College Park Aviation Museum

Amenities

  • Parking Lot

  • Picnic Tables

Rentals

Visit

The College Park Aviation Museum is a top aviation destination in the Washington DC area. Only eight miles from downtown DC, the museum is easily accessible by car and public transportation. A great place to bring the whole family!

Admission

  • Adults: $5
  • Seniors: $4
  • Children: $2 (Free 1 and under)

Become a Member

Join us in our efforts to preserve and promote the history of the world’s oldest continuously operating airport by becoming a member of the Field of Firsts Foundation! Membership is a vital source of support for the College Park Aviation Museum.  

Your membership makes it possible for us to rejuvenate permanent exhibits, present engaging temporary exhibits, create new interactive opportunities in the galleries, as well as generate innovative programming and educational opportunities for all ages from toddlers through adults.  

The Field of Firsts is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to support the College Park Aviation Museum and its exhibits and educational programming. A portion of your membership is tax deductible as allowed by law. 100% of your membership goes to support the College Park Aviation Museum!  

Membership Benefits for All Levels Include:

  • 15% discount at the museum store  
  • Advance notice of all programs and special events  
  • Express members-only line for programs like the Santa Fly-In  
  • Reduced or free admission to select workshops and special events  
  • Unlimited free admission to the museum for one year  

How to Join:

Learn more and join online, or request a membership brochure by calling the museum at 301-864-6029. Questions about Membership at the College Park Aviation Museum? Send us an email.  

Guidelines

  • Photography and videotaping are allowed in the museum gallery.
  • Food and drink are not permitted inside the museum.
  • While many of our displays are hands-on we remind you that anything behind barriers is off limits.
  • All children must have adult supervision while at the museum.

Gift Shop

The Museum Store offers a wide and constantly changing selection of aviation and science-related toys, children’s books, clothing, and souvenirs for all ages. Drop in to see what is new today!

Museum members receive a 15% discount on most purchases.

Guided Tours

Group Tours

The museum offers guided tours for groups of 10 or more. You must contact us a minimum of two weeks in advance to arrange a guided group tour. Tours typically last approximately 45 minutes to an hour. The rate is $4 for adults. All other admission prices remain the same: $4 for seniors and $2 for children (ages 2-17).

School Tours

School tours are designed to address grade-appropriate Common Core and Maryland educational standards, and can be modified to accommodate a wide range of learning abilities. Find detailed descriptions of our tours.

Summer Camp Tours

Beat the summer heat and book your summer camp for aviation fun at the museum. Campers will explore our historic aircraft, have a chance to try our flight simulators and imagination plane, and dress up as an aviator. Admission for summer camp tours is $2 per camper.

For every 10 campers, 1 adult/counselor is admitted free. Each additional adult is $4. Call 301-864-6029 to schedule a tour today!

Cancellation Policy

If you need to cancel your reservation, please call the museum as soon as possible to allow us to make your date available to other interested groups.

Getting Here

Location

In College Park, Maryland near the University of Maryland, between Route 1 and Kenilworth Avenue (Route 201). Accessible from the Green Line, College Park/University of Maryland Metro Station.

From the Beltway

Take the Beltway (I-495) towards College Park and exit at Kenilworth Avenue (Exit 23). Turn south on Kenilworth Avenue (Rte. 201) at the the end of the ramp. Turn right at traffic light at Campus Drive. Turn right at traffic light at Corporal Frank Scott Drive. Continue to the entrance of the airport parking lot. Turn right onto service road and proceed to museum parking lot.

From Baltimore-Washington Parkway

Exit at Route 193 (Greenbelt Road) West toward College Park. Turn left onto Kenilworth Avenue, proceed for approximately one and a half miles and turn right onto Campus Drive. Turn right at first traffic light, which is Corporal Frank Scott Drive. Continue to entrance of the airport parking lot. Turn right onto service road and proceed to museum parking lot.

From U.S. Route 1

Turn onto Campus Drive at traffic light at the north entrance of the University of Maryland. Proceed through 4 traffic lights. The next traffic light is Corporal Frank Scott Drive, turn left. Continue to entrance of the airport parking lot. Turn right onto service road and proceed to museum parking lot.

