If you are going on a Tour to Pearl Harbor, make sure that you pay a visit to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. As America’s Aviation Battlefield, the museum provides a stunning visual narrative of aviation’s role in the history of the Pacific. In order to visit the museum, you must park at the USS Arizona Memorial parking lot, purchase a ticket at the nearby USS Bowfin ticket office and then board a shuttle bus at the bus stop in front of the USS Bowfin Memorial.
The Ford Island Tower complex constructed in 1941 consists of a 3rd story Agrological Center and Observation Deck on top of the 2-story Operations Building, and the Air Traffic Control Center on top a 158-foot steel water tank tower. As the pilot and his teenage son were en route back from Molokai to Honolulu in this pilot trainer Aeronca operated by Gambo Flying Service, they encountered the first wave of 150 Japanese Zero fighters headed to attack Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum’s mission is to develop and maintain an internationally recognized aviation museum, which educates young and old alike, honors aviators and the support personnel who defended freedom in the Pacific Region and is dedicated to preserving Pacific aviation history.