There’s a new addition at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego: a historic, Navy A-7 Corsair that, after two years of restoration, is now on display at the museum’s flight deck. The light-attack jet is 50 years old and on loan to the USS Midway Museum from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Florida.
With a crane and great care, a new light-attack jet was lifted onto the USS Midway Museum’s flight deck in San Diego Wednesday – a new addition that has taken two years to restore.
A 50-year-old U.S. Navy A-7 Corsair, which is on loan from the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, was carefully craned onto the museum along San Diego’s downtown waterfront.
The museum’s aircraft restoration team had been restoring the jet for the past two years at Naval Air Station North Island, putting in more than 2,000 hours of work on the project.
Now, the fully restored, historic aircraft – which had a service life of just over 25 years – is on display at the USS Midway Museum’s flight deck.
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According to the museum, the A-7 Corsair first flew in 1965 and was used by both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force. In 1967, the jet was deployed on various U.S. Navy aircraft carriers for combat missions during the Vietnam War.
The museum said the A-7 Corsair’s last deployment was in 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, where it had been used to fly combat missions over Iraq. After its 25 years of service, the aircraft was retired from active U.S. military service in mid-1991.
After pandemic-related closures, the USS Midway Museum reopened back in February, with new COVID-19 safety measures in place.
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Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with last admission at 4 p.m.), the iconic San Diego attraction is now offering online tickets with a pre-set arrival time (this doesn’t apply to members/passholders), which helps the museum manage capacity limitations and adhere to physical distancing requirements. For now, all visitors and employees must wear face masks.
Tickets cost $26 for visitors age 13 and up, $18 for kids ages 6 to 12, and $18 for U.S. military veterans (with an ID). Admission includes access to the museum’s Hangar Deck and Flight Deck tour routes, which showcase the Midway’s renowned collection of 30 restored Navy aircraft, all against the scenic backdrop of San Diego Bay.
For right now, select exhibits below deck remain temporarily closed, as well as the guided Island Tour, flight simulators and climb aboard cockpits.
