the last F-14 Tomcat to fly a combat mission. Between March and November each year, the Navy’s legendary Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron can be seen practicing precision maneuvers in the skies above the museum. Visitors are welcome to climb inside one of the 35 actual cockpit trainers, flip the switches, turn the knobs and let their imaginations soar. There also is a motion-based simulator ride which allows visitors to experience horizontal rolls, longitudinal pitches and vertical climbs. The museum also contains an IMAX theater with daily showings of ‘The Magic of Flight’ which takes viewers airborne with the Blue Angels. More than 4,000 uniforms, flight gear, weaponry, medals and decorations add a personal touch to the museum. ‘Home Front USA,’ ‘Pacific Air Base’ and ‘The Hangar Bay,’ provide visitors an opportunity to walk through a small-town Main Street (circa 1943), a U.S. Marine Corps expeditionary airfield during the Guadalcanal campaign and the hangar bay and below-deck spaces of a World War II aircraft carrier. Many of the museum’s volunteers are retired or active duty personnel who bring life to the displays as they give guided tours and recite their very own sea tales. What began as one man’s vision to endow young aviators with an appreciation of their heritage, has evolved over the years into a steadily growing and expanding institution of national significance.
Photos: Chase Clark
We hope you enjoyed this first issue of RocketSTEM magazine. We also hope you learned a few things while reading it. We intend to release new issues of the publication in April and June of this year, before moving to a monthly publication schedule beginning in August. We welcome your comments and suggestions for how to improve the magazine, and are always open to additional contributors. Please feel free to email us at ideas@rocketstem.org with your feedback or story ideas. RocketSTEM is a non-profit media foundation centered around promoting STEM education and space exploration. Our mission is to a) inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and astronauts; b) keep educators informed on space developments while helping them better incorporate STEM lessons into their classrooms; and c) raise awareness of the benefits of space exploration. This digital publication is available for free. It may be viewed online at www.rocketstem.org, or downloaded as a PDF file.
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