San Diego Automotive Museum
This museum presents the story of the automobile in ways that engage the visitors and their experiences with cars.
Compelling exhibits invoke a visceral reaction for the visitors about cars they have owned, loved, and driven. There is something for everyone. In addition to cars, the museum features a large motorcycle exhibit, memorabilia, and videos that put the automotive experience into cultural perspective. The museum was founded by San Diego car collectors in 1988 and has now grown to a museum that features automotive culture from around the world.
Science, space and aviation history all unfold at the San Diego Air & Space Museum – Californias Official Air and Space Museum.
Social Narrative: San Diego Air And Space Museum
To download the social story please .
A Visit To The Air And Space Museum Annex
One of the coolest free attractions in San Diego is located in East County at Gillespie Field. Thats where youll find the annex of Balboa Parks famous Air and Space Museum!
Yesterday morning I ventured east to El Cajon to visit the San Diego Air and Space Museums Gillespie Field Annex for the very first time. Id read that they have a collection of old aircraft, but I really didnt know what to expect.
I was absolutely blown away!
The annex is a treasure trove of restored and unrestored aircraft, plus old exhibits once housed by the museum in Balboa Park. Volunteers at the Gillespie Field Annex are happy to show families around. Excited kids can sit inside commercial airline cockpits, and adults can marvel at the development of aviation technology over the years.
There are so many amazing displays in the hangar and outside, its hard to describe. So I offer you these photos with informative captions!
If you happen to be in San Diego, go check it out for yourself! While admission to the annex is free, theyd appreciate a few bucks in their donation box!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via or !
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blogs sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Recommended Reading: Nh Hotel Amsterdam Museum Quarter
About Florida Air Museum
As Floridas Official Aviation Museum and Education Center, the Florida Air Museum features a dynamic display of unique designs, classics, ultra-lights, antiques, and warbirds. More than a collection of airplanes it stands as a tribute to the history and joy of flight. Exhibits educate about pioneers like Howard Hughes, early air racers, and Floridians and others who have influenced the world of aviation.
In cooperation with ACE, the Museum also offers a variety of year-round educational experiences for all ages including camps, tours, workshops, and speaker presentations. The Museum continues to grow and meet the challenge of showcasing aviation history through exhibits, restoration and preservation, education and outreach, and sharing a passion for flight with visitors of all ages.
San Diego Mineral And Gem Society
The goal of the San Diego Mineral and Gem Societies’ museum is to help people gain a better understanding and appreciation of minerals, gems, fossils and the lapidary arts. Our museum is located in the San Diego Mineral & Gem Society building adjacent to the Spanish Village Art Center at Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The museum features many fine mineral, gem, lapidary and fossil specimens from around the world. The collection has been assembled over the last 75 years through purchases and donations. Admission to the museum is free.
Don’t Miss: Hotels Near Museum Of Natural History Dc
Be A Part Of History At The San Diego Air & Space Museum
History takes flight at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. Aviation history is truly a remarkable story, and it all unfolds at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in beautiful Balboa Park. Your journey through the evolution of flight begins as you enter the museum beneath two iconic aircraft, an A-12 Blackbird, an early version of what would become the fastest plane in the world, and a Convair Sea Dart, the worlds first supersonic seaplane.
The museums rotunda is packed with noteworthy air and spacecraft, including an airworthy replica of the Charles Lindberghs Spirit of St. Louis which he used to make the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. Stand inches from the actual Apollo 9 Command Module nicknamed Gumdrop and a replica of the Bell X-1, the first plane to fly faster than the speed of sound in level flight. The museum also is home to the largest collection of moon rocks west of the Mississippi, and is Californias official Air and Space Museum and Education Center.
Get Times Of San Diego Daily By Email
The plan also calls for creating shelters for the tram stop, lighting improvements and repaving the North Palisades lot along with the Inspiration Point and South Carousel lots, which will also be restriped to add more spaces.
After eliminating 144 parking spaces near the museums and adding others elsewhere, Balboa Park will lose a net 13 parking spots.
This will be welcoming to visitors, said Councilman Chris Ward. Kudos to city staff, who have minimized parking loss. Thirteen spaces lost and all this public benefit added.
There were some concerns about the loss of spaces, as the park deals with significant traffic from vehicles circling for spots.
A person from my district is not going to Uber down, said Councilman Mark Kersey. A mom with her kids is not going to scooter. I want to emphasize parking going forward.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer said the councils approval was a step toward making Balboa Park a more pedestrian-friendly landmark.
