The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is an aviation enthusiast's heaven . Smithsonian claims that this temple of aviation history holds over 60,000 artifacts related to the history of flight and space flight. It's the largest collection of historical aircraft in the world and hosts an incredible array of items, ranging from 1920s-era propeller planes to fighter jets to the Apollo 11 common module.
The museum is home to some of the most historically significant aircraft in all of aviation. These are planes that have pioneered aircraft design, achieved significant accomplishments, and even revolutionized air travel. The Smithsonian operates two locations where planes are displayed: one on the National Mall in Washington D.
C., and a separate location at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, near Washington-Dulles Airport.
This list will focus on the aircraft on display at the National Mall. The Smithsonian has many iconic American WWII aircraft on display from massive strategic bombers to humble biplane trainers. This list only includes aircraft currently on display as of March 2025 .
As such, some aircraft that are usually displayed here may not be listed if they are not inside the museum as of the time of writing, like the Spirit of St. Louis. Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-100 (Nose only) This entry may be cheating slightly because this exhibit only displays the first 35 ft of the plane, however, the Boeing 747 is perhaps the most iconic aircraft in history .
As such, the opportuni.