Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum

10/15/2026

We LOVE re-enlistments! Especially when it is one of our own ROCKSTAR Volunteers! Congratulations AM1 Carlos Tabares for signing up for another 4 years! 🥳🫡 Thank you for your service and thank you for sharing your special moment with your Museum Family! 🥰 We love you and we are so super proud of you!! 🥳😎🥰❤️ ❤️

10/15/2026

✈️ Ready for takeoff… or trick-or-treating? 🎃

Got a little aviation fan at home? Our gift shop has some fun options for Halloween, including newly arrived kids flight suits made with impressive attention to detail, from zipper pockets in all the right places to a look inspired by the real thing.

And the aviation fun doesn’t stop there! We also have a “Talk to Me Goose” t-shirt and a “Mommy’s Little Wingman” onesie for the littlest Top Gun fans.

Stop by the museum gift shop and gear up your future aviator! 🛩️

10/14/2026

⚓ 251 years of service. Happy birthday to the United States Navy!

On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress established what would become the United States Navy. Today, we recognize the generations of Navy servicemembers whose skill and sacrifice have shaped our nation’s history.

Image: The "Ten Commandments of Naval Aviation" posted on a bulkhead at Patrol Squadron 69 headquarters. Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, May 15, 1983. (National Archives photo # 6394447)

10/11/2026

✈️ Meet a real TOPGUN instructor TODAY from 12–2 PM!✈️

Today’s your chance to meet Dave “Bio” Baranek, a former TOPGUN instructor and F-14 Tomcat Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) who also served as a dialogue advisor for the original Top Gun movie.

He’ll be at the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum today, Sunday Oct. 11, from noon to 2 p.m., signing his books about the real Navy Fighter Weapons School.

Stop by, meet Bio, and get a signed copy of one of his books while exploring our new TOPGUN exhibit!

10/10/2026

📣 EARLY CLOSURE TODAY📣

The museum will close at 4 p.m. today, Saturday, October 10, for our A New Beginning Fundraiser Dinner, Pt. 2 and special TOPGUN exhibit unveiling.

Planning a visit? Be sure to stop by before 4 pm!

10/09/2026

Something BIG just rolled through our doors! This week we welcomed a brand-new maintenance stand for a D704 refueling unit, shipped to us from Jacksonville, Florida, by Naval Systems Incorporated.

And this is just the beginning! The D704 refueling unit itself will be arriving in the next couple of weeks.

A big thank-you to everyone who helped get this new piece to the museum:
• Karl Hunnicutt, Retired Master Sergeant, Naval Systems Incorporated
• Joey Fremling, Engineering Technician, NATEC Det WEST
• Gee, Delivery Driver, Estes Express

10/09/2026

📰 We’re excited to see the Whidbey News-Times spotlight our newest exhibit, TOPGUN, Beyond The Movie: The Real Navy Fighter Weapons School! The News-Times shares, "[Executive Director Barry] Meldrum sought out Dave Baranek, a former TOPGUN instructor and 20-year Navy veteran who contributed to the movie’s production, for help in creating the exhibit."

✈️ GRAND OPENING — SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11
🕙 OPEN 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

Read the full story in the Whidbey News-Times:

It opens at the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum in Oak Harbor this Sunday.

10/08/2026

You know the movie. But do you know the real TOPGUN? 👀✈️ Before it was a movie, TOPGUN was a Navy Fighter Weapons School. There’s a lot more to the story than what made it onto the big screen.

You can explore the real story at our new exhibit, TOPGUN, Beyond The Movie: The Real Navy Fighter Weapons School opening this Sunday, October 11, at the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum.

Image: Top Gun, the nickname of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, painted in large letters on the line shack. The school provides air combat maneuvering (ACM) training for Navy and Marine Corps pilots. August 15, 1982. (National Archives image #6382503)

10/06/2026

Ever wondered how TOPGUN instructors demonstrated and debriefed aerial maneuvers?

Executive Director Barry Meldrum shows us an F/A-18 Hornet demonstration baton and explains how these models were used to demonstrate what pilots would do in the air.

✈️ See more in our new exhibit, TOPGUN, Beyond The Movie: The Real Navy Fighter Weapons School, opening October 11!