Experience the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor from the place bombs first fell on the fateful day. Discover how aviation began and defined the war in the Pacific, and rose out of the ashes of Pearl Harbor to inspire hope, redefine freedom, and galvanize a nation to overcome. Spanning two historic WWII-era hangars filled with aircraft, exhibits, and artifacts of the men and women who gave their lives for freedom, Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum offers a can’t- miss stop on your pilgrimage to Pearl Harbor. Be sure to add the Top of the Tower Tour to your experience - for the first time in decades, the Ford Island Control Tower. Guests ascend 168-feet up in a vintage elevator and are greeted with 360 view of the battlefield. The guided tour paints the picture of the attack: highlighting the flight path of the Japanese aircraft, sharing the stories of our heroes, and allowing for a moment of reflection and appreciation for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Posted By : robberto217
Being an aviation/ military history fanatic this was number 1 on my list for visiting Honolulu. I had a faf on my phone getting my ticket up but the wifi is good if you have a non-US SIM card like me.
The first hangar has limited exhibits however the pacific war exhibits were fab! My favourite was the Zero as I’ve never ever seen one before in person (being British were only used to seeing German planes in museums on the Axis side).
I do think there should be more information billboards or posters to shower more information on some exhibits, the P-40 hanging on the ceiling for example I couldn’t easily see the story of the two that got airborne during the attack. The gift shop is good but a little pricey. We didn’t buy any food as it looked pricey and we didn’t go on the simulator but it looked quite good.
The parked up planes outside were my favourite bit as there’s no F-14s in Europe and I was like a kid in a candy shop walking around it. That being said, there were not information billboards against every aircraft (I always like to know the airframes history and a bit about the type information), the aircraft were also not very well maintained and clearly are left outside all year by the weathering.
Hangar 79 was the most disappointing part. It’s just a bunch of aircraft bits thrown together and very limited information. The best bit in the B-17E wreck although this didn’t even mention the types participation in the attack which is strange. I was expecting some more displays and the other Dauntless to be out on display and not sat behind all the bits of parts in the background.
Shuttle bus around the site is very frequent and convenient.
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Posted On : 2024-04-19 15:32:02 
Posted By : Kate S
As we toured the PHAM museum, we were quietly mumbling questions and curiosities as we read through the material at each installation. Alex came up to us to answer our questions, and he ended up spending 45-minutes talking us through the pre-WWII Historical conflicts in the Pacific. We learned more in 45-minutes with Alex than we had in our entire lives! Alex made this trip truly thought provoking and meaningful, so thank you to him!
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Posted On : 2024-04-15 17:18:30
Posted By : AlistairB554
I came here after booking my Tour reservation directly off their Website on Wednesday February 21 2024.I was a bit apprehensive but it was easy I took the Local 42 Bus that takes you right there i there around 10 AM Thursday February 22 2024.I was impressed by The array of Aircraft they had a Curtis P 40 War Hawk,The Mitsubishi A6M Zero a Japanese Carrier Fighter Aircraft that like it's similar looking German Radial Engine Counterpart The Focke -Wulf FW 190A was a nasty surprise to Allied Fighter Pilots when it first showed up.Other Cool Planes like a Grumman Wildcat & Jets outside like The F-86 Sabre,F4 Phantom,F-15 Eagle,Mig 21 etc.If you're into Aircraft you will like this Exhibit.Added bonus I also saw some Lockheed F-22 Raptors Air Superiority Fighters doing some training exercises turns,rolls & dives overheard of The Pearl Harbor Area that was cool sight to witness.So would I recommend visiting this Aviation Museum..YES! 👍
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Posted On : 2024-02-22 19:22:04
Posted By : Jeff_M
Each display was well marked with ample information describing it. The planes were restored well and the Veteran who shared information was well informed and shared lots of stories.
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Posted On : 2023-10-26 18:08:20 
Posted By : Ross_W
I contacted the museum on three occasions asking for timings of the duration of the tour as I had to book transportation, I received no response so I did not attend due to lack of transport. As a visitor that arrived two days ago I was not familiar with transportation details.
