Air Force Museum Store — Attraction in Riverside

The coolest museum of any kind I've ever seen. I first saw it as a child in the 1950s. As my children were growing up I took them there at least once a year. They have one of every plane the USAF has ever flown and many of the foreign combat planes our airmen had to fight in all of our wars since the birth of military aviation. They even have one of the Wright brothers planes there. There are the Air Force 1s that carried Presidents Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy. Every ICBM we have ever maintained as a deterrent including the Minute Man III. Volunteers will give you a guided tour if you like or you can use your smart phone to do a virtual tour. Tons of artifacts like the leather flight jackets of WW II airmen who liked to paint illustrations on the back including silhouettes of bombs to show how many missions they had flown. You can see the Apollo 15 command module and see how it was scorched on the base as it re-entered earth's atmosphere. You can see moon rocks they brought back. There is a place I always pause at when I go through the museum. It is to look at an artifact--a cross. Quentin Roosevelt was President Theodore Roosevelt's youngest son and a brave, skilled, and daring fighter pilot during WW I. He was shot down by the Germans and died. The German soldiers respected him so much they gave him a military burial and fashioned a cross from two tree limbs to mark it. A book could be written about all that is in this shrine. You would need more than one day to see everything. This is not just a museum of aircraft, it's a monument to the men who used them to defend freedom often at the cost of their lives. It's a monument to valor and honor...

We planned to arrive early and spend all day, but after viewing the early days of flying and WW2, we knew we wouldn't make it! There is so much interesting information and amazing planes that you could spend a day in each hanger dedicated to an era! So we decided to come back the next day. The exhibits are put together with much thought, and the placards have so much history written that you are taken back to the time of the plane's use in history.

I recommend taking your time but also keeping an eye on how much time you spend at a location. I ended up walking 11,000 steps the first day! Everything is easily accessible, but if you want to go inside the planes, you need to be able to navigate steps and go through narrow spaces. The President Air Force ONE planes are a tight fit but really amazing. If you don't see your favorite plane here, I would be surprised!

I would not recommend the pizza in the lunch room. It was really not very good. I've had grocery store pizza taste better than that pizza. Other items were OK. But you're not there for the food! Do keep drinking water! They sell it in the lunch/snack area with other drinks. And they have plenty of very clean restrooms.

I know I will come back, and I hope others continue to enjoy this...

Will not disappoint!! You don't have to be a history or plane enthusiast to enjoy this fantastic museum! Parking & entry were free! Lots of standard and ♿️ parking. Features/displays are both inside and out. Wear your walking shoes, or ask for a motorized or standard wheelchair to help you get around (free). Large screen movie was worth the $10, and I hear the flight simulators are worth it as well. There are 2 cafes with what you would expect from a cafeteria for a reasonable price. A lactation pod is available as well as conveniently placed bathrooms. Plenty of room for easy foot traffic, or stop and read information about the plane displayed or those like it. Braille is available at each display. Free walking tours or ask any nearby representative with any questions. The layout is massive! Multiple hangers packed full of planes, both on the floor and suspended. Planes and vehicles displayed range from a life-sized model of the Wright Brothers' plane to stealth bombers, drones/uav's, and the Apollo 15 capsule. Planes and vehicles from all eras of flight, including many many from the US, and some German and Japanese vehicles. Cannons, guns, engines, ballistic missiles and bombs are also on display. Spend some time and...