San Diego Air and Space Museum

Another thing on my must do list while I was in San Diego was a visit to the San Diego Air and Space Museum (SASM) in Balboa Park in San Diego. I spent about five hours there and I could have spent more time there. Those of you who are aviation buffs and have a chance to be in San Diego have to put this on your must see list. Balboa Park is beautiful as well, but I had to make a choice, the Air and Space Museum or the park. But I did get a brief tour around the park on the bus I took to the Museum

I feel like whatever I say about the museum will be wholly inadequate. So, I'll give you a taste by showing you some photos of some my favorite SASM airplanes.

When I walked in I saw a very nice replica of The Spirit of St. Louis flown by Charles Lindbergh on his famous flight to Paris. As most of you know, the original was built by Ryan Aircraft in San Diego. The replica was also built in San Diego.

There were many aircraft that were built in San Diego, several by Ryan Aircraft. I loved the Ryan M-1.

The Ford Trimotor 5-AT has  special place in my heart. Not only because I have read about her in some of my aviation books, but because I have a small model Ford Tri Motor on my living room table.

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina. I've been reading about this aircraft recently. I believe that  the one at the museum is sometimes referred to as a Canso (because of the wheels).

North American Aviation P-51D Mustang, our little friends who flew escort missions on bombing runs in WW II providing cover for the B-17 and B-24 bombers.

And finally the F4U Corsair. A great story because she was in Alabama when Katrina hit and was badly damaged. She was lovingly restored by the wonderful folk at the SASM. What a labor of love. Here are some photos of Corsair restoration. I understand that she was just recently put on display.

When I was at the SASM, they had a great special exhibit exhibit called How Things Fly covering four topics or zones: aerodynamics, propulsion, meteorology, and air traffic control. I saw this exhibit at the end of my visit, I could of easily spent a couple of hours in this special exhibit hall. The How Things Fly exhibit is on display for a limited time. The SASM had this video on How Things Fly on their webpage.