In choosing our Ohio travel spots, we heard of the National Museum of the United States Air Force outside of Dayton. Since both our dads are proud Air Force Vets, we definitely had to plan a stop AND its free to visit!

WOW – A friend told us about the size of this museum, but is it something you really had to see to believe!

But let’s stop for a moment and talk about the weather – Brrrr! I forgot how cold Ohio is, even in April!

Back to the Museum… it is 4 airplane hangers in size and packed with every plane and engine created from the Wright Brothers to the Stealth Bomber to Rockets. We started off reading every plaque but as we made our way through, we realized it was just too much information.

Ultimately, we just started reading ones we were truly interested in reading. It was still so much to see! They really had everything from the Wright Brothers to World War II bombers.

Even the famous Memphis Belle is here! Okay, I didn’t honestly know what the Memphis Belle was famous for (other than the movie), but now I know that it was one of the first B17 Bombers to complete 25 combat missions and return to the United States.

The yellow bombs denote a mission completed. The yellow stars are for bombs at/near targets, and the red stars are for a direct hit. The swastika is for shooting down a German plane.

The museum also houses the Bockscar, the plane that carried the atomic bombs that was dropped on Nagasaki.

Leo and I loved the story of Smokey – a dog rescued by soldiers in New Guinea. Smokey learned to pull telephone wire under planes and even learned to alert the soldiers of enemies hiding nearby.

We finished the first hanger (Wright Brothers through WWII) and decided to have lunch at Mom’s Cafe!

Good thing, we packed warm clothes because Ohio gifted us with a snowstorm while we ate!

After lunch, we explored the space area, even finding our own astronaut.

Then we decided to check out some of the flight simulators. Well, 2 of us decided to check out the simulators

We explored the Korean War exhibit and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find any reference to the real end of the Korean War… the enlistment of Jimmy “Dink” Maske???

We checked out in the inside of a C124 Cargo Plane

And were all surprised by the size of modern-day drones – for some reason, we just thought they were smaller

Leo got to see what parachuting down felt like (apparently, it is not comfortable), but he sure is cute as a soldier.

The B52 was ginormous! I think you could fit our whole house inside.

And everyone took a turn in the cockpit of a fighter jet. Although someone was upset that they ripped their jeans in the cockpit.

The Stealth Bomber was too cool… especially when you think that there are only 105 years between the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk and this beast of a machine that is undetectable by radar!

The Museum is also home to Air Force One – the actual Air Force One where Lyndon Johnson was sworn in after Kennedy was assassinated.

I think we walked about 8 miles today but with the weather we were thankful to be inside.

After some rest at the hotel, we headed out for dinner and found a fantastic place near the hotel – A Taste of Jerusalem. It was authentic Mediterranean food and it was so good.

Then to top off a great day, we picked up a dozen cupcakes at Gigi’s Cupcakes.

A cup of decaf and some swimming for any remaining energy, and that a wrap on Day 1.