Awesome museum with really cool past military aircraft! A nice way to spend $20 getting in and just walking around huge and small planes and seeing the history behind them!

Grandson absolutely loved this place. I personally loved all the history. Place needs to stay open. Could really use some help with donations.

This was great! A lot more planes than we expected. My brother was visiting from Michigan and he loved it.

Amazing museum not too far from Merced. Its a great place to visit on your way to Yosemite or on your way back. The museum is a lot bigger than youd expect when you first park.

The place is nice and clean. Only bad thing the planes are full of wasp. For summer its really hot not much shade

Its quite a walk so make sure you are ready to walk if you want to see all of it. More plans than I had anticipated. My 7 year old had a blast. We went on a hot day so make sure you have water:-) Run by volunteers which shows how the community cares for this museum. We spent a couple of hours easily.

After watching over half of them fly in since they opened. I finally got to spend the first time there. Loved it.

The craft are amazing and presented in a way that really put into perspective of how massive some of these are

Interesting historical stop. I recommend it.

Love the old military planes. Tons of stories and adventures to relive!

We took our friends there today. They loved it. We also got to see Air Force One that has been retired.

Outstanding collection of modern and WWII aircraft, primarily United States Air Force and U.S. Army but there are several static displays of Canadian and Russian aircraft.Entrance fee is reasonable. The indoor museum is filled with historical photographs and stories of individuals that flew the various aircraft operating out of Castle Air Force Base since it was established before WWII. If you are a military aircraft buff this place is definitely worth checking out.There are plans to have an indoor aircraft display much like the National Aerospace Museum. It may be done in the next couple of years if the funding is there.

An outstanding aviation museum in Northern California. Castle offers 100s of military aircraft to view outside. There is an indoor museum, gift shop, and snacks are available. There are aircraft ranging from the WWII Boeing B-17 to the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

Nice outdoor facility with a fair amount of planes. Not very busy most of the time from my experience. Highlight of the museum SR-71 sitting in front of the museum. If your light on money and in the area you can still see the SR-71 for free. Donations will keep it there if your one of the opportunistic to visit all the SR-71s that are still in existence

Spent a little over an hour here. Had a wonderful time its all outdoors was a bit hit so rushed through the last bit of it. Would recommend to try and go on a weekend when they do yours of the planes. Also they have a tour on the Air force one plane. I went on a Monday place was pretty quite and there were no tours available. Very clean place and has a very informative Tour book for purchase ($2)

I remember going to Castle as a kid with my Grandpa Leo Ruiz, to the Air Show n the Thunderbirds preformed an air show. Great memories, LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU GRANDPA.

Theres a lot to see here especially if you love aviation history. The planes are in great condition and the placards do a great job putting most planes into context for you

They have numerous aircrafts which air force used in the war .... good place to visit and learn history of aviation

One of the best museums of military aircraft!

Nice displays. Having the last name of Virgin I was excited to see the B-17 flying fortress Virgins Delight. I was not disappointed. Wonderful people and very accommodating. I will return on the weekend to tour Ronald Reagans Air Force One.

Awesome place to take kids.. wear bug spray when u come here

I loved this place it has so many planes

Awesome collection of planes, friendly and helpful staff, and wonderful volunteers. My last visit I wound up talking to one of the volunteers, a veteran of WWII, who talked to me about the history of some of the exhibits, and told me some wonderful stories while we walked through the air conditioned indoor exhibit portion of the museum.The entry fee seems high, but its truly worth it to see all of these historic planes.

Nice to be able to view history up close

Very fun place with a lot of historical aircraft. I had a lot of fun there!

Huge collection in a park-like setting. One of the only places to see the rare and impressive B36.

One of the best air museums in the west coast!

A cool air museum! Lots of planes and memorabilia, including a Blackbird and a decommissioned Air Force One plane!Not a lot of shade, though, so bring a parasol and sunscreen

Great place for the whole family. Check out the history they are persevering.

This museum is the TOP aircraft museum on the west coast. A must see, with over 70 aircraft and growing.

Love the museum. My dad was stationed there. He served on the sad sack. He died and l wanted my son to see his plane. He served in ww2, Korea and Vietnam.

Great museum! Definitely a must-see for aircraft lovers.

The museum is a find. The aircraft are of such a wide range. Im surprised they arent more busy...all the time.

This place has always been a destination on a lazy day. Its fun to look at the planes, talk about them, speculate on the history, and relax. Open cockpit day is always a treat. The indoor Museum is very interesting.

Castle Air Museum is a plane enthusiasts heaven! My father and I (both huge plane nerds), visited this museum and had an absolute blast! The collection that they house is amazing including a former Presidential transport McDonnell Douglas VC-9C! Such a piece of history and a blast to tour! However the plane most exciting to see was the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird they have housed in front of the museum! who would ever think that they would be able to see a SR-71 in Atwater! Whether you are passing through on the way to Yosemite or just headed through on the freeway, it is a great place to stop! It is very easy to lose track of time there, so make sure you have time to spare!