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Posted On : 2023-10-10 03:29:05
Posted By : Emma_B
Very enjoyable great variety of war planes. Smooth running of shuttle transport. Definitely need a hat and water as very warm looking at the planes outside.
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Posted On : 2023-09-19 18:09:25
Posted By : R5582FWmichaelm
I am a retired Air Force maintenance man I worked on several of those aircraft F105F4T 33. I was very very disappointed in how they were maintain and they looked. The F-15 was my pride and joy, and it look like a shamble strut, collapsing nose gear, very high, they needed paint jobs everything out there was in bad shape, missing tires, missing things on the aircraft, flat tires, very very disappointed i am a shame at the way the aircraft that are used to work on, or maintain and displayed.
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Posted On : 2023-09-10 22:46:47
Posted By : hevesyz
This is by far one of the COOLEST museum's I've ever been to. I love history, and Pearl Harbor has always been something that fascinated me since I was young. When I saw there was a aviation museum, it was a MUST. I love planes and combine that with Pearl Harbor, say less.
You park at the visitor center, and walk in to take the shuttle. The shuttle comes every 15 minutes. There's no access into Ford Island unless you're military or on a shuttle. The drive took 10 minutes or so with the first stop at the USS Missouri. It was awesome seeing it up close. There's so much history with this ship, and just seeing it was jaw dropping.
When you get to the museum, you see the control tower right outside, along with a older passenger plane. Right away I was excited. You walk in and instantly I got chills. I highly recommend asking for the audio walkthrough, you can hear more information on everything inside. When you walk into the hanger, WOW.. I was blown away. There were so many different WW2 planes, from the P40 to to Zero, to the B17. I literally stared at every piece for minutes before going on to the next. I read each exhibit and listened to everything on the audio piece. There's just so much history, and I was fascinated 100%. You really learn about the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was really really cool. The staff there were super friendly and answered a lot of questions I had. We had a really good conversation. He had a lot of knowledge and was very honest. Thank you!
There's a flight simulator you can try for $10, we didn't do that but it looks really cool as you're flying over Pearl Harbor.
When you're done here, you walk outside to the left, and BOOM! There's a whole fleet of different planes. It was like walking into a candy store for me. You can literally walked right next to, under each plane, up close! There's all types of military planes, Army, Navy, Air Force etc. There's a Blue Angel, F14, F16, different helicopters. The hanger is under construction but you can see inside it. There's engines and different parts. Just standing outside on the actual floor was breath taking. You can see the actual bullet holes on the glass. This was where it all happened. This was probably one of the coolest things I'ver ever seen. My GF had a really good time too and she was very impressed.
I had to pick up a few things at the gift shop. This was probably one of the best things we did on the trip right before we left. I HIGHLY recommend coming here and seeing a bit of US history. I'm definitely coming back again, no questions about it.
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Posted On : 2023-09-01 14:52:17
Posted By : SimonyII_J
A great historical experience. Being able to see the aircraft involved in the attack and the struggle beyond was amazing. I would recommend adding on the tour of the tower. Being able to see the what occurred on Dec 7 1941 from a birds-eye view was extraordinary,
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Posted On : 2023-08-31 02:21:04
Posted By : TSP2014
We've been to aviation museums all over the country, but I think this one was one of the best. We went to the cafe first. They don't have an extensive menu, and the food is alright. The prices are a little high for what you get. They have free audio guides, which was very good. They good their audio guides where you hold up the guide to a thing on the display and then it plays. To me that's much better than trying to hit the right number. I wish they would have told us that there are outdoor exhibits and another hangar. We turned in our audio guides and then realized there was much more to see. They have a temporary exhibit all about Bob Hope and entertaining the troops. The exhibit was great. The 2nd hangar is the restoration hangar, so some of the planes are being restored and there's not a lot to see. You can only get to the museum by boarding a bus at the visitor center. It's the 2nd stop on Ford Island (the 1st stop is the Missouri). We are so glad we chose to do the museum this time. If you are wanting to get the full experience of Pearl Harbor this should be on your list.
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Posted On : 2023-01-10 20:39:07
