The History of the Pima Air & Space Museum

The Museum opened in 1976 with 75 aircraft as part of the nation's bicentennial celebration by the Arizona Aerospace Foundation. Today, the 200-acre Pima Air & Space Museum exhibits 300 of the most important aircraft in the history of flight and 125,000 artifacts.

This size and diversity of the museum's collection is second only to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum collection. Aviation history is brought to life for visitors by museum volunteers who have first-hand knowledge about many of the planes on display. Additionally, museum visitors can actually touch many of the aircraft on display because there no barriers around them.

The museum attracts more than 150,000 local and international visitors annually. It has an aircraft restoration shop, volunteer and membership programs, and hosts student tours free of charge. The museum is the exclusive provider of docent led tours to the world's largest military aircraft storage facility at the Aerospace Maintenance Regeneration Group (AMARG) located on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

The Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame is located in the Dorothy Finley Space Gallery and offers museum visitors a unique opportunity to acquaint themselves with noteworthy Arizona aviators. Established by a joint proclamation of the Governor of Arizona, the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the City of Tucson in 1985, the Hall of Fame is a permanent shrine to Arizonans who have played a role in or made a significant contribution to aviation and aerospace history. Noteworthy honorees include: former United States Senator Barry Goldwater, astronaut Frank Borman and Doolittle Raider David "Davey" Jones.