Southern Museum of Flight

What a pleasant experience. A lot of great items packed into a smaller space without feeling overwhelmed. Most of the exhibits are hands off (understandably) but there are interactive items on site such as a analog training simulator that you can sit in and a lil kids play space near the entrance. My only caution to service members or anyone with sensitivites but the "Cobra" helicopter exhibit has machine gun sounds and skirmish noises that may be triggering for sensitive individuals. Parking can be limited if they are busy. They honor the ASTC reciprocity with other museums. Check your ASTC list before attending for more information, or call ahead. Highly recommend stopping by.

We took our aircraft-loving 9 year old there and spent about 2 hours just looking at everything! He especially loved the training cockpits that he could sit inside! The Little Pilots Playroom looks so great for younger kids!

This is a great little aviation museum. Our kids loved playing in the cockpits and my husband loved learning so much about the history of aviation in Alabama. The staff are very knowledgeable and happy to help.

Another SR71/ A12 off the list. Nice place to visit with a lot of things to see here. After you leave the museum, go 2 blocks away to see all the planes they put onto the airport property. They have one of the few beech starships left here as well as the rare sr71 drone tucked away inside the building.

We had an absolute blast at the museum. I learned so much about aviation all while having a great time.

Nice little museum if you have time to kill before a flight in Birmingham. Wish the planes outside were up kept a little better. It's a nice surprise for me is they had the b-25 pulled from lake Murray. I was very impressed by the display and number of classic engines they had.

Driving to the Southern Museum of Flight, I was honestly not expecting much. The museum is in a mid to lower class residential area with very little signage apparent. I was immediately overwhelmed. The facility is amazing, the displays are immaculately well-kept. The employees are very friendly. Overall, an amazing & beautiful museum. The Shadow Gallery, highlighting CIA missions and people, was a very unexpected surprise as well. Beautifully well done and worth the entry price alone. I do wish that the static aircraft displays which are down the road a little ways were better kept, but that was made up for by the museum itself. Bravo.

My 11-year-old son & I were away for a ⚽️ tournament & LOVED our visit here. We had 1 hour & were able to make the best visit with the time we had. This museum had so much rich history, artifacts, and vintage military & civilian collections - It was fascinating. I am in a pilot academy currently & this was very inspiring. The sweet gal staff member at the front desk & security guard were angels! They were so kind & helpful. They had such southern hospitality & represented this museum well. We appreciate the opportunity to visit this wonderful gem! ♥️✈️ 🇺🇸

We hadn't planned on coming here, we just saw a sign on the interstate and decided to drop in and I'm glad we did. The guy working the front desk was very welcoming. It's not a giant museum but it has an impressive collection of real and replica aircraft, from Da Vinci's flying machines to Vietnam helicopters. Some interesting artifacts include a propellor gifted to the Red Baron, a Soviet MiG, and lots of Tuskegee Airman items. I highly recommend it for an interesting hour or two.

Attended a group's anniversary party at this location. It was my first time visiting this museum and it was interesting. There were different styles of planes and I saw at least 1 helicopter. The tables were spaced around the planes. I saw gift shops. Nice place to visit

Very very nice museum. We visit it with a friend who is in the Air Force so it was so nice to have our private guide who knows close to everything. Staff are very friendly. Very nice planes, nice setups.

I picked up a group on and decided to visit this place on a whim. This was definitely the smallest aviation museum I have ever visited; however, I was extremely impressed. Even after visiting the Smithsonian this museum had a lot of value. The main part of the museum was divided into recent and older aviation displays. The highlight of my trip was seeing a Navy Blue Angel demonstration airplane and my favorite jet the A-7. They also had a small section down the street with maybe 12 airplanes to include the SR - 71 Blackbird spyplane. My kids enjoyed the freeze dried icecream sold in the gift shop. Definately worth the visit if you are in the area!

Wonderful collection but it seems to be constantly under repair or having sections blocked off. But don't let that stop you! Go see a bunch of fantastic stuff.

This museum opens doors to real U.S. Military history. Everyone should visit & donate!

We had a great time and my grown kids enjoy it. I wish I had a little child to enjoy the play room full of airplanes!

I loved seeing all these old planes. It was so full of history and the tour was really interesting. I was referred due to Tuskegee display but it was a little small.

Such a cool museum. I've went to the National Museum of the US Air Force in wright Patterson Ohio growing up and though this museum isn't anywhere as big, the planes they have are immaculate and displays are very well done. Makes an awesome kid bday party if you can catch a tour they are very informative staff is super nice. Don't have to spend a ton of time to see everything and is a total treat for anyone remotely interested in airplanes.

I would highly recommend this museum to anyone interested in flight (children and adults). The price is extremely reasonable. We went to the Museum on a day they we closing because of the CORVID-19 virus. The staff was amazing and took the time to engage my son about the museum. Mr. Phillips took time with my son to educate him about how planes fly and gave him a demonstration. The collection is very good and the exhibits were nicely presented. I understand they are working on a new facility that will be larger and greatly improve the museum.

