Hill Aerospace Museum - Ogden, Utah - Aviation and Military Museum

Hill Aerospace Museum is situated at Wardleigh Road approximately five miles south of Ogden, Utah. Admission to the museum is free and it opens seven days a week from 9am to 4.30pm, but remains closed on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The museum is handicapped accessible and visitors are requested not to bring food and drink to the site.

The museum sits on 30 acres on the northwest corner of Hill Air Force Base and was founded in 1982 as part of the United States Air Force Heritage Program. Visitors here can see over 80 military aircraft, missiles and aerospace vehicles as well as a wide variety of ordnance, an assortment of aerospace ground equipment, military vehicles, uniforms, and many other historical artifacts. There are several exhibits featured here including The Beginnings, which takes visitors through the early days of aviation at the beginning of the 20th century, through to 1940 before the United States joined the Second World War.

The World War II exhibit has several examples of aircraft as well as military vehicles, equipment, a V-1 Buzz Bomb and an atomic bomb replica. The aircraft on display include the B-17G Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress, A-26B Invader and P-38J Lightning. Other aircraft are shown in an exhibit depicting the beginnings of the jet age with machines such as the A-1E Skyraider, WB-47E Stratojet and F-84G Thunderjet.

Another exhibit moves on to the Cold War era between 1954 and 1989 with many examples of jets, missiles, military equipment and helicopters like the Jolly Green Giant and Choctaw. Aircraft enthusiasts will be impressed with the large number of planes on display including Phantoms and Falcons, and there are also examples of thermonuclear bombs. There are also aircraft used post 1990 for visitors to see, such as B-1B Lancer, a Sikorsky Helicopter and a Boeing Stratotanker.

Whilst much of the exhibits on display focus on aircraft, visitors can also learn much about the aviation military heroes through the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame. The work of female pilots is also recognized here in the exhibit about Women Airforce Service Pilots, who performed non-combat aviation jobs to free up the male pilots for combat. Another area gives a history of the American aviation legends, which pays tribute not only to the pilots but also the designers and scientists.

Visitors can purchase souvenirs at the museum gift shop, which opens between 9am and 4.15pm each day and sells various clothing such as t-shirts and flight jackets as well as posters, toys and books. Schools are welcome to visit the museum for educational tours and the museum's Education Outreach Team also travel to schools, fairs and air shows in Utah, western Wyoming and southern Idaho. The presenters deliver talks focusing on the history of the United States Air Force, the Air Force in Utah, and aviation and space technology using plastic models, posters, videos and replicas of artifacts as part of the presentations.