THE SITE: Midway Museum
Since permanently berthing along the Embarcadero in 2004, the aircraft carrier Midway has become a fixture along the San Diego harbor front.
Now a museum and education center, the carrier is an engaging and constantly evolving experience, one that gives new meaning to the word interactive – particularly on the hangar deck, which now includes a variety of rides.
Commissioned in 1945, the Midway served as a flagship in Desert Storm in 1991, and it was decommissioned the following year, making it the Navy's longest-serving aircraft carrier. More than 225,000 individuals served aboard the Midway during its 47 years.
These days the carrier is filled with visitors. The hangar deck, which is the first place you enter when boarding the carrier, is lined with rides and numerous cockpits taken from jets and helicopters.
Especially popular is the “Top Gun” ride that involves sitting in a cockpit positioned in front of a large screen that simulates flying, landing and shooting down other planes.
Last year, the Midway added “Strike Fighter 360” to its simulation rides. The 360 in the name means that the cockpit you sit in does a 360-degree turn during the ride. It also tilts back and forth, making the experience seem more like a carnival tilt-a-whirl.
The hangar deck is also the location of a small theater, the chairs for which are ejector seats taken from jets. While sitting in these seats, visitors watch footage of actual ejections from jets.
The theater and simulators are just a few of the many ways in which the Midway is brought to life for visitors.
Retired military members, serving as docents, are stationed throughout the ship, offering insights about Navy life. One of the most fascinating interactions with such docents is on the flight deck, where former pilots talk in vivid and sometimes hair-raising detail about the thrills and perils of landing jets on an aircraft carrier.
Headsets, which provide audio tours of the ship, are also available with the price of admission. The taped tour is narrated by former Midway crew members.
LOCATION: The Embarcadero at 910 N. Harbor Drive.
HOURS: Daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Ticket booth closes at 4 p.m.)
COST: Adults, $15; seniors, $10; retired military and students with ID, $10; children 6 to 17, $8. Rides require an additional fee.
MORE INFORMATION: (619) 544-9600.
ONLINE: midway.org.
