Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum fills Hangar No. 1 of the former Lowry Air Force Base in east Denver with roughly 50 aircraft, a full-motion flight simulator and a three-quarter-scale X-wing starfighter.
Wings Over the Rockies in Denver, CO
Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum occupies Hangar No. 1 at the former Lowry Air Force Base, a cavernous 1930s structure on the eastern edge of Denver that once sheltered the bombers and trainers of a base that graduated more than a million airmen. Walk through the doors at 7711 East Academy Blvd and the scale registers immediately: roughly fifty aircraft spanning 1939 to 1990 sit wingtip to wingtip beneath the original steel trusses. A Douglas B-18 Bolo shares floor space with a B-52 Stratofortress nose section, an F-14 Tomcat, an F-104 Starfighter, an F-86 Sabre, an F-100 Super Sabre, an F-105 Thunderchief, a B-1A Lancer and a captured MiG-23. Tucked among the real machines is a three-quarter-scale X-wing starfighter, the kind of detail that makes this museum a favorite with families rather than aviation obsessives alone.
The museum opened on December 1, 1994, the year Lowry closed, when the Air Force handed Hangar No. 1 to a group of volunteers determined to keep the base’s aviation legacy in Denver. Three decades on it runs a genuinely hands-on operation. The MaxFlight full-motion simulator puts riders in eighteen different aircraft for free-flight or combat missions, and a Wright Flyer simulator and virtual-reality station let visitors recreate Orville Wright’s first hop or run science missions aboard the International Space Station. The Wingsphere planetarium, summer camps, Scout merit-badge workshops and the Wings Aerospace Exploration Program fill out a serious STEM program. A second campus, Exploration of Flight, sits fifteen miles south on fifteen acres at Centennial Airport and operates as a separate location with its own hours and ticket.
Photo Gallery
News & Events
Air shows, speaker nights, planetarium shows and family programs rotate through the hangar all year, so check the Wings Over the Rockies events calendar before you plan your visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to do at Wings Over the Rockies?
- See roughly fifty aircraft up close — bombers, fighters, trainers and general aviation types parked under the trusses of a working 1930s hangar.
- Ride the MaxFlight full-motion simulator — a fifteen-minute slot with eighteen aircraft to choose from, in free-flight or combat mode, sold first-come first-served at the museum.
- Try the free simulators — the Wright Flyer rig and a virtual-reality station covering the International Space Station and microlight flying are included with admission.
- Find the X-wing — a three-quarter-scale Star Wars starfighter parked among the genuine hardware, and one of the most photographed things in the building.
- Catch the Wingsphere planetarium and traveling exhibits — the rotating gallery space and space-science programming change what you see from visit to visit.
What is nearby Wings Over the Rockies?
- Lowry Beer Garden — an easy walk from the hangar in the redeveloped Lowry neighborhood, with a big patio and Front Range views.
- Great Lawn Park — Lowry’s central green space, a short drive away and a good place to let kids run after an hour indoors.
- Stanley Marketplace — a converted aviation-parts factory just across the Aurora line, now a food hall and independent-shop hub.
- Denver Museum of Nature & Science — City Park, roughly fifteen minutes west, and the obvious pairing for a full museum day.
- Cherry Creek Shopping Center — southwest of Lowry, for shopping and restaurants when the museum closes at five.
When was Wings Over the Rockies established?
The site is older than the museum by more than half a century. Lowry Air Force Base operated from 1937 to 1994, primarily as a technical training center, and graduated over 1.1 million enlisted members and officers in trades ranging from armament to photography across World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War. By the 1980s Lowry employed around 10,000 military and civilian personnel and generated an economic impact estimated near a billion dollars a year.
When base closure came, the Air Force transferred Hangar No. 1 to a group of volunteers in 1994, and Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum opened on December 1 of that year. The surrounding base became the Lowry neighborhood, but the hangar kept its original purpose in spirit. The museum later added Exploration of Flight, a fifteen-acre campus at Centennial Airport in Englewood, as a second and separate location.
When is Wings Over the Rockies open?
The Air & Space Museum at Lowry is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 12pm to 5pm, with closures on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day plus occasional private events, so it is worth checking the calendar before you drive out. General admission runs $19.95 for ages 17 to 64 and $15.95 for visitors 65 and over as well as active-duty military and veterans; children age 3 and under are free, and SNAP/EBT cardholders pay $1 for up to ten people. MaxFlight simulator rides are $13 per person on top of admission, with the last timeslot at 4:30pm. The Exploration of Flight campus at Centennial Airport keeps its own, shorter schedule.
Is Wings Over the Rockies family friendly?
Very much so. The hangar floor is flat, open and easy to navigate with a stroller or wheelchair, and the aircraft are close enough that small children get a real sense of scale without needing to read a single label. Free simulators are included with admission, the X-wing is a reliable hit, and the museum’s education arm runs Air & Space summer camps, Scout merit-badge workshops, school field trips, teacher workshops and the Wings Aerospace Exploration Program alongside the Wingsphere planetarium. Young Eagles flights and group tours round out the youth programming. For specific accessibility accommodations or sensory-friendly needs, the museum publishes an accessibility page and staff can be reached at 303-360-5360 before your visit.