Pima Air and Space Museum

Pima Air and Space Museum Review

This huge facility ranks among the largest private collections of aircraft in the world. More than 200 airplanes are on display in hangars and outside, including a presidential plane used by both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, a full-scale replica of the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer; the SR-71 reconnaissance jet; and a mock-up of the X-15, the world's fastest aircraft. World War II planes are particularly well represented.

Meander on your own or take a free walking tour of the hangars led by volunteer docents. The open-air tram tour (an additional $6 fee) narrates all outside aircraft. Hour-long van tours of Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC)—affectionately called "The Boneyard"—at nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base provide an eerie glimpse of hundreds of mothballed aircraft lined up in rows on a vast tract of desert. This $7 AMARC tour, which is available only on weekdays on a first-come, first-served basis, is a photographer's delight.