Took my out-of-town family to visit. We just watched Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker, and I had a great conversation with my 15 year old son about the WWII dogfight-dynamics of the space battles. Its amazing to these planes up close. I wish it were possible to go into more exhibits, the admission was a bit more than we were expecting. It was a thoughtful catalog of American air power, and deeply sobering to look at the ordinance (particularly the nuclear weapon). My kids left with a deeper appreciation of the industrial scale and effort that goes into American air power. It was very cool to see absolutely classic WWII bombers and cold-war era jets so closely. Not sure if this is completely out of scope for the museum, it would be really great to see some depth of material around the impact of US air power abroad, particularly the valleys huge population of Southeast Asians. It seems a little awkward not to talk about it somewhere, maybe some vets talking about their experiences. In any case, its an amazing monument to engineering and industry.

Love this place even when I was a little kid!

Lots of really cool planes to see

Very cool and fun experience. We met the pilots of a c130 hercules who gave us an incredible tour of the plane and its functions.Overall this is a very cool place. Not much info on placards etc. Either use google or do yourself a favor and pay for a guided tour. While the planes themselves are incredible, i felt as if i could use more context and info as to their use given their era.

For the cost of admission, even my 11 year old who is fascinated by old war planes said it was a major letdown.

Just wonderful what they are doing here to restore history. Everyone working at the museum are so nice and helpful. We had a great time.

Great small museum with a good collection of static displays and friendly staff.

The docents here are phenomenal! They are very knowledgeable. They have an actual Air Force One plane. No plexiglass, No barriers. The plane is as it arrived from the US Government! You have got to go and check this out. A once in a lifetime opportunity to see how spoiled our government officials are!

I loved it super amazing one day I will go again

This place has some impressive planes. They even have a former Air Force One!

Love this place. Ive returned at least 25 times over the past 30 years. A wonderful display of aircraft

Very well laid out, nice outing for the family The Museum displays an awesome piece of history. Cant wait until open cockpit month.

Comprehensive display of 70 airplane plus nice indoor museum with historical artifact and models of numerous airplanes. Limited shade and seating. Would have been better if more details about airplanes was given. Interesting to see different types like fighters, cargo, trainers and recon.

Wanderful, rare interesting planes most from America.

Took my three-year-old grandson awesome

Castle Air Museum is a great place to wander around for a couple of hours. They have over 60 different types of air craft on display to admire. For me seeing the B-52s Bomber and KC 135 tanker refueler took me back to the years when I was stationed on the Air Base. My nephew loved all the different types of jet fighters. I was told that they have a B58 Hustler. I couldnt wait to see one of my favorite air craft. When we finally got to the spot where the B58 was supposed to be, I found pieces of an air craft that still needed to be assembled. Needless to say I was bummed.

There areloy of iconic military aircraft from the last 75 years. All the planes are sitting in the open, so be prepared to the weather conditions during your visit. There is also a nice indoor museum with a lot of military artifacts and the history of Col Castle thats included with admission. Open cockpit day is the best time to visit, they do a couple of them a year. Many of the aircraft are open and you can walk inside including a B52.

It was great it had all the different aircraft that I love and I got to see a Vulcan for the first time but I would like to see that c 130 there soon

Castle Air Museum was a blast to visit. The aircraft are kept in good condition and the volunteers are all friendly and helpful. Its a very interesting experience especially if you can manage to go during open cockpit days. I would gladly come back to learn more about the aircraft and the crews that manned them

Fantastic exhibits. Where else can you touch an SR 71 and Air Force One?

Great place for viewing US service planes and one Russian MiG up close. None of the planes offered interior tours while we were there which was a bummer.

It looks awesome, just passing by on a long trip.

Extremely fascinating place. Love the history of these old planes.

Great place to come see some really cool planes that all have a story to tell

Cant count how many times Ive drove by this place. Finally took the time to stop, and was so glad i did. To see the history of actual planes used by the military was amazing. The work that the museum and volunteers are doing to preserve and restore these historical artifacts deserves so many thanks and appreciation. I highly recommend a tour of former Air Force 1. If at all possible, try to make one of the open cockpit days

Amazing collection of US military aircraft. The museum also has many donation collections from veterans who flew the aircraft.

Love this place, lots of historical aircrafts and history to be learned about aviation and its evaluation!

Incredible collection of aircraft! A must-see if you are nearby.

Great aircraft museum! The B-36 and Vulcan bomber made it even better!

Aircraft are in very good condition, been here several times, great memories

My family and me we had a great experience and we learned a lot.

