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October 2023 by Carl N.
Lyon Air Museum is an aircraft museum that exhibit a collection of authentic aircraft, rare vehicles, and war memorabilia of the 20th century. It is base at John Wayne Airport in OC. Founded by Maj Gen Will Lyon, this 30,000 sq ft museum houses a fleet of operational aircraft and vehicles-jeeps, cars & motorcycles. Admission ticket was $14 bucks. Museum was very organized and extremely clean. Most of the museum volunteers were former USAF officers and pilots. They bring a breadth of knowledge and experience about the aircraft and the WW2. You can spent 30 mins to see the entire museum but I spent 2 hrs just because I love aviation. Overall, I like LAM and I recommend you visit.
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October 2023 by David D.
A hidden gem on the west side of the Orange County airport. It's tucked back in among other buildings, facing the runway. The cost to enter is fair with discounts for youth, seniors, and veteran...and you can purchase your tickets ahead of time online. It's a smaller museum but has a lot of military aircraft and vehicles tucked into that small space. It's a good place to spend a nice afternoon at.
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August 2023 by Kevin S.
Aviation enthusiasts, especially Military buffs would like this place. A B-17, B-25 and other aircraft and military vehicles are there. Near the OC Airport.
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March 2023 by Ted T.
Pretty cool, honestly. I got a deal for $14 for 2 on Groupon, and it was a pleasant surprise to visit here. Lots of history, automobiles, planes, and Hitler's car.
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September 2022 by Chun M.
The little Lyon Air Museum that could. It may not be big, but everything in here is in tip-top condition and these are some gems. Plus the location is great, being on the opposite side of the runway from John Wayne Airport with all the private planes and helicopters parked out front and commercial jets roaring off the runway all day. The museum is the brainchild of Major General William Lyon and all the major artifacts are from his personal collection, that he decided to share with the world by opening this museum. General Lyon passed away in 2020, but his legacy lives on and is well kept by the staff at LAM.For a relatively small museum, there are some big multi-engined aircraft in here and they are immaculately maintained. The Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress is probably the biggest and most famous for its role in bombing Germany in WWII. The example at LAM named "Fuddy Duddy" though wasn't a combat veteran, but was completed in 1945 and served mostly as a transport for General Dwight D. Eisenhower and later starred in movies like "Tora Tora Tora". It is perfectly preserved here with its polished chrome finish and bright yellow markings. The B-17 is accompanied by a Douglas A-26 Invader named "Feeding Frenzy" and a North American B-25 Mitchell named "Guardian of Freedom", both twin-engine WWII medium bombers. Other planes of note are the civilian DC-3 and USAAF C-47 Dakota cousins, both built in the Douglas Aircraft factories.Another hobby the General enjoyed was collecting vintage hot rod racing cars with many examples placed beneath the wings of the aircraft. They are all custom built and some even are related to the planes themselves. You'll notice that some of the racers are streamlined tear-dropped shapes. That is because they started life as external fuel tanks on fighter planes and ended up as surplus that inventive geniuses strapped engines and wheels on to race at famous courses like the Bonneville Salt Flats. Don't forget to go into the mini theater at the far end of the hangar to watch the "History of the Hot Rod" movie that will get your engine revved up.
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September 2022 by Victor G E.
A great place to visit for kids, teens & their parents. Multiple WW II planes & vehicles including one of Hitler's limousines. They are up close & touchable. The museum also has a very knowledgeable staff who lead excellent docent tours. In addition, they have circulating exhibits of interest. When I was there they had an exhibition of racing cars made from old airplane fuel tanks. I highly recommend this museum. Parking is free & vets get a (small) discount on the admission price.
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August 2022 by Cassandra S.
Super knowledgeable friendly staff. There's a great interactive section for kids too. It's definitely warm but they have a small theater with air conditioning if you need a break. Fantastic area to watch planes take off and land as well. They have rotating exhibitions, currently it's roadsters. Takes about an hour or so if you take time, read everything and talk with the volunteers.
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July 2022 by Guy B.
We took another trip to the Lyon's Air Museum in Santa Ana (right next to the OC Airport) and enjoyed every minute of it. The museum includes 7 beautifully-restored WWII aircraft, a variety of vintage cars & military vehicles from that age, and some of the best displays and content boards I've ever seen in a museum. Plus we had some amazing "older" and experienced docents who knew so much about the planes and vehicles - including things we would have had no idea about. (A big shout-out to Bill, who was our personal docent.) Our special interest this time was the current showing of "belly tank racers" which are small race cars built from extra fuel tanks, surplused after the war.If you haven't gone, it's kid friendly, but adults will be spending more time there, everything is in pristine shape, and it's in our own backyard (off Redhill and Baker, east of the 55, west of the 405).
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April 2022 by Pam A.
Thanks to Groupon I found out about this aerospace museum next to the John Wayne Airport. It's pretty small so it should only take you 1-2 hour max if you read every single display. There are several military aircraft, vehicle and motorcycle displays. I try to visit every car museum whenever I can, so it was a nice surprise to see some rare automobiles in there.If you're looking for a unique venue for an event, you might want to consider this museum. You get a cool backdrop of John Wayne Airport's runway.
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March 2022 by Glen M.
Definitely a great place to learn about the the man and airplanes that served in World War II. There are some interactive exhibits that let your kids (and the kid inside all of us) to climb into some vehicles. Watch their calendar and they occasionally have events that also let you out to the tarmac where you can see all the airplanes and jets that use John Wayne Airport take off and land up close. Very cool experience. Take some time to read all the posters and exhibits and see some of the cramped quarters flyers and gunners had to endure to fight for freedom. Enjoy!
