One of the most technologically advanced aircraft in the Navy’s inventory when introduced in the mid-1960s, the Intruder featured radar and navigation equipment that enabled all-weather operations. During the Vietnam War, a number of A-6 crews received Navy Crosses for extraordinary heroism in single-plane raids on heavily defended targets, approaching at extremely low altitude and … A-6E Intruder
This example of the two-place observation aircraft used for aerial spotting appeared over USS Midway (CVA 41) on April 29, 1975, during the evacuation of South Vietnam. On board were a South Vietnamese Air Force major, his wife and 5 children, a note dropped from the cockpit requesting permission to land on the aircraft carrier. … O-1E Bird Dog
On August 5, 1964, Lieutenant (junior grade) Everett Alvarez, Jr., became the first American aviator shot down and made a prisoner of war (POW) in North Vietnam. More followed him into captivity during the intensive air campaigns of the Vietnam War, the captivity in the foreboding prisons like Hoa Lo, which the POWs called the … Vietnam POW Exhibit
Fire is one of the greatest calamities that can occur aboard ship. On July 29, 1967, during flight operations on board USS Forrestal (CVA 59), a rocket accidentally launched from an aircraft on the flight deck and ignited a fuel tank on another airplane. The resulting conflagration killed 134 Sailors and injured 161 others while … The Forrestal Fire
A unique version of the C-47 Skytrain that dropped paratroopers into Normandy during the D-Day invasion, the museum’s R4D-5L is the famous “Que Sera Sera.” Its landing gear fitted with skis, it made the first landing by an airplane at the South Pole on October 31, 1956. Another Naval Aviator, Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, and … R4D-5L Skytrain
With the advent of nuclear weapons, the Navy evaluated the abilities of its newest aircraft and their crews to perform long-range missions. Nicknamed the “Truculent Turtle” in the tradition of the old fable The Tortoise and the Hare, the P2V-1 Neptune on display was slow but steady in establishing a world record for long-distance unrefueled … P2V-1 Neptune
A replica of the Lunar Module, the spider-like spacecraft that carried the astronauts to the lunar surface, is the centerpiece of the museum’s exhibit devoted to the Apollo program. Also on display is an example of the boilerplate capsules used by the Navy to practice spacecraft recovery after splashdown and details about the specific American … Lunar Module
U.S. military purchasers of the airplane, originally built as an “air yacht” for the commercial market, included the Navy, Army Air Corps and Coast Guard, the latter service procuring 13 of the airplanes and naming each of them after a star (i.e. Rigel, Vega). In Coast Guard service, the planes flew primarily in the search … RD-4 Dolphin
The museum aircraft entered service in 1950 and flew entirely with the Coast Guard, including a September 4, 1951, mission in which the pilot deployed its flotation bags to land in the Atlantic Ocean to pull an Air Force pilot from the water after he parachuted from his plane. The original purchase price for an … HO3S-1G
The HH-52 took helicopter search and rescue to a new level when delivered in 1963. With its watertight hull and stabilizing floats on each side of the fuselage, the Sea Guard could land on water or an ice cap to assist those in distress as well as pull them to safety using a rescue hoist. … HH-52A Sea Guard