The Peterson Air & Space Museum is located on the grounds of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The base is the headquarters of NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which is a joint US and Canadian defense agency.

At the time of my visit in April 2006, access to the museum required a visitors pass for the base. This was obtained by calling the museum and scheduling a visit. The museum staff forwards your information to the base visitors center for the required background check and to get authorization to have a pass issued.

Museum Tour Page #2 - Fighter Aircraft
Museum Tour Page #3 - Other Aircraft

The building pictured above is the museum exhibit building and office. This building is the former airline terminal for the Colorado Springs city airport. Peterson AFB is located on the airport grounds, but the passenger terminal has since relocated to a new location at the airport.

The building above is a historic City Hangar from the era when this location was the civilian airport for the city of Colorado Springs. It has since been remodeled into a hangar for the museum. It the interior was completed in 2004 and 2005, and exhibits were being constructed in 2006.

This beautifully restored P-47N Thunderbolt is located inside the historic City Hangar building. This aircraft was mounted on a pylon outdoors for 30 years before being brought indoors and being restored.

This P-40E Warhawk is a replica. It is painted in the markings of the Warhawks as flown by the Flying Tigers in China by the American Volunteer Group prior to the US entry into World War II.

The F-104C in the photo above is located a short distance away from the museum grounds in an area where photography options are limited. It is painted in the markings typical of an Air Defense Command fighter from the 1970s.

The aircraft below is an unmanned Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc missile. This is one of the first long range air defense missiles to be developed. It launched with a rocket booster, and used ramjet engines to cruise between Mach 2.5 and Mach 2.8. It could be equipped with either conventional or nuclear warheads.