Robert Wickboldt’s Favorite Houston Aviation Museums

Museums That Let You Enjoy Houston’s Great Aviation Heritage

The greater Houston area is one of the most influential in the history of global aviation. The city is host to many longtime aviation centers that have enabled early biplanes and highly advanced spacecraft to reach the skies and beyond.

Houston native Robert Richard Wickboldt is especially fond of the city’s aviation history and recommends the following four aviation museums.  If you are in the area, be sure to put at least one on your must-see list.

Lone Star Flight Museum

The Lone Star Flight Museum has dozens of historically important war aircraft and the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. It is one of the few aviation museums that let you go on short flights, which Robert Wickboldt says last about 25 minutes. Most of its aircraft are airworthy, so you get to do more than look at them if you choose. The museum is located on Aerospace Avenue in southeast Houston.

1940 Air Terminal Museum

An art deco design gives the 1940 Air Terminal Museum a very unique and impressive appearance. Even better, it has the lowest admission price of all aviation museums in the greater Houston area. It is filled with historical aviation artifacts while enabling you to watch modern aircraft land and take off. The museum is located on the west side of the William P. Hobby Airport off Highway 35 in southeast Houston.

Space Center Houston

Robert Wickboldt is especially fond of the NASA museum that is located near the NASA Bypass and Saturn Lane. It is very close to the historic Johnson Space Center and features more than 400 artifacts plus traveling exhibits. The museum lets you get a close look at how the Johnson Space Center works and is fun for children and adults alike.

Commemorative Air Force’s Houston Wing

The Commemorative Air Force Houston Wing is the least accessible of the Houston aviation museums. It is open on the first and third Saturdays of each month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The museum has five WWII-vintage aircraft and another from the Korean War and is a working museum that restores and maintains vintage military aircraft. The museum is located west of Houston and a few miles north of Interstate 10.

Plan Your Visit to a Houston-Area Aviation Museum

With a little planning, it is possible to visit most of the aviation museums over a two- or three-day stay in Houston. Each has an abundance of artifacts and historical context that can immerse you in Houston’s and the nation’s great aviation history.