The Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in San Diego, was used by the United States Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for aerial reconnaissance and observation.
San Diego’s Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Company started building the Firebee drone series in for the United States Air Force in 1951.
The Sopwith Pup biplane fighter aircraft was flown in World War I by the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service of the United Kingdom.
Greeting you on one side of the entrance to the San Diego Air & Space Museum is our Lockheed A-12 Blackbird.
The San Diego Air & Space Museum’s Library and Archives houses a significant new collection: a large portion of the image archive from the Rohr/Goodrich Corporation (now part of United Technologies Corporation). The company’s San Diego roots go back to 1940, and to its namesake, Fred Rohr, who helped build Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis in 1927. This year the company celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Since its inception in 1963, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum has honored over 200 of our world’s most significant aviation pilots, crew members, visionaries, inventors, aerospace engineers, business leaders, designers, spokesmen and space pioneers. They have been celebrated for their significant contribution to the advancement of humankind in the field of air and space. They highlight the importance of technology and innovation.
The San Diego Air and Space Museum’s Library & Archives is home to the historical and corporate records of Ryan Aeronautical, one of the most influential aerospace companies in America’s air and space history. Ryan Aeronautical was established by T. Claude Ryan, who had served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and who had offered popular sightseeing flights and flight instruction in San Diego in the early 1920s.
Part of the welcoming committee to the San Diego Air & Space Museum is San Diego’s own Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart. In the 1950s, the United States Navy was exploring the idea of a supersonic water-based fighter that could operate in sheltered water areas. Five Sea Darts were built by Convair in San Diego
Today the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s Library & Archives is one of the largest of its type in the nation with what is believed to be the largest online aerospace collection in the world. But this wasn’t always the case. What started with rather humble beginnings in the 1960s, has grown to be one of the most respected and sought after aviation collections in the world. When the first few items were gathered, no one could have imagined that they would be instantly viewable to millions across the globe.
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The San Diego Air & Space Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Federal Tax ID Number 95-2253027.
