passionate with the aviation life and the history of it, she got so caught up talking about it and not notice the boredom and disinterest we had of what she had to say. A couple of us try to tell her that we just going to look and do our own thing but she just talked over us and kept going. None of us had the heart to put our foot down and say " hey, just leave us alone and if we have questions we'll let you know." We had other places to be and left in the middle of her talking. We didn't expect to be there for a...

We came here in celebration of my son’s birthday. The man who runs the cash register was so friendly! He might have been one of the best parts of the entire experience! He has so many fascinating stories to share. I highly recommend taking your time and letting him tell you all the anecdotes about each plane and the people who care for them. They have one of the original airplanes used in the top gun movie which was pretty cool to see. In addition to that, they have a varied and extensive collection of planes we had never seen before at other air museums. I was impressed by how many they managed to fit on their property. They also have several interesting helicopters. Inside they have a wealth of military artifacts on display along with lots of aviation model planes. The bathrooms are accessible to all and clean. It was an incredible experience shared by people who obviously care a great deal about what they are doing. I highly recommend this...