Address

I-215 at
Van Buren Blvd
Riverside ARB, CA

P-38 Museum
How our Museum would look from a P-38

Hours of Operation

Due to our limited number of available docents, we are open on Saturday and Sunday during these hours:

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Although we are housed on the grounds of the March Air Museum, the P‑38 Association is an entirely separate and independent non-profit organization. The P‑38 Museum is supported entirely by memberships and donations. Your help is very much appreciated!

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P-38 Museum

P-38 Museum - Riverside CA

The P‑38 Museum is appropriately housed in an airplane hangar, adjacent to March Air Reserve Base in Southern California. It is named after and dedicated to Chief Test Pilot, Tony LeVier, who flew over 200 different types of aircraft, declaring the P‑38 to be his favorite!  Read more about Tony LeVier.

In the beginning...

After the P‑38 National Association was founded in May of 1987, one of it's proudest accomplishments was building the Museum, which is supported on contributions of memorabilia and donations from the public and our Association Members.

The P‑38 Museum sits on a plot of land directly adjacent to the March Field Museum on one side and March Air Reserve Base on the other.

Construction on the Museum began in the late 80's and was supervised with perfection by P‑38 pilot, and former Association President, Dick Willsie.  Have a look at the early construction photos of the Museum, and see what it looks like today! We have two sculptures on display -- one of Tony LeVier, which you can have engraved with your name or the name of a loved one, and another amazing P‑38 sculpture we donated to the March Air Museum that is displayed in their main courtyard!  You can view a larger image of each sculpture by clicking on it.

Sculptures


Tony LeVier

P-38

The entire P‑38 Museum project was accomplished with volunteer man hours and volunteer dollars -- what an extraordinary accomplishment!

P-38 Exhibits

Sadly, we don't have the millions of dollars that it would take to purchase a P‑38, even if one could be found (no easy task with so few surviving these days). We did, however, originally have an airworthy Lightning on static in our museum (here's a photo), but it was ultimately sold to Ronald Fagen and is now in Minnesota, with the "Ruff Stuff" nose art.

Since our museum was built large enough to house the full-sized P‑38 replica, we bought one -- which is currently on exhibit.

There is also ample space for individual displays of the Fighter Squadrons, Fighter Groups and WASPs, members of each who have built and furnished their own displays within the Museum. 

Each display houses historic, priceless photographs, antiques and memorabilia from WWII having to do with their specific outfits. There are genuine artifacts of all kinds.  The entire history of the P‑38 Lightning can be found housed in this one facility. The walls are lined with countless photos of this beautiful aircraft and the men and women who built, maintained and flew it. Needless to say, these exhibits offer a unique opportunity for visitors to have a genuine "P‑38 Experience."

The photos alone are worth a trip to Riverside, but the Museum doesn't stop there. Each group has gathered original uniforms (with combat ribbons), parts from the aircraft, gas masks, canteens, aircrew scarves, maps and much more, all under the watchful eye of 24-hour live surveillance.

 

Dioramas

The P‑38 Museum has two exceptional dioramas, both built with volunteer manpower and materials.

March Field Diorama

One shows March Air Force base circa 1942-43 when it was an active P‑38 base. View this amazing exhibit by clicking on this photo:


Willsie/Andrews Diorama

The other depicts the incredible rescue story of Dick Andrews and Dick Willsie (read about that here!), and features an interactive video with the pilots telling their story in their own words!

Both exhibits were built by P‑38 Association volunteers Howard Ramshorn, Lowell Stacy and Stan Jones.

Docents

Each Docent volunteers their time at the Museum to answer questions and act as "hosts" to our visitors. All Docent Duty is coordinated with great dedication by Joe Onesty.

If you have a passion for the P‑38 and a few hours to spare, we sure could use your help.

We offer free training, so if your spirit is willing, let us know. (Details here.)

Active Docents

Bob Alvis
Kathleen Amour
Bob Carlton
Fred Deweerd
Stan Jones
Marv Kuebler
Don Nichols
Toni Olson
Joseph P. Onesty
Howard Ramshorn
Dorothy Skidmore
Ron Smith
"Wass" Wasemiller

 
As our parents, grandparents and friends who were "hands on" with the P-38 Lightning are continuing to leave us, keeping this website available as a tribute to them is vital.  This aircraft was an important part of their lives and their history, and to carry on this legacy, we need funding.
We are not affiliated with the USAF or Lockheed and our entire operation is supported entirely by people like you.
What would you pay for a good aviation DVD or book? If you enjoy this website, please consider a financial contribution of the same amount to help defray our increasing costs and ensure that this part of aviation history continues to be available to people all over the world.
We have just added a page to thank our website's financial contributors. No donation is too small, after all $1 from a million visitors will keep us going a very long time!
It's easy to help...just click on the "Donate" button below.
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