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Palm Springs Air Museum

Florian Buechting Museums & Exhibitions No Comments

Palm Springs Air Museum

Palm Springs Air Museum
4.8

Rating

 4.8/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great collection of planes
  • Lovely staff
  • Great scenery

Apart from having an outstanding Douglas C-47 flight experience with them, I was also really curious about the Palm Springs Air Museum in December 2023. Unfortunately, it took me much longer than I did expect to compile the museum review. Hope you enjoy.

 

Palm Springs Air Museum – Location & Admission

Palm Springs Air Museum is located on the East side of Palm Springs International Airport (PSP). The terminal building is on the opposite side of the runways. From the outside exhibit area, you have a lovely view of the traffic of the airport. You should go there by car (or driving service). The aviation museum runs a fairly large parking lot, so that getting there is no problem.

The museum is opening daily (apart from Christmas and Thanksgiving) from 10:00 to 17:00. Adult admission is 24 USD. Any flight experience comes on top of that. With 195 USD, the C-47 Skytrain is rather affordable. Less frightened visitors can go for the P-51 Mustang (2,295 USD) or the T-33 Shooting Star (4,995 USD). In contrast to the museum admission itself, you definitely need to book these experiences beforehand.

 

Palm Springs Air Museum – Indoor Exhibits

Nost of the planes of the museum are based in hangars, quite some of them are still ready to fly. Palm Springs Air Museum runs five hangars with a total of some 8500 square meter space. Thus, you should at least block two to three hours for your visit, on top of a potential flight experience.The museum has been established in 1996. You typically cannot access the planes, but therefor, they are in great shape with quite a few of them are still able to fly. Thus, it is not that surprising that a couple of their exhibits have been used for movies and similar exhibitions. Each of the aircrafts (including a few helicopters) is documented with basic data and historic background in English.

The Palm Springs Air Museum focuses on military aircrafts. Apart from a few MiGs, the collection focuses on North American models. Some of the planes are on loan by the Palm Springs Air Museum, but they also have quite a nice own inventory. Even though I am more of a civil aviation geek, the collection is really impressing. The biggest manufacturer represented is Grumman, the museum features eight of their plane. They were also one of my highlights in the hangar. Apart from that, the large bomber planes like the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress are top exhibits as well. There is also a nice collection of other aviation memorabilia in the museum.

 

The Highlight of the Indoor Exhibits

One plane is having a hangar on its own – and it is absolutely worth it. The Palm Springs Air Museum is having an Lockheed Martin F-117A. The stealth attack aircraft with its characteristic shape is simply iconic and breathtaking to observe. It was introduced to the US Air Force in 1983 and is still used as a training aircraft. There is plenty of space around as well as some additional exhibits, so that you will typically spend some time around this one.

 

Palm Springs Air Museum – Outdoor Exhibits

A couple of planes and cockpit cabins are stored outside the hangars. This includes major planes like the Boeing B-17 Movie Memphis Belle, but also rather “normal” military jets like the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter. Walking through this part of the museum, despite the heat, is awesome also for another reason. With the mountains in the background, this leads to some really awesome pictures.

 

Palm Springs Air Museum – Services

Within the hangars, the Palm Springs Air Museum is driving a nice cafe / snack cafe. I also loved the souvenir store close to the entrance, which has some really nice aviation memorabilia and typical items. There are also a few simulators, which you can rent. Even more outstanding, though, was the staff in the aviation museum. The people were super-friendly and you could feel that they are proud of their place.

 

Palm Springs Air Museum – My C-47 Experience

Here is the posting about flying the Douglas C-47 as part of my museum visit:

Flying the Douglas C-47 Skytrain at Palm Springs Air Museum

 

Palm Springs Air Museum – My View

The museum is a lovely place and one of the most enjoyable aviation museum experiences I ever had. The collection of planes is awesome, headed by the F-117A. The scenery around the museum and the possibility of a flight experience are definitely a great plus. However, another key factor why I loved this place are the people. If you are around and like aviation, you should go for a visit.

 

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