Air Force Museum invites visitors to go ‘Above and Beyond’

“Getting up off the ground, you know there are some forces we have to interact with — lift, weight, thrust, drag,” said Mike Brimmer, chief of the museum’s education division. “With every flying object, including birds and drones or satellites, rockets, airplanes, all have to contend with the same forces of flight. And this exhibit illustrates that.”

Want to design a virtual plane? Here, you can do that.

After entering an immersive wraparound theater, visitors venture into five galleries comprising dozens of interactive displays.

Exhibitgoers can ride to the edge of space in a simulated space elevator or test their own supersonic fighter-jet design in a virtual high-speed flying competition.

A group flying experience with motion-sensing image capture helps visitors sense what it’s like to fly like a bird in a flock.

Feel the need for speed? You’ve come to the right place.

“Once you get off the ground, you get through the ‘up’ portion of this exhibit, you want to go fast. That’s what we do,” Brimmer said. “We like to go fast. So the next gallery talks about what it takes to go fast.”

Located in the museum’s 4th building, “Above and Beyond” is free and will be open during regular museum hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Saturday until Dec. 15

“Above and Beyond” is produced by Evergreen Exhibitions in association with Boeing, with NASA and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

A complete schedule of current museum events and exhibits is available at https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/Events/75th-anniversary/.

The museum — which itself is readying to celebrate its centennial anniversary next spring — features more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space.

The entrance to museum grounds is at gate 28B off Springfield Street in Riverside.