The city can now begin to restore the Palisades area to its original vision of a walkable, family-friendly space where people can find a spot to sit and enjoy a beautiful day in San Diegos crown jewel, he said. The new seating and landscaping amenities will be a welcome addition for park visitors, and the project is a great first step to revitalizing Balboa Park.
The project will begin in March and is expected to take four months to complete.
City News Service
You May Like: Museum Of Ice Cream Los Angeles
Balboa Park Sports Museum
At the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum is where you will find Balboa Park Museums premiere sporting exhibits. As a sports fan this was the museum that I personally enjoyed the most. Photos, jerseys and other major sports memorabilia will trigger some wonderful memories and emotions in any sports fan.
What Should I Bring To The San Diego Air & Space Museum
Bring your shopping list for holiday and birthday presents! The gift shop has a wide selection of space and flight themed merchandise that make excellent, unique and fun gifts for kids and adults alike. Bring a snack or picnic to enjoy in the atrium that is located in the middle of the museum. The atrium is light and airy as well as peaceful, and you will enjoy looking up at the vintage aircraft hanging from the ceiling. Wear a nice outfit if you wish to have your picture taken standing on the moon! The pictures are a whimsical addition to any photo display at home.
Don’t Miss: Why Is The Titanic Museum In Pigeon Forge
Galileo: Space Visionary A Special Exhibition By The World
This hands-on, educational, and FUN exhibit explores the secrets of The Father of Modern Science and his groundbreaking visions through interactive experiments at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park.
San Diego, CA – March 18, 2022 GALILEO: Space Visionary a special exhibition created by the world-famous Artisans of Florence is making its United States PREMIER.
Galileo was one of the most influential and groundbreaking figures in scientific history, said Jim Kidrick, President & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. He was a trendsetter in so many key disciplines observational astronomy, experimental science, gravity, motion and time, physics, engineering, military and ballistics and has become known world-wide as the Father of modern scientific method. Were honored to be the home of the United States PREMIER of this fabulous, family-friendly and most of all FUN! and truly rewarding experience for explorers of all ages.
Galileos methods have been praised by many of the worlds most notable scientists, including Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. One of Galileos theories on gravity was even verified on the Moon in 1971 by Apollo 15 Commander David Scott when he dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time while standing on the lunar surface where there is no air resistance. Both the hammer and feather hit the ground at the same time, just as Galileos Law of Falling Bodies predicted they would centuries earlier.
Museum Of Natural History
At one of the Balboa Park museums you can visit the Natural History Museum and wander through both temporary and permanent displays.
The herpetology collection alone contains almost 50,000 rattlesnake specimens that look as though they are ready to unleash their venom at any time. Don’t worry. These snakes do not bite, or move, for that matter.
Some of the favorites are Fossil Mysteries, All that Glitters, Ocean Oasis and Lizards and Snakes Alive!
My kids were really eager to catch a viewing of Ocean Oasis’ which is a film shown on the museum’s huge theater screen. I have to admit this film was one of the highlights of our Balboa Park’s museum tour and I would have readily stayed to see a second showing.
You May Like: Branson Mo Titanic Museum Hours
Golden Age Of Flight Gallery
The museum also has a number of aircraft engines on display. This gallery contains a Curtiss OX-5, Aeronca E-107, Liberty L-12, Wright J-3 Whirlwind, Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror, Jacobs L-4MB , Menasco A-4, and Continental A-40.
The Curtiss JN-4D “Jenny” was returned to the restoration shop to reskin the wings, but has since been returned to the gallery.
Access to the Edwin D. McKeller Pavilion of Flight is from this portion of the museum. This is also where the Education Center is which hosts monthly Family Day activities. Guests will also locate the restrooms for the museum in this section of the building. On some days lunch is available on the outer patio outside of this portion of the museum.
There is an exhibit of the Pacific Southwest Airlines , also known as the Poor Sailor’s Airline, in the museum. A replica of the airline’s first ticket office has displays about the airline with a smile and includes stewardess uniforms from the 1950s through 1980s, including the hot pants worn during the 1970s.
PSA Flight 182, registration N533PS, a Boeing 727-214 commercial airliner collided with a private Cessna 172 over San Diego on September 25, 1978. A memorial plaque honoring those who died on Flight 182 and on the ground is located at the museum, near the Theodore Gildred Flight Rotunda. On the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, a tree was planted next to the North Park branch library, and a memorial plaque was dedicated to those who lost their lives.