From College Park- U of MD Metro

  • After exiting your train, walk towards the East Kiss and Ride.
  • Walk past the bus stops towards River Road and Campus Drive.
  • Cross River Rd. at the light.
  • Keep walking straight on Campus Drive towards the next light. At the light turn left on Cpl. Frank Scott Drive. At the stop sign, go straight. Once you reach the roundabout, turn right towards the buildings and the College Park Aviation Museum will be on the left.
School Programs

College Park Aviation Museum offers a variety of educational tours to take learning to new heights! Our programs utilize our permanent exhibits and include interactive, hands-on activities to extend learning beyond the classroom, and to excite students about the history and science of flight.

Our tours are designed to address grade-appropriate Common Core and Maryland educational standards and can be modified to accommodate a wide range of learning abilities. Descriptions of our tours and school group behavior expectations are outlined below. We also offer in-class educational outreach programs.

Scheduling a Tour

Advanced registration is required for all group tours and programs. Tours are available Monday – Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tours are typically 1.5-2 hours long. To better serve you and to ensure a quality tour experience please be advised that your tour is only booked when you have received a confirmation email from the museum. For any questions please contact the museum.

  • Group reservations require a minimum of 10 people.
  • Groups larger than 100 will be scheduled over multiple time slots or days.
  • Tentative dates must be confirmed within 5 business days. Afterward, unconfirmed dates can be offered to other groups.

To schedule a tour:

Admission Fees

Museum admission is $2 per student. We require a student-to-adult ratio of 10:1, in order to ensure a healthy and safe learning environment for your group. All adults over this requirement will be charged the group rate of $3 each.

Lunch Facilities

The museum does not have eating facilities. You are welcome to bring your lunches and staff can direct you to nearby picnic areas. Please be mindful that there is NO FOOD AND DRINK ALLOWED INSIDE THE MUSEUM.

Cancellation & Change Policy

48 hours notice is required for cancellations or schedule changes. We will be glad to reschedule your program for a later date. In the case of inclement weather or school closures, we will gladly contact you to reschedule.

Tour Descriptions

Outreach Programs

Explore the exciting history and science of flight with the College Park Aviation Museum’s Outreach Programs.

College Park Aviation Museum staff provides interactive lessons designed to fit within a class period. Each presentation focuses on aviation history, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and includes an inquiry-based lesson, craft, or experiment designed for grades K-12.

Choose from one of our interactive program packages tailored to meet State standards and curriculum.

Storybook Adventure

Nursery School Through 1st Grade

Read a story, dress up as a notable early aviation pioneer, and create an aviation-themed craft to take home.

Changes in Transportation

2nd Grade & Up

Discover the notable changes in aviation transportation and design through an interactive presentation, explore aviation-related artifacts, and test your very own paper airplane model.

Aviation Science

2nd Grade & Up

Explore the science behind flight in an interactive presentation, participate in a Forces of Flight activity, and participate in a hands-on STEM experiment.

The Wright Flight

2nd Grade & Up

Learn about the Wright Brothers’ first flight and how it changes history through an interactive presentation, participate in a primary sources activity, and build and fly your very own glider to take home.

Pricing

  • 1 Class: $100
  • 2 Classes: $150
  • 3 Classes: $200
  • Full Day of Programming: $250 (maximum of 5 classes per day)

For more information or to reserve a date and time for your class, please call (301) 864-6029 or email collegeparkaviation@pgparks.com.

Home-School

Home-School

The museum offers at least one Home-School Day during each school year. Activities are provided for all ages to explore various aspects of flight. Home-School Day activities typically include:

  • Art activities
  • Demonstrations on the science of flight
  • Guided tours of the airport and operations building
  • Guided tours of the museum
  • Meet a pilot
  • Presentation on the Forces of Flight
  • Scavenger Hunts
  • Writing activities
  • An activity book for every participant with additional activities and worksheets!

We do book special tours for Homeschool groups and co-ops with 10 or more students. For more information or to book your tour, please email or call (301) 864-5312.

Group Tours

Schedule a guided museum visit for your group! Children will explore our historic aircraft, have a chance to try our flight simulators and imagination plane, and dress up as an aviator. Museum admission is $2 per child. We require a child-to-adult ratio of 10 to 1, to ensure a healthy and safe learning environment for your group. All adults over this requirement will be charged the group rate of $4 each.

School Group Behavior Guidelines

Teachers: Please review these expectations with your students and chaperones. Museums are fragile environments and school groups are larger than typical museum groups. Following museum behavior expectations is essential to the success and enjoyment of the learning experience. We reserve the right to ask a school group to leave the Museum due to behavior issues.

