Naval Air Station Pensacola

We made the drive to Pensacola today. It was a LOT farther than we anticipated...but it was worth the drive. We couldn't believe how much memorabilia and historical artifacts were packed into this museum that charges NO admission fees!

It was a little intimidating entering the area. We didn't realize that it was located IN a naval air station. ID had to be presented at the gates and we had to state where we intended to go on the base. We were issued a pass indicating where we were allowed to be.

The four posing with an anchor located outside the museum.

Sheer size of the planes was amazing and then we contemplated how much each had done and all the places they had been and all of the history attached to each.

The upper deck had planes and helicopters available to sit in and explore. We ALL were in awe of how many control buttons and switches were inside! We're talking 50-100 little switches and dials and buttons to flip, push and switch! How did a pilot ever remember what they were all for? Few were labeled, even!

Where a kid can be a kid?

We didn't connect space travel with aviation (duh) and enjoyed all of the historical items that they displayed connected to the moon and space in general. There was an interesting movie that was part of a documentary on the astronauts. They were playing with slinkys, paddle balls and marbles with no gravity. They were quite entertaining--filmed in the 70s it looked like.

All of the wars were covered with uniforms, clothing, and equipment. One of the first leather aviator jackets (WWI) was an Abercrombie and Fitch!

Clothing recovered from the POWs from the Vietnam War. It was a very sobering exhibit that provided a lot of information on our POWs and what they had to survive when in POW camps. Many personal items belonging to the soldiers were displayed--soap, cigarettes, homemade toothbrushes, self made belts from bandages, and many other things. There was a movie that compiled many of the interviews made by the Vietnamese (to promote their propaganda).

Artifacts from McCain's time as a POW. It included the telegram sent to his wife to inform her that he was MIA and thought to be a POW. There were also all of McCain's medals (replicas?) and letters from the President.