About Naval Air Station Patuxent River - DCMilitary.com

Historic Leonardtown
Leonardtown is the county seat for
St. Mary’s County. Leonardtown is also
home to the St. Mary’s County
Courthouse and is the center of
government for St. Mary’s County.
St. George’s
Episcopal Church
301-994-0585
On the National Register of Historic
Places, St. George’s Episcopal Church
houses the oldest Parish in Maryland.
Patuxent River
Naval Air Museum
301-863-7418
The Patuxent River Naval Air
Museum, an official Navy Museum, is
dedicated to telling the extraordinary
story of the U.S. Navy’s aviation
research, development, testing and
evaluation since 1911, and in particular
since World War II.
The museum is a culmination of the
vision and hard work of many Navy
officials (civilian and military), local
military organizations, county commissioners,
community groups and aircraft
company representatives who began the
quest for this museum in 1974. Their
dream was to preserve the history,
describe the present, and project the
future of Naval Aviation test and
evaluation at Patuxent River.
The museum is one of 11 Navy
museums in the country approved by
the Secretary of the Navy. As a naval
education facility, PRNAM is charged
with preserving the heritage and interpreting
the history of the science and
technology of naval aviation by collecting,
preserving and communicating that
history to Navy service members and the
public. The museum features interactive
and hands-on displays that provide an
understanding of the technical processes
involved in naval aviation research,
Our Neighbors
An osprey on the lower Patuxent River
development, test & evaluation.
Among the exhibits is ‘The Great
Model Collection,’ some 1,300 aircraft
models, including 18 wind tunnel test
models such as the Convair XF2Y Sea
Dart and the Grumman F9F Panther.
Also exhibited is the history of flight helmet
development, seven ejection seats,
seven aircraft engines and the infamous
‘rubber airplane,’ the Goodyear
Inflatoplane. The Ex-Drone and the
Pioneer, two contemporary unmanned
aerial vehicle types used for reconnaissance
during Operation Desert Storm
and in Bosnia, are on display. Visitors
can inspect and handle flight controls
while seated in the procedures training
cockpits of a McDonald Douglas F-4
Phantom II or a Vought A-7 Corsair II.
Outside, on static display, are 17 aircraft
that may be viewed up close.
These aircraft represent types tested at
Pax River, and in some cases are actual
test aircraft retired from service. Aircraft
include the A-4 Skyhawk, RA-5C
Vigilante, A-7 Corsair II, E-2B Hawkeye,
F-6 Skyray, F-4 Phantom II, TH-IL
Iroquois, H-53 Sea Stallion, S-2D
Tracker, T-39D Sabreliner, A-6E Intruder,
F/A-18 Hornet, AH-1J Seacobra, F-14A
Tomcat, SH-2G Seasprite and the
Lockheed Martin X-35C Joint Strike
Fighter concept demonstrator.
Admission and parking are free. The
museum is located on the northeast corner
of NAS Patuxent River Gate 1 and
MD Route 235. It is open six days a
week from Tuesday through Sunday
from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. This schedule
is year-round except for Easter,
Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s
days. The museum gift shop is open
during the same hours. Tours, meetings,
reenlistment and retirement ceremonies
may be scheduled by appointment. For
information on joining the PRNAM
Association, volunteering your time or
scheduling events, call 301-863-7418.
Visit the museum’s Web site at
http://www.paxmuseum.com.
CHARLES COUNTY
More than 335 years of history await
you in Charles County. When Captain
John Smith sailed up the Potomac River
in 1608, he drew a map including the
Indian Village of Potopaco, which later
became popularly known as Port
Tobacco. A major seaport from which
tobacco was exported to Europe, Port
Where the Future of Naval Aviation Begins
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