National Museum of Naval Aviation

While the kids were in school on the 15th we went to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida with Lisa and Arnold. It was fun to see all the planes and different stuff they had there.

I thought this plane was pretty cool because it shows how the wings fold up to store them on the boats. The official name is AM Mauler and it flew in the late forties.

This is just like the atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II. I was interested to see how tall and especially how fat it was. I think of bombs as long skinny things but this one isn't skinny at all. Maybe it's just morbid curiosity that made me take a picture but it's interesting either way.

I thought this was pretty cool. It is a Japanese plane called the N1k2-J George and it flew at the very end of World War II. A trophy of war, it was seized by American forces following the Japanese surrender and returned to the United States. The inscription on the side is original and it translates, "Though my life may end over the South Pacific Ocean, my thoughts turn to the many springs gone by and those yet to come."

A true engineering masterpiece this airplane entertained my kids for quite some time while we looked at the more aerodynamic aircraft the museum had to offer.

They had a couple of just cockpits that the kids could play in. I love this picture of Spencer it's like he looking for enemies to shoot down.

Here we are flying the plane, sort of. Miya and I are the pilots and Aaron and Spencer the REOs. Pretty cute!

This is just another cute picture in a cockpit. We sure had fun at this museum and got a lot of cool souvenirs. Miya got a cute bear with bomber jacket, Spencer got a little Blue Angels plane, Aaron got a poster and a book that tells all about the planes, and I got a cute T-Shirt and hat.