National Naval Aviation Museum

An F-4J Phantom II assigned to VF-92 takes the barricade on the flight deck of USS America (CVA 66) underway in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam in 1970.

While the B-17 is most remembered for its bombing missions over Germany as part of the Eighth Air Force, the Navy and Coast Guard operated versions of the Flying Fortress as an air-sea rescue and airborne early warning platform, the latter mission accomplished by PB-1Ws like that pictured here. Note the radome in the underside of the fuselage.

A P-3B Orion of Patrol Squadron (VP) 4 pictured in flight near Oahu, Hawaii, in 1978.

USS Hancock (CVA 19) moored alongside Pier J at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, CA, with USS Midway (CVA 41), USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63), and USS Ticonderoga (CVS 14) visible tied up at the quay wall in 1970.

The T-2C Buckeye made the last carrier arrested landing of its long career in the Naval Air Training Command in 2003. This image shows a T-2C on final approach for a trap on board USS Lexington (AVT 16) in July 1982.

F4D Skyrays of VF-162 off USS Intrepid (CVA 11) pictured in flight during 1961.

An F4U-4 Corsair assigned to Carrier Air Group (CVG) 5 pictured in flight near San Diego, CA, in 1948.

A view of the PN-10 flying boat taking on fuel at an unidentified location. in 1927, Pilot LT Byron J. Connell and copilot and Naval Aviation Pilot S. R. Pope set new world duration and distance records for Class C seaplanes, with a useful load of 2,000 kg, and a new world duration record with a 1,000-kg load, on the same flight from NAS San Diego, CA, in the PN-10. The flight logged 11 hours 7 minutes 18 seconds in the air and a distance of 947.705 miles.

F2F-1s assigned to VF-2, a squadron known as the "Fighting Chiefs" because of its sizable complement of enlisted Naval Aviation Pilots, pictured in flight in 1939.

The museum's example of the F6F-3 Hellcat is one of the handful of aircraft on display with documented combat history.

https://navalaviationmuseum.org/f6f-3-hellcat/

An F8U Crusader attached to the VF-51 Screaming Eagles off USS Ticonderoga (CVA 14) escorts two Soviet Tupelov Tu-16 Badger bombers over the Western Pacific in 1963.

Happy Fourth from all of us at the National Naval Aviation Museum.

Commemorative envelope from cruise of USS Lexington (CV 2) that began in 1937 to conduct an extensive search for the missing airplane flown by Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan.

A-7E Corsair IIs assigned to the VA-147 Argonauts pictured in flight over the South China Sea during a mission from USS Constellation (CV 64) in 1980.

We're absolutely thrilled to celebrate our talented Art & Essay winners, who brilliantly captured the theme "To the Rescue" in such creative and thoughtful ways! Cheers to their wonderful imaginations! 🏆🎨🖋️

National Flight Academy Week of Adventures sponsored by Florida Power & Light!
First 50 students to sign up are FREE! Click the link below to register.
NFA Week of Adventures- https://tinyurl.com/3k6e5y6s

National Flight Academy Week of Adventures sponsored by Florida Power & Light!

First 50 students to sign up are FREE! Click the link below to register.

NFA Week of Adventures- https://tinyurl.com/3k6e5y6s

The VP-4 Skinny Dragons trace their origins to the establishment of VB-144 in 1943. Among the aircraft flown by the squadron over the decades was the P-3 Orion, one of which was photographed circa 1970 at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii.

The Alert 5 crew of pilot LT Jerry Hart and RIO LTJG Rocky Deal pictured in the cockpit of a VF-92 F-4J Phantom II on board USS Constellation (CVA 64) underway in the Pacific Ocean in 1974.

An F4U-1 Corsair assigned to the VF-17 Jolly Rogers prepares to launch from USS Bunker Hill (CV 17) in 1943. The squadron eventually made a name for itself flying from land bases in the Solomon Islands rather than a flight deck.

A side view of the first production TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber taken in 1937 prior to its delivery to the U.S. Navy.

in 1911, LT John Towers reported to Hammondsport, New York, to begin flight instruction under the tutelage of aircraft manufacturer Glenn Curtiss. He was eventually designated Naval Aviator Number 3. He led flight instruction for the pioneer Naval Aviators when they first began operating from Pensacola in 1914. This image shows Towers being carried out to a seaplane prior to a flight from Pensacola Bay. This kept him from being wet as the airplane reached colder air at altitude.

in 1942 the F6F Hellcat made its first flight. This image shows aircraft of VF-15 during a training flight over Virginia in 1943. The squadron's first commander was CDR David McCampbell, who became the Navy's leading ace with 34 kills and received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Pacific.

An SH-3H Sea King assigned to the HS-6 Indians pictured in a hover over the Pacific Ocean with a dipping sonar lowered in 1976.

in 1954 the A4D (later redesignated A-4) Skyhawk made its maiden flight. This image shows a VA-34 Blue Blasters A4D-1 in flight off USS Saratoga (CVA 60) during a 1958 deployment.

Loaded with bombs, an A-6A Intruder assigned to the VA-35 Black Panthers off USS Enterprise (CVA(N) 65) flies over the Gulf of Tonkin en route to strike targets in North Vietnam in 1968.

In one of the most famous U.S. Navy photographs of World War II, LT Ronald P. Gift relaxes with other pilots in a ready room on board USS Monterey (CVL 26), after landing on the carrier at night following strikes on the Japanese fleet, in 1944. Note admonition "Get the Carriers" on the chalkboard in the background.

Enter with code JACKET now through June 30th, for your chance to win a G1 Bomber Jacket and be entered to win our Corvette sweepstakes.

https://navalaviationfoundation.org/sweepstakes/

A Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight approaches the flight deck of USS Ogden (LPD 5) as a landing craft approaches the well deck during operations at sea in 1967.

The museum will be open normal hours for the Juneteenth federal holiday on Wednesday, 19 June. However, the Blue Angels will not fly a practice flight demonstration.

in 1965, while escorting a strike against North Vietnamese barracks at Gen Phu, two F-4B Phantom IIs crewed by pilot CDR Louis C. Page and radar intercept officer (RIO) LT John C. Smith Jr., and pilot LT Jack E. D. Batson Jr. and RIO
LCDR Robert B. Doremus, of VF-21 operating from USS Midway (CVA 41), scored the first U.S. victories against MiGs during the Vietnam War. Each crew shot down one MiG-17 with an AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile.