AZ Commemorative Wing Air Force Museum

Today's field trip was to the Arizona Wing of the Commemoratve Air Force in Mesa.  It's been on my list of places to visit since I moved to Arizona in 2006, and I finally did it!  I'm glad I waited.  My big kids are now almost 13 and almost 10 and they got a lot more out of it than they would have five years ago.

The awe actually began in the car on the drive in.  An Apache helicopter flew in right overhead and landed at Falcon Field (which, incidentally, began as a training field for British pilots during World War One).  It continued when we pulled into the parking lot of the museum and the kids saw the outside exhibits.

We were met inside by a retired Air Force vet who now volunteers his time at the museum, for a guided tour.  The amount of information that man holds is incredible.  He was able to tell us about all of the airplanes, about the history of the airplanes...and he was even able to answer the questions that my son and his friend had about the calibur of the weaponry aboard each aircraft!

Some of the things that I found interesting....

1. The swastikas on the side of the airplace denoted how many enemy airplanes the pilot of this plane was able to shoot down.

2. The number of bombs on this jacket denote the number of successful bombing missions this pilot has been on....

3. I thought the eagle on the wall was cool....

We got to go outside to look at some of the planes docked outside.

We were able to witness one of the B-17 bombers that had been in, I believe, Texas for a while, return back home.  The bomber gave the kids a buzz fly-by.

We got to see the restoration hangar, where they are working on several helicopters and other aircraft.  We finished the tour with some time on our own to explore the many other exhibits that were there.  My kids and my friend's kids struck up a conversation with another museum volunteer who was an infantryman in the Army.  He served in the Pacific.  I'm pretty sure my kids could've spent hours listening to his stories!  My friend's daughter thought it was really cool when she was able to make a connection between the exhibit on women pilots and one of the books she had recently read called "Almost An Astronaut". 

This was an incredible field trip tour.  I highly, highly recommend it for anyone interested in the military or in military history.  It's best for older children, teens and adults.