  • No food, drink, or gum in museum galleries. The Museum provides plenty of food for thought as well as a feast for the eyes.
  • Large bags are not allowed in the galleries. For the safety of the objects, visitors should leave backpacks and other large bags in the museum lobby.
  • Running, pushing, and fighting are not allowed in the museum. Appropriate museum behavior is necessary to avoid bumping into or damaging artifacts.
  • Keep a safe distance between you and the objects. This helps to avoid accidentally touching or bumping artifacts.
  • Do not touch. Your touch may not seem like much, but even the slightest contact can damage the surface of objects, rust metal, or leave fingerprints.
  • Only use pencils while writing or sketching. If an accident should occur, a pencil mark is easier to remove than pen or marker. Please avoid pointing at museum objects while holding a pencil or other items in your hand.
  • No leaning on walls or cases (either to write or for physical support). This helps keep pictures on the walls and objects secure in their display case. Please feel free to sit on the benches or on the floor as you talk, write, or draw.
  • Use quiet voices in the museum. We want to respect other groups or visitors.
  • Stay with your group at all times. This is for teachers, chaperones, and students. We require adult supervision at all times and all we encourage adult participation during field trips.
  • Limit cell phone usage. Please set a good example by not using your cell phone during programming. Make sure your cell phone is off or silenced during your visit.
  • Chaperone small groups in the Museum Store. To best serve you and other visitors, we ask that you break into groups of 15 or fewer when visiting the store.
  • We rely on the cooperation of teachers and chaperones to maintain appropriate behavior and keep students together during your museum experience. Please make sure that all adults accompanying your group are aware of their responsibilities.

Thank you for observing these rules to help keep our museum safe for everyone! Enjoy your visit!

Exhibitions

The College Park Aviation Museum has an open 1½ story exhibit area that highlights 10 unique aircraft and objects relating to the history of early aviation at the College Park Airport. The museum also features traveling exhibits and displays throughout the year. Take a look to see what current and those upcoming exhibits are on display right now!

History

Discover the Airfields History

In 1909 after proving the practicality of aviation to the U.S. Army, Wilbur Wright trained the first generation of military aviators at a new airfield in what would come to be known as College Park. The College Park Airport has been home to a century of aviation history, and still operates today, making it the oldest continually operated airport in the world. It is home to many “firsts” in aviation and is particularly significant for the well-known aviators and aviation inventors who played a part in this field’s long history.

Aircraft on Display

Featured Exhibitions

Latinas in Aviation

On Saturday, October 2, 2021, College Park Airport and Museum welcomed fourteen Latina Aviation professionals for the Latinas in Aviation Global Festival 2021. It was the first time that Latina pilots and professionals flew into the world’s oldest continuously operating airport. The pioneer women included the first Latina captain for American Airlines and the first Latina to complete Air Force pilot training. Take a look at the selection of items these Latinas donated in 2021 and learn more about their stories of passion and determination.

Delivering America: Airmail to Email

August 12, 1918, saw the first regularly scheduled airmail service in the world fly out of College Park Airport. Discover the role College Park Airport played in airmail and the aviation innovations which came from this endeavor and learn about the sacrifices and lives of the people who were a part of it. Included are the stories of Max Miller, the first airmail pilot, and Dervey Lomax, Andrew Hill, George F. Brooks, Sr, and other African American Airmail station crew members. In 2022, the museum proudly expanded the exhibit to include new research on the stories of these workers from College Park’s African American enclave of Lakeland.

The Plane of Tomorrow, Today!

Within months of the end of WWII, the Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) began marketing it’s spin-proof, stall-resistant, anyone-can-fly Ercoupe. The airplane was the work of the brilliant designer, Fred Weick, and was marketed as the epitome of a new era of modern living. This exhibit draws on the museum’s vast ERCO collection to illuminate the design, marketing and worldwide success of the Ercoupe. It features an Ercoupe suspended in flight and a cutaway section, so visitors can see what makes this plane unique.

Another Field of Firsts: The Columbia Air Center and African American Aviators in Prince George’s County

College Park is not the only “Field of Firsts” in Prince George’s County. In 1941, Dr. Coleridge M. Gill, along with Cloud Club flying club, became the first African Americans to operate a licensed airport in Maryland. Notable members and aviation pioneers included Herbert H. Jones, Jr, John Greene, as well as big band leader Jimmie Lunceford. The Columbia Air Center operated from 1941-1956, on land that is now part of Patuxent River Park, 28 miles southeast of College Park. The airfield, originally called Riverside Airfield, hosted the military and a Civil Air Patrol squadron during World War II and afterwards continued as a center of aviation for generations of African Americans before its close in 1956. This exhibit contains the restored, original Wayne Gas Pump Model 60 from the Columbia Air Center, as well as photographs and relics.

