Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum — Attraction in Gulfport

We absolutely LOVED this experience! Our visit was coordinated through a Girl Scout event which unfortunately was a surprise to the museum staff and volunteers! 😬 I cannot begin to explain what may have gone wrong there. What I can say is the staff at the Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum were AMAZING! They let our crowd (of about 100 people 😳) in, called in some extra staff, split us into groups, and saw to it that each group got the run down on the wonderful displays housed here. There were several exhibits that kids could climb on, in, and out of. It was very informative: the theater has a short video about Moon Trees. I had no idea that seeds had been taken to space, returned to Earth, planted and grown, and that there are now second generation trees coming from these seeds being planted around the world! There are many photographs of local aviators; artifacts, uniforms, and signage to take in; airplanes, model airplanes, a hangglider and an ultralight on display; and an "air traffic control room" live streaming from an international air port and an interactive table displaying all flights in real time! Tons of interactive displays and even flight simulators! My daughter and I were some of the last people in the building from the Girl Scout event when Mr. Francisco approached us and asked how we were enjoying our visit. We were loving it. Because we were in the space shuttle display when he spoke to us, I told him that my daughter had recently seen a YouTube video about life on the International Space Station. She quickly added that she wanted to live on the ISS. Mr. Francisco spent a significant amount of time showing her a few of the last displays related to the effects of gravity and speaking to her about flying and the ISS. My daughter will soon be 7, so the importance of someone taking the time to do this is likely lost on her, but this momma KNOWS Mr. Francisco went well out of his way with his generous actions! From the very top, all the way down, the staff and volunteers here were amazingly friendly and helpful to us all today, in a situation that could've easily been overwhelming considering we were all a surprise! The building may be a bit deceiving from the outside (it's an old furniture store), but the museum it houses is well worth a visit!...

Honestly, me and my partner walked in and almost walked right out. The president of the museum, an extremely passionate and friendly man, grabbed our attention and walked us through a bit of the museum and told us of all the things offered. We gave it a shot. AMAZING. So happy we committed to the experience. SUCH an inclusive history of Mississippi aviation. I’m not prone to feeling pride in my state, but I was excited to read all the stories of Mississippians that contributed to history! There is SO much to see, interact with, and read. AND they are still adding exhibits! Truly can’t wait to go back in a couple of months to see more! We spent half a day there, and barely wanted to leave. Made me feel like a kid again. I’m ready to learn how to be a pilot! They host history nights, summer camps, and honor certain military days that allows vets in for free - and gives them a place to share stories. This place is a GIFT to the community - the Higher Powers (God, Universe, whatever you believe in) blessed this museum and Made It So! Don’t sleep on this museum! Visit it! It is worth every penny! (I also don’t ever leave reviews, this place is just that...

Brought my wife who is a huge military aviation fan and we thoroughly enjoyed this museum. The man who works at the counter I'm guessing is the manager (he has a accent possibly French) was soooooo friendly and welcoming along with the young girl he was training. He's also a pilot and is full of knowledge on everything at the museum. If he sees this, I want you to know your excitement and enthusiasm for the museum is so heartwarming and thank you for everything you do there to keep the museum going strong. (We were the couple from Baton Rouge) The museum is great, all kinds of planes and replicas. Loads of very interesting video presentations of the history of all aviation past and present including space aircrafts. Plenty of exhibits with all kinds of memorabilia from past wars and military personnel. Also has legit flight simulators and fun hands-on exhibit's for kids and adults. We will definitely be back and bringing our kids to visit again. Also being so close to the airport and Air Force Base we stood outside and saw some awesome Jets and helicopters pass over. Thanks for...