It’s not just about the Hamamatsu Air Base Air Festa
The JASDF Hamamatsu Air Base holds an “Air Festa” a few times a year. I’ve seen the huge lines at the station before, so I knew it was popular, but I only recently found out there’s a public relations museum called “Air Park” right next to the base. I decided to head over there today, partly to test out the navigation on my eBike.
The first thing that greeted me inside was a Blue Impulse manhole cover. Any fan would probably go crazy for this (haha). Also, before I even got to the main exhibits, the shop caught my eye. The detailed solid models of planes like the F-2 were just so cool… Most of the adults were glued to the caps and models, while the kids were all over the mini flight suits and toys. This place is dangerous for the wallet!
A Three-Story Museum
The museum building has three floors. On the 1st floor, there’s an F-2 fighter on display, plus videos explaining the JASDF’s unit structure (R&D, training, support, Air Defense Command, etc.), their missions, and equipment. There’s also an F-1 support fighter with some panels removed so you can see inside—it’s seriously impressive.
This is the engine section of an F-1 support fighter. Since I was in the aeronautical engineering department back in the day, seeing this structure brings back a few memories. But I’ve never seen one actually installed in an aircraft before, so the sheer size is shocking—it almost looks out of proportion.
Doesn’t just looking at it get you excited? (haha)
Up on the 2nd floor, there’s a replica of the SVA-9. This biplane with the Italian flag design really reminds me of “Porco Rosso.” This floor also has models of every aircraft the JASDF has ever owned, along with pilot gear and missile models.
The 3rd floor features an exhibit of the press conference seats from the Japanese Government Dedicated Aircraft (Japanese Air Force One). It’s obvious when you think about it, but the JASDF actually operates those planes. They also have the VIP room from the old B-747 government plane on display. It’s quite something to see how they could transform that narrow airplane space into such a room.
The Display Hangar
The museum building is plenty of fun, but the display hangar is where any fan’s excitement will hit the roof the moment they walk in. They have actual aircraft that were used over the years on display, and you can even borrow a flight suit and sit in the cockpit. Seriously, this is amazing.
An actual jet engine. It’s very easy to understand the intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust stages. Seeing those turbine blades brought back memories… “These were made of titanium, right?” and thoughts like that.
A Blue Impulse T-4 trainer. Just having that iconic aircraft right in front of you is cool enough, but you can actually get into the cockpit. Here are the photos.
An incredible amount of gauges right in front of your eyes.
Left side of the cockpit. What looks like the throttle and various switches.
Another massive array of switches on the right side too…
It was around noon on a Sunday, but there weren’t many people around, so being able to experience this without much of a wait was great. I was there alone, so I didn’t put on a flight suit, but I totally get why all the other adults were having a blast dressing up for commemorative photos…
Blue Impulse Flight Scenes in the Full-Dome Theater
The museum also has a planetarium-style full-dome theater. During my visit, they were showing a film titled “Challenge for Creation,” featuring stunning footage of the Blue Impulse flying. There was some powerful footage captured by onboard cameras showing them flying in extremely close formations with perfect timing.
If you’re into this kind of thing, I highly recommend this place.
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