Eighth Air Force Museum

The museum sits at the main gate of Barksdale Air Force Base, with an outdoor static display of bombers and fighters and an indoor collection of uniforms, navigation gear, and personal artefacts donated by veterans and their families. The aircraft outside include a B-52, a B-29, an F-4, and a Soviet MiG-21.

Public access depends on current base security posture, so check in advance. When it is open the museum is free, the docents are usually retired aircrew or maintainers, and the conversations alone are worth the trip.

things to do museum
A story
The Eighth Air Force Museum at Barksdale tells the story of the Mighty Eighth — the bomber force that flew the daylight strategic bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe and lost more men in combat than the entire US Marine Corps during the war. The exhibits include B-17 nose art salvaged from scrapyards in England decades later.