Take A Journey Through Time
The museums first gallery is dedicated to early flight, where you will stand beneath a model of the Montgolfier brothers hot air balloon of 1783the first manned vehicle to ever break the bonds of gravity and lift humans above the Earth.
Rare specimens of aircraft recreate the excitement of air combat in the museums popular World War I Gallery, which includes examples of planes from Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States.
Get $4 OFF admission with this COUPON!
Guests marvel at the entertaining and dangerous antics of the barnstormers of the 1920s and the air racers of the 1930s including an iconic Gee Bee R-1in the Golden Age of Flight Gallery.
The World War II Gallery includes some of the most recognizable war planes in the world, including: a Supermarine Spitfire Mk. XVI Messerchmitt Bf 109G Navy F6F Grumman Hellcat North American P-51D Mustang Chance Vought F4U Corsair Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless dive bomber and Mitsubishi Zero.
In the Modern Jet & Space Age Gallery you will get up close and personal with an A-4 Skyhawk jet, a McDonnell Douglas F-4J/S Phantom II, and an F/A-18 A Hornet Blue Angel 1. These beautifully preserved airplanes help visitors appreciate the increasingly complex technology represented in the classic military aircraft of Korea and Vietnam.
Recommended Reading: Railroad Museum Of Pennsylvania Tickets
Veterans Museum At Balboa Park
The Veterans Memorial Center, Inc. was formed in March 1989 to create, maintain and operate an institution to honor and perpetuate the memories of all men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces and Wartime Merchant Marine.
The Veterans Museum at Balboa Park was chartered to serve five categories of function:
Save On San Diego Air And Space Museum With A Go San Diego Pass Or Explorer Pass
San Diego Air and Space Museum is included in the Go San Diego Pass and Explorer Pass. You can save a significant amount of money if you are going to multiple attractions and taking some tours. The coupon code CMGOCITY10 will save you an additional 10% on the all passes. Even if the pass is already on sale.
There are six permanent galleries in the museum. In the World War I gallery, visitors can observe how the synchronization gear of a fighter aircraft coordinated the propeller with the trigger, so the pilot didnt shoot off his own propeller during battle. The Golden Age of Flight gallery hosts a number of planes, engines, and even a display of flight attendant uniforms from the 1950s to the 1980s including those modeled after the hot pants craze of the 1970s. The World War II gallery features the only Horton wing ever publicly displayed, the Horton 229 flying wing, which was featured on the National Geographic Channels documentary, Hitlers Stealth Fighter.
If you love the Blue Angels, you can see an F/A-18 A Hornet, better known as Blue Angel 1 in the Modern Jet and Space Age gallery. A flight ready Boeing GPS-12 satellite, and an X-15 supersonic rocket plane are also featured in this gallery. Eight X-15 pilots flew the supersonic rockets into space their test flights formed the groundwork for the Space Shuttle program. Get a look at the F-4J/S Phantom II with its heat seeking missiles in the Edwin McKeller Pavillion of Flight gallery.
Recommended Reading: Lynching Museum In Birmingham Alabama
Reuben H Fleet Science
At the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center which is one of the all time favorite Balboa Park Museums, everyone had a chance to explore the adventures and wonders of science.
Typically there are more than 100 separate exhibits that encourage visitors to discover the world around them. Do not miss a chance to explore the interactive exhibit known as Kid’s City”.
Your Destination Guide To San Diego
The Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park features a collection of aircraft and space vehicles that covers five centuries of aviation history and illustrates the amazing advancement in manned flight. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum includes the actual Apollo 9 Command Module as well as replicas of the Montgolfier brothers’ hot air balloon of 1783 the first manned vehicle in recorded history to take humankind airborne and Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, the aircraft that bore Lindbergh on the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight.
Be sure to experience the Planetary Theater, which takes viewers on a journey through space to discover Earth and its solar system. In addition, the museum features several interactive exhibits, including an aircraft carrier with a simulated flight deck. Particularly interesting is an actual GPS satellite on display.
And don’t miss the museum’s annex at Gillespie Field, where historic aircraft are replicated and restored.
Also Check: Old Jail Museum St Augustine
Low Speed Wind Tunnel
The San Diego Air & Space Museum has entered a new age, expanding its horizons into the field of research and technology! In March 2006, the Museum acquired the former General Dynamics Low Speed Wind Tunnel at San Diegos Lindbergh Field. The facility is now know as the San Diego Air & Space Technology Center Wind Tunnel, creating another first in the Museums unique history.
