South Dakota Air & Space Museum

The South Dakota Air and Space Museum is located just outside the gate of Ellsworth Air Force Base and is a major national repository of historic Air Force airplanes. It is free and open to the public.

Part of the extensive indoor exhibit areas at the South Dakota Air & Space Museum (staff photo)

The facility features a series of indoor exhibits and displays, and an outdoor airpark of restored, historic aircraft and related equipment.

It is also the starting point for bus tours of Ellsworth AFB.

It is one of nearly twenty official field units of the Museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.

Aircraft on Display

Most of the more than twenty aircraft in the collection are located outdoors, and are accessible via flat, paved sidewalks or paths. Additional aircraft and missile displays are located indoors.

A total of 3,970 B-29 Superfortress aircraft were built during production at four assembly plants during World War II. Yet only about 22 complete B-29 airframes have survived and are on display in the United States, including the B-29 "Legal Eagle II" on display here.

Among the aircraft on display are the following:

Scene from the airpark (staff photo)

B-29 Superfortress
B-52D Stratofortress
B-1B Lancer
EC-135 Stratotanker
F-84F Thunderstreak
FB-111A Aardvark
T-33 Shooting Star
C-45 Expeditor
C-47 Skytrain
F-100 Super Sabre
F-101 Voodoo
F-105 Thunderchief
F-86 Sabre
B-25 Mitchell III
EB-57B Canberra
C-54 Skymaster
T-38 Talon
B-26 Invader
C-131D Samaritan
A-7D Corsair II
other aircraft and related equipment

Location, Parking, Admission and Hours

We have visited the Museum, and highly recommended it to everyone with an interest in the United States Air Force, Ellsworth AFB, and South Dakota aviation history.

Entrance area at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum near