Florida is the home of Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, also known as the "Cradle of Naval Aviation" because this is where it all began back in the early 1900's. Today Navy pilots are still trained here and this is the home turf of the world renown Blue Angels. On base they have one of the worlds largest aviation museums, and best of all- It's FREE! (You know how I feel about free now.)
They boast over 150 beautifully restored aircraft and 4,000 plus artifacts and lots of hands on fun.
A few of the highlights are:
"Marine One" for President John F Kennedy.
The "S-3B Viking" that delivered President George W Bush to the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.
And a "Grumman A-6 Intruder", the plane that Joel worked on as an electronic technician in the Navy (as a matter of note; this one is from Joel's old squadron).
They have displays here on everything from WWI to hot air balloons to space capsules.
One of the displays we found was a list of Enlisted Naval Pilots (something they do not have anymore, all pilots are Officers now).
This was of special interest to Joel, because his uncle, Jeff D Woodson, was an enlisted pilot in WWII. His entire squadron, save one man, were all shot down and killed during the Battle of Midway.
Seth decided to try his hand at being a pilot. Maybe he will try out for the Blue Angels someday.
Mom and Dad couldn't let him have all the fun!
A fun day and a place well worth visiting.
3 comments:
how fun that one of the planes Joel worked on was there!
Wow, you guys have been busy! My blog isn't letting people know that I post either! Weird. I'm so jealous, Florida looks so warm, and we're all so cold here in Utah.
SO COOL!!! Now I feel like I've been there. :)
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