PIMA Air and Space Museum – Tucson, AZ

South of Tucson, Arizona is the excellent PIMA Air and Space Museum which has more than 300 aircraft on display from all over the world from the 1930′s to modern day. It is a massive complex out in the desert, which due to the dry climate means many of the aircraft can be stored outside with little worry of corrosion to the air frames. They also have hangars set up for many aircraft.

PIMA aerial view AZ — Aerial view of the museum - note this does not show all the aircraft as many are cut from the bottom of the photo! (source: http://www.pimaair.org)

The vast collection of big bombers, transport aircraft, piston and jet engined fighter planes, helicopters etc are mostly restored and look magnificent out in the warm Arizona sun. I went there in early 2011 but wanted to post a collection of photos from that visit to give some idea of the diversity and sheer scale of aircraft they have on display. If you have any interest in aviation history you need to visit PIMA someday. Also they are the organisation that runs tours to the famous “Boneyard” at the nearby Davis Monthan Air Force Base which is a must do.

Hangar Displays