Stay tuned for updates in the exhibit scheduled for 2023-2024!

Tails of Flight

What do animals have to with airplanes? More than you think! Since the beginning of aviation, animals have played a significant role in air services and pilots’ stories. Even the Wright Brothers, the pioneers of flight, had dogs for companionship. Early in aviation pilots began to use animals as mascots. Be sure to check out the Tails of Flight exhibit on the mezzanine to see just how many different types of animals have flown!

Permanent Exhibition

The College Park Aviation Museum maintains permanent exhibits of at least 10 full-size aircraft. Each plane serves as a touchstone for relaying stories about the first six decades of flight in America with a focus on the aviation “firsts” that happened here at the historic College Park Airport. The stories of everyday and innovative people capture the thrill and passion for flight and the desire to push the limits of gravity from 1909 to present day. The museum’s permanent exhibits will be undergoing a long-term renovation over the next decade to improve interpretation, accessibility, wayfinding, and interactives as well as the stewardship of artifacts under our care. The story of Air Mail will be the first permanent exhibit to be refurbished with Phase 1 unveiled for the Air Mail Centennial that kicks off August 11-12, 2018.

Changing Exhibitions

The College Park Aviation Museum periodically presents changing exhibitions in the smaller side galleries off of the Main Gallery. These exhibits offer visitors a more in-depth exploration of a story line represented in the Main Gallery or depict an aviation theme in a completely different genre such as art, photography, nature and more.

Changing exhibitions are curated and fabricated by museum staff and exhibit shop or in collaboration with community partners. Additionally, they may be traveling exhibits from other museums or institutions. The museum also presents exhibits that are guest curated by area artists, historians or other individuals. Ideas or proposals for guest curated exhibits are welcome and should be submitted to collegeparkaviation@pgparks.com. Museum staff takes into account many factors when considering a guest curated exhibit including budget, topic, availability of space and staff, community engagement, and commitment of guest curator or partner organization.

The museum’s permanent exhibits will be undergoing a long-term renovation over the next decade to improve interpretation, accessibility, wayfinding, and interactives as well as the stewardship of artifacts under our care.

Part of the this plan includes establishing a changing exhibits space that offers more flexibility for light levels, climate control, security and a clear identity within the museum; thus expanding the variety of exhibits the museum can present.

Rentals & Birthdays

Rentals

For full rental details, please refer to the rental booklet PDF above.

The College Park Aviation Museum offers a unique setting to host small events such as business meetings, training, or gatherings. The gallery, with a backdrop of the historic runway, makes a wonderful setting for small ceremonies. Capacity allows for up to 65 guests. 

All food and decorations must remain upstairs on a mezzanine level. Planes, decorations, and exhibits cannot be altered or removed. Please check with the museum for current exhibits or displays.  

When booking during business hours (Tuesday-Sunday 10 am – 4 pm), please note the museum will be open to the public. The rental area will be blocked off to the public, but the stairs, elevators, and mezzanine hallway will be available for public access.  

Equipment Available with Rental Contract

  • 70 Chairs  
  • 12 tables (6 feet rectangular)  
  • Podium with microphone  

Items/Equipment Not Available for Use with Rental Contract  

  • AV Equipment  
  • Caterers Kitchen  
  • Loading Dock  
  • Refrigerator use  
  • Tablecloths  
  • Tableware (plates, spoons, forks, napkins)  

For more information:

Birthday Party Packages

College Park Aviation Museum is where your birthday party takes flight! Children ages 3-10 can take an adventure in aviation with several fun and educational hands-on activities.  

Birthday parties may be booked on Saturdays and Sundays at 10am and 1pm.  

Package includes:

  • 2-hour party 
  • A mini, educator-led tour of the museum with exploration time in our Flight School area, and more  
  • Aviation-themed activity and craft for participants to take home  
  • Tablecloths & paper products (dessert plates, cups, napkins, flatware)  
  • Goody bag for all participants  

Fees:

  • $400 for non-members and $350 for members. You can become a member at the time of booking.  
  • Fee includes activities and supplies for 12 children.  
  • Additional children $15 each with a max of 20 children.  

To book a party: