When the sequel to Top Gun was released last spring and soared at the box office, all eyes once again were focused on naval aviation and the TOPGUN pilots who everyday push the envelope to challenge the skies. But little more than an hour from Washington, D.C., in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, visitors can explore the world and history of the real test pilots and aviation pioneers at the Pax River Naval Air Museum.
The museum is located outside Gate 1 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, which stretches across 12 miles of shoreline overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. The site was chosen specifically for its waterfront setting to recruit the Navy’s finest to train as pilots during and following World War II. Pax River is steeped in naval aviation history: Four of the original seven Mercury astronauts—Wally Schirra, John Glenn, Alan Shepard, and Scott Carpenter—all trained at Pax River before launching into the heavens. Aviation ace Charles Lindbergh’s name also is part of Pax River’s history. Lindbergh, who made history by flying solo across the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis, attended the Joint Fighter Conference at Pax River in October 1944 as a representative for the United Aircraft Corporation.
Pax River became a center for naval aviation training, testing, and development in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School was officially launched in 1958, and the Weapons Division Facility was created two years later. The museum opened in 1978 and was completely redesigned in 2016. Today, it is a privately funded museum ranked as one of the premier naval aviation museums in the country. It is dedicated not only to the technical story of naval aviation, but also to the brave and dedicated individuals behind man’s reach for space. Many of NASA’s Gemini and Apollo pilots and space shuttle astronauts studied and honed their flying skills in St. Mary’s County. In fact, Pax River launched many astronauts before Cape Canaveral.
At the Flight Line, just outside the museum buildings, visitors can get up close to 25 vintage aircraft, including a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18B Hornet, Grumman NF-14D Tomcat (the “N” indicating it was permanently assigned to testing activities), and Bell Helicopter Textron MV-22 Osprey. Eye-catching exhibits, vintage artifacts, and flight simulators are housed inside the museum: the Test & Evaluation Hall, the newer building with space artifacts and the Flight Technology Hall, and the older section showcasing aviation artifacts and the stories behind them. One of the newer exhibits is “Women in Aviation,” which, as the title says, focuses on the stories of women in naval aviation.
Astronaut Captain James Lovell, best known as commander of Apollo 13, is a board member and has been heavily involved with the exhibit “Naval Aviation in Space”—certainly a major highlight on a visit. Lovell, who graduated at the top of his class in 1958 from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, spent four years at Pax River testing aircraft, including the F4H Phantom: “Because of the training I got here [at Pax River] as a young Navy officer learning to be a test pilot, I was well prepared to go to NASA.”
On weekends, visitors can climb into the cockpit of a flight simulator and imagine what it is like to fly a plane for takeoff and landing. Children especially find this experience thrilling. Many of the museum guides are volunteers and have an association to Pax River.
A future planned exhibit is a 12-by-22-foot mural of “Naval Aviation in Space” painted by artist George McWilliams. The painting originally hung above the doorway of the Officers’ Club until 1986. The linen canvas, which was saved when the O’ Club was torn down, depicts four of the earliest Mercury astronauts who trained at Pax River: Schirra, Shepard, Carpenter, and Glenn. It is dedicated to astronaut Michael J. Smith, a 1974 graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, who was piloting the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded just 73 seconds into flight on 28 January 1986.
The museum is actively involved with the community; a St. Mary’s County visitors desk is located inside the building. The museum hosts a variety of special events throughout the year, including its popular “Wheels & Wings,” when antique and vintage cars are parked alongside planes on the Flight Line. A diverse collection of vendors can be found both outside and inside the museum, making a visit an exceptional day out.
For further information contact Pax River Naval Air Museum, 22156 Three Notch Road, Lexington Park, MD 20653, (301) 863-1900, paxmuseum.com.