Open cocpit day on Memorial Day was a fun & interesting adventure. Historical planes that people can see & experience !

Castle Air Museum is one of the greatest things about the former Air Base.Update: The museum seems like it is growing daily, they are constantly adding more equipment to see. A one time visit is never enough. I like going every few months to see the new and old equipment, check out the stuff in the gift shop, and they even have food.Original post;They have so many old planes to see and explore. The Open Cockpit day is a must for plane enthusiasts and those with inquiring minds. Its especially great for anyone who has an interest in Aviation history.

I wasnt sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised with the number and quality of the aircraft on display. My father-in-law, myself, and my 12 year old son really enjoyed ourselves.The planes are situated on the property, along several winding, interconnected, well paved walkways. Lots of different kinds to look at and enjoy. Fighters, bombers, and transport/cargo aircraft, as well as a few helicopters sprinkled in.

A MUST SEE if in the area. Well maintained slice of proud American military history on display. Very informative organized displays. I recommend this museum to everyone!

This past year I toured the Castle Air Force Base Museum and found it to be a wonderful place to bring your friends and family members to learn about the history about Castle Air Force Base.

Good selection of modern and old planes, grounds are clean and maintained.

Staff not friendly and $20 admission expensive

Amazing displays of vintage aircraft. A must see if you are on the area.

Went to the Fall exhibit 2018. It was my husbands birthday and we had our 2 grandkids. We got there about 2pm and I thought it would be a great way to end our day. I had seen this event on the local TV news describing what planes were there and activities kids could engage in during the visit. We were disappointed upon arrival. We had to pay full price to enter and 50% of the planes we wanted to see we couldnt. The hands on activities were all closed and there were only a handful of planes the kids could climb in to see. Then there was an extra $20 charge per person to go inside of Air Force One. After driving from Fresno to the show, no food or drink vendors on site at 2pm and cost to enter for 4, we did not get our monies worth.

Great place with so much history on display. Takes about 2+ hours to see everything. Younger kids will start getting board after the 1st hour, but promising the something from the gift shop at the end gets through it. In the summer get there early to beat the heat.

Had such a blast! All the guides are super informative

Allot of Old Planes. And pilots as tour guides. If you dont like the war part of the planes, they can still tell you about how its built. Heres one I learned... car turbos were created for air planes so they can go higher. And then found out they help cars, so its in cars all over the place. Most cars have turbos today because they help Save gas.... Weird, bit facts like that are out there.

An amazing air museum. Many more planes than you think!

It was cool to see all the different planes however the price I felt was way to expensive at $20.00 a person. We wishes that they would have included on the information of each exhibit the date the plane was made and decommissioned this would have made it more interesting! Also for the price we paid we were disappointed that we had to pay even more to go into the Air Force One aircraft! With the price this high it would be difficult for families to go to see and learn this history!

I flew over 7 of the types of aircraft in the museum. Great collection of planes. Even a restored B-36. Huge. I have been a docent for the RF-8G recently added. I flew 122 missions over North Vietnam and she brought me back to the carrier every time. Spend the day!!

Very cool place I think they would get more visitors if they didnt charge such a high admission fee

Very cool spot to check out!

If you love planes ...you love it here!

I was there at a evening event with wine and beer tastings and food trucks. Unfortunately about half the exhibits were closed off and access was limited on some of the others. It is definitely worth a visit to see these planes sitting in the central valley.

Been going there since it was Castle AFB...Now I believe its kept up by donations.Participated in a cars and airplane show.Very nice venue...very informative about planes on display.

Grew up going to see the different types of airplanes that are here.

Been there several times .Great exhibit.

It is a big area and is not really busy. It is educative, kid friendly and many military airplanes are on display. Price is great, we became members with one entrace fee(big family). Kids cant wait to visit for open cockpit day!!

Wide variety of military planes from various war times. The indoor museum was also full of fun facts. Will definately attend one of the open cockpit day.

A very good museum to go with children

Love this place. Try not to go when raining, it is outside.

Always a fun and educational. Cold today though

There are different types of planes, mostly American. A lot are dirty. Some of the indoor museum artifacts are smelly and have spider webs everywhere. Clean up the place.

Make sure you go on Labor Day or Memorial Day for opencockpits and go inside the planes really cool lots of great volunteers tell you their experiences with the planes

If you like ww2 airplanes then youll like it a lot. They have so many planes that youll need at least 4 hours to really enjoy it.

Excellent planes, nice setting. Docked it a star because information provision is pretty poor; signs have fairly minimal info, no leaflet etc. either. Otherwise great if you love military planes.

It was really entertaining my siblings loved it.

Good place to spend 3-4 hours with family. Was great experience to get close to machines that you otherwise see only in movies.

A must visit especially during open cockpit day to get up close and personal with the planes you love