Lyon Air Museum

I just wanted to let everyone know that this is one great museum. They not only have exceptional planes, cars, and memorabilia, they have awesome customer service and assistance that definitely should not go unrecognized or unnoticed.
We visited the museum back in March 2016.
I was coming with the entire family, my father was in a wheel chair and thinking that we had to do everything ourselves like open the door etc., Marcus (staff for the museum) was there ready to jump into action with the entrance door open to let us in. That right there was already 3 stars because you do not see those types of hospitality now a days at public places
After paying, Marcus was able to give us an in depth look into WWII and its technological innovations. Let me tell you. He knows his history for being only 18. Marcus seems to do exceptionally well with the kids. Keeping them interested from start to finish. He really helps get the kids involved in boring stuff as well by using references to kid movies like «Planes» to help them understand the rich history. (That is where the additional 2 stars go in making it a total of 5). I cannot find one person that can keep my kids interested/​entertained for that long.
After our experience we will definitely be going here again during their big events. These events are basically once in a life time things that you do not see everyday and younger generations fail to realize that.
I give extra props to Marcus (Staff) and Kathy (Front Desk), they welcomed us with their great service/​assistance and their great smile! Send them my thanks!

This is a Hidden Gem in Orange County! A very nice collection of planes automobiles and motorcycles. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and patient with us as we walked through the exhibits.

Terrific museum of WWII and related memorabilia, including a genuine B-​17 bomber used by the 8^th Air Force during the war. Also includes several vintage cars including one of Hitler’s personal Mercedes touring cars, found at his hideaway in Berchtesgaden after the end of the war.

This place is amazing! Can easily spend ½ day or longer just looking at every plane, car, motorcycle & movies.
Definitely a place to visit.

Today i flew in a B-​17G Flying Fortress at the Lyon Museum. We flew up to Long Beach and back. This totally blows away any other museum i have ever been to. The Lyon museum is located at John Wayne Airport. They also had a B-​24, P-​51C and a B-​25 to fly in. On static display are a pair of DC-3’s (one is a C-​47), an A-​26 Invader, another B-​17G, another B-​25 and a bunch of amazing 1930’s classic cars. If you are an aviation buff go when they are flying. It is so cool. Double super terrific highly recommend.

Im wondering if this collection is from old museum at Orange County Airport that was owned by Paul Mantz and Frank Tallmann. Wasp exhibit is nice tribute to women who were volunteers and got no credit for their service same as airline pilots who volunteered for ATS airline transport service very hard igsignia to find. Give yourself time to read the documentation or you lose the rich unique american history no longer taught in our schools.

Museum is super clean. But relatively small than we expected. May be we should have kept out expectation a little low. Guides and photo kiosk are great. We are in and out in less than 2 hours.

For $ 12 bucks you get an opportunity to see a lot of really cool stuff in a convenient location near John Wayne Airport.
It’s a nice small museum inside an air hanger. You can definitely get in and out in an hour or two, but spend longer if you read all of the stories on signs next to the planes (many are sobering).
You will see authentic aircraft (get under and inside of some), rare vehicles, historical memorabilia and military vehicles and motorcycles. And there are great docents ready to impart their vast knowledge about the history with you as well.

I brought my two kids, 10 year old daughter and 5 year old son, to the Lyon Museum. They loved the place. My daughter also got a history lesson about WWII. It is a good place to take your kids to learn about the WWII history and aviation technology.

Very friendly staff and extremely knowledgable. If there aren’t markers up around a plane or vehicle, just ask one of the docents that are on the floor and you will be supplied with interesting facts and history. Very clean facility and although the museum is on the smaller side, the collection is impressive and I liked the added personal touches in the display cases about some veterans and some history on WWII. They hold events throughout the year and although it is a bit of a drive, considering traffic, I think we will be back for a few. :)

Please see this museum if you like auto or aviation history. This is a true gem and I am so happy I found it. Go and support a local treasure!

This a great place and it’s awesome for little ones too. My two kids 4yr old and 20 month old had a fantastic time. We saw such great planes and the history is amazing. What a hidden gem this place is.

We used a Groupon for four and spent about an hour and half here.
The plans, cars and motorcycles are in amazing shape. The exhibits are nice to read pretty well done.
This is a good place to spend some afternoon time and then head over to the Lab or Camp for some food/​coffee.

Fantastic museum. All of these beautifully-​restored airplanes fly and you’re free to walk in and around them. Best of all, the docents there were all 90+ year-​old World War II bomber pilots with some fantastic stories to tell. Fantastic value for just $ 12. Do yourself a favor, pull up a chair and talk to one of these guys for a while.

