If you've ever wanted to see exactly how the blow through valves in an airplane's engine work, or if you're looking for a way to kill a few hours while you're visiting relatives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, you should visit the Arkansas Air Museum. There are plenty of displays and educational modules that would make for a fun and exciting visit regardless of your age or level of aeronautical knowledge. This guide is designed to tell you all about the museum so you can plan your visit.

You might not think that Arkansas and the people who lived there and worked in its auto dealer supply shops made much of a difference to aviation history, but you'd be wrong. The displays at the Arkansas Air Museum show how people and things related to the state of Arkansas cropped up throughout the history of manned flight. Among the historical displays you can see are a real engine from a World War I era airplane, a souvenir from the space shuttle Discovery, and photos from the life of World War I Arkansas ace Drake Field.

In fact, the museum itself is a piece of history. It's located in an all wood hangar that cost only a few thousand dollars to build during the World War II era and has been lovingly looked after. Inside the hangar are various real live aircraft, including the AH-1 Cobra combat helicopter, a LearJet like the private planes used by the rich and famous, and fighter planes like the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. But the planes aren't just there so the museum operators can do cheap postcard printings of them. They really fly and are often seen at airshows and demonstrations.

If you need to do research into aviation, perhaps for a book you're working on or for a school project, the Arkansas Air Museum is the perfect place to come. It's got its own library of aviation related books and documents and numerous exhibits featuring real artifacts from aviation history. You can learn about the woodworking machinery needed to restore old airplanes or how a boy born in Fayetteville grew up to be an astronaut on the space shuttle.

While you're here, don't forget to visit the restoration shop where you can really watch museum staff as they work to restore old airplanes, and the gift shop, where you can spend some of that money you earned on your active ETF on fun aviation souvenirs. The museum is open 11 am to 4:30 pm on every day except Saturday, when it opens at 10 am. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for kids between 12 and 6, and free for children 5 and under. Group rates are also available by calling and booking ahead with the museum.