After the attempt to visit Hornet fell through, we took a look around for other museums to go to. There was discussion of trying to hit Jeremiah O'Brien, but timing ruled that out, and eventually we decided to stay in the area and go to the Oakland Aviation Museum, which we had found out about because we noticed a sign to it on the way up from San Jose. And I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.
The museum is small and kind of out of the way, on the outskirts of Oakland airport. But the collection was better than I would have expected for a museum that is pretty clearly taking whatever planes it can get. Inside, there's a replica of the Vin Fiz Flier, the first airplane to fly coast-to-coast (not nonstop, and definitely not without crashing), a MiG-15, a couple of light planes and a few helicopters. There was also a room of Navy artifacts and models, which allowed me to recycle a lot of the material I had prepared for Hornet, and another room dedicated to Jimmy Doolittle, which was mostly notable for having a Norden Bombsight on display in a replica bombardier's position, as well as discussing events that I think are overdone.
Outside was a surprisingly good range of naval attack jets, probably mostly transferred from NAS Alameda after it shut down. They had a KA-3, a KA-6, an A-7 and an A-4, all rather faded-looking but still fun to talk about. There was also an ex-BOAC Short Solent flying boat, for no reason I could fathom, a TAV-8A, a Saberliner and an O-1 Bird Dog. But the most interesting outdoor exhibit was an RF-84F that had been staged to look like a crash, as a memorial to those shot down in combat. I've seen dioramas at a few museums before, but usually the high-caliber ones with lots of funding, so it was fun to see something improvised like this.
On the whole, I liked the museum, although it's hard to recommend to an out-of-town visitor. Hornet is very close, and a better place to go if she's not hosting a con. If she is and you find out ahead of time, then I'd recommend either Jeremiah O'Brien in San Francisco, or if you are in the mood for an air museum, there's the Hiller Aviation Museum near SFO, which looks to have a much better collection, particularly if you like weird and dangerous rotorcraft.1 But if you're a local and in the mood, drop by and take a look around.2
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