Living History
This museum is chocked full of living history. When walking around, it becomes clear that with all of the safety features we are accustomed to today, the planes on exhibit show how bare bones these early fighters were. The fact that they all can still fly is incredible. Reading the boards is quite sobering. The loss of life was almost incomprehensible. The volunteers are a wealth of knowledge and really can make the era come alive. Worth a visit.

Great staff and great historical pieces there. A hidden gem in OC. Groupon usually has a coupon for this place. Don’t let our history be forgotten.

We went to the Lyon Air Museum this past saturday. It was cool to see the old WW2 era bombers, planes and vehicles. We sat and watched the short movie that was playing.
They had one of the planes sitting outside the museum because there was a private event that was being set up.
It sucked because we couldnt see that plane that was sitting outside. Also, it was hard taking pictures without having the event tables and/​or workers being in the picture.
As closing time approached, the attendees for the private event began to show up. Some of them were pretty boisterous. As we were exiting, we looked at the front desk counter and while doing so, something unexpected happened. One of the museum people actually came up to us and asked if we were museum visitors. We said yes, and she immediately offered to give us two free passes for a future date! She apologized for us not having the full museum experience that day and quickly gave us the passes! That was unexpected and really nice of her to do that (we didnt even have to ask for any type of compensation, to be honest, our visit was actually nice even with the other stuff going on that day).

A very well organized and sparkling museum. All the planes seem to be in ready to fly status, but are also in tiptop condition.
Lots to see here

What an awesome museum. Totally tucked away on the opposite side of the OC John Wayne Airport is this gem of living WW2 planes and era automobiles. Including a vehicle in which Hitler rode in Europe with original seats in pristine condition. Every car, motorcycle and plane are kept in such mint condition that you have to look really hard for a single speck of dust. It is incredible. But even more is that all of these planes still fly today. The look like museum pieces but they have oil pans underneath to catch any dripping oil coming out of these war birds. Can’t recommend this museum enough. Thank you to a generation that brought freedom to millions and generations.

Lovely air museum, very clean, with knowledgeable staff. Loved that we can peek inside a few of the planes, love that you can get pretty close to all the exhibits. The restoration on all of the exhibits are amazing! You can see the dedication in how well the restoration was done to preserve the exhibit’s history.
The videos shown were entertaining as well, and also a nice spot to watch planes taking off and land.
For the price, it doesn’t have as much exhibits as other museums, but it is what it is. Restoring history doesn’t come cheap. Their gift shop is very reasonably priced as well, picked up some books and a pin. The lady even showed us that our book was signed by the author. Awesome!

Came here around 330pm on a Sunday w/​my 5yr old son. Admission is normally $ 12 (some deals on groupon too) but the rep only charge me $ 6 since it was closing in 30mins (5yrs & under is free). As soon as we walked in, i noticed how small the place was but that IS the only downside to it. All the planes, artifacts & uniforms are well maintained as you can tell from how clean this place is. There are also old style military motorcycles, bicycles and small tank type vehicles. The hanger sits within JohnWanye Airport so you get an excellent view of some planes/​helicopters taking off & landing. Some of the planes you can get right underneath to have a peek inside.

This is an under-​hyped gem in Newport Beach. If you’re into history or vehicles, this place is a must. It’s in a hangar on the other side of Santa Ana airport, and it has a few actual airplanes, including a DC-​3 and B-​17, fully restored. According to the guides, everything in the museum actually works. There are a lot of cars and motorcycles as well, including some German WW2 ones. They actually have the limo that Hitler used to ride in — weird and interesting.

Little hidden gem. Thank goodness for Unilocal or I would have never known about this place. Parking is excellent and the cost is reasonable. I truly appreciate that 5 year olds and under are able to get in for free. My nearly two year old loved our visit. Giant planes, nice cars, and the opportunity to watch planes take off and land. We sent a few minutes after it opened so it wasn’t too crowded. Docents are very nice and knowledgeable. Will be coming back often.

I love this museum. The only problem is that it tends to get very warm in there. However the displays are fantastic.
Joseph Vanderhoff

It was pretty cool. Price wasn’t too bad. They didn’t have any fighter planes and it was too small tho. I wanted to see more planes but its nice. It was right next to the airport so my 4 year old daughter got to see some planes taking off. Parking is good.

Wonderful little museum featuring some beautiful pieces of aviation history as well as other related vehicles & memorabilia. If you are a sucker for such pieces, esp. from the first half of the 20^th century, a visit would be well worth it. The entire back wall if full of windows through which you can peer out onto the airfield behind the building. More planes, private jets, etc. to ogle out there.
We had a corporate event here and the floor was beautifully laid out and set up to entertain our attendees.