Since I was a small child, I've been obsessed with all things flight. So much so, that I used to hold my birthday parties at the airport. When I turned legal age, I began skydiving. I ended up majoring in professional flight in college. You get the point. Even with this obsession, until the other day, I'd never been to the Southern Museum of Flight (which is located in the city that I was born and raised in). Now that I'm a father, I notice my son having a similar interest in flight. He's not quite two, but I decided it was time to take him to the airport to watch the commercial jets take-off and land. Shockingly, he was only mildly entertained. That's when I remembered that the museum was supposed to be located near by. Even kind of knowing where it was, I still missed it and had to pull it up on my Yelp app to finally find it. That's my only complaint. The staff was immediately friendly and the price was very reasonable. It was free for my son, of course. As you first walk in, there is a play area for little ones. We were immediately hooked. After pulling him off of the riding toys, we started through the museum. Next, we found a room filled with free simulators. We eventually found everything from a Wright brothers model to a room full of experimental aircraft, there was no shortage of cool planes. While he's a touch young to fully understand the amazing aircraft in the museum, he was still amazed by the sights. One wing is completely devoted to military flight, as it should be. I'll take him back as often as he wants. Soon I want to go, sans child, to let the kid in me explore every inch of this place. I may need a chaperone.

Interesting little museum that I think is often overlooked! Lots of information, lots to look at, lots of well informed people working there. Couldn't ask for a nicer staff.

This was one of the best Flight Museum's I have ever been to. It was filled with Aircraft from the early ages to the present day. It is well worth your time to spend a couple hours touring the many displays they have. The Staff was Very Helpful and Knowledgeable, and took the time to explain the exhibits in detail.

Went to the Southern Museum of Flight in October 2018 and loved it! The museum is located about 4 miles North/East of the Birmingham airport. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. The entry cost is $7 for adults, and $6 for children. Lots of planes, arts, artifacts, etc. throughout the museum. There are also planes on the outside of the museum. The museum also has a children's play area, flight simulators and playstation flying games, and a nice gift shop. I wish the gift shop would have had more "Southern Museum of Flight" logo items. The museum was divided into the origins of flying, experimental planes, and military planes. One could easily spend 2-4 hours at the museum.

Lived in Birmingham all my life , had never visited this museum before till recently. The museum was a lot smaller than I thought. But learned tons! Great display of planes and cockpits , an interesting place for a quick date ,

This was actually my second time here. First came here with a class I was taking on WW2 and really enjoyed it. Really wanted to share it with someone. I've tried coming back twice before but the museum was closed. So yesterday, my daughter and I spent the day in Birmingham and this was a priority. We paid the price of admission - $7 per adult - and started in the early air hanger. It was cool. The best part was that there was a Cub Scout group in who had a museum guide walking them through and talking about each display. Honestly, he was great. The short time we were in the same room was the best part of the museum. Once we parted ways, the displays lacked a lot of the detail he was sharing with the kids. In short - guided tour beats self-guided. Not sure if that's even offered, though. It would be great if they offered a tour on the hour. All in all, I recommend going. The exhibits are fun to look at. Be prepared to spend a solid couple of hours. But realistically, it's up to you. You can go as fast or slow as you want. Besides the planes and copters INSIDE the museum, they do have several (including the blackbird) sitting about 2 blocks away that are fenced in. All you can really do is drive by slowly to get the best look you can. There's no parking, there's no gate to get up close, and the planes look to be uncared for (flat tires and some kind of mold on windshields).

Came here for an awards banquet. It was very neat getting to walk around and learn some of the history while we waited on the banquet to begin. Sadly, it was raining really hard when we arrived, and didn't get a chance to look around at the exhibits on the outside of the museum.

Great museum. Artifacts are from various battles through out history..... Great place to visit.

I visited a few museums on a recent trip through Birmingham and the Southern Museum of Flight was my favorite. The admission price was only $5 but I think they gave me a slight discount for being a pilot. On my visit here there was a bus load of children looking in wonder at all the planes and helicopters on the premises. I love that this place gets kids so excited about aviation. I loved the F-86 Sabre and Russian Hind helicopter. Another cool part is that they have a Cessna 310 outside on display which is the same airplane I own. It's just cool to see my airplane being displayed as a museum piece. I also thought their collection of WWI era birds was great too. The most fun part were the 5 simulators they have there for you to jump in and enjoy. My copilot and I had a grand ole time in those simulators. I did find it a little sad that so many cool airplanes aren't flying anymore. I wish they were all still airborne. Thanks Southern Museum of Flight!

Great and informative staff, plenty of displays and aircraft, and plenty of information! Could spend a couple hours here and stay occupied.

This is a very cool museum with a ton of aircrafts on display both inside and outside. It is very easy to get around, and well worth a visit. Especially when the summer heat makes it unbearable to visit anything outdoors. You will enjoy your visit here, and it is quite informative. Kids would probably love this place.

One of the best museums I have been to in a long time.. Well worth the effort to get there if your an aviation buff or WWII buff. Plan on 2 hrs to get through the museum or more. There is also a static displace of vintage aircraft outside and around the building (approx 30 aircraft). Great.

We took our grandson to the museum,were greeted like special guests as we went thru the door. The exhibits are nicely laid out and we especially liked seeing local Scouts working on Eagle projects with encouragement from the staff. We will tell friends to go and see the exhibits and wish them well,will probably go back too Please don't review this business if you received a freebie for writing this review, or if you're connected in any way to the owner or employees.

Fantastic air and space museum located on the Southeast corner of BHM International Airport. The museum has expanded with exhibits celebrating Korean Jet Aviation, Vietnam era rotary wing aviation, the Tuskeegee Airmen, and a wide variety of aircraft! Exhibits include F-14 Tomcat, A-12 Blackbird, Beech Starship, F-86D Sabre Dog, and a newly acquired Mi-24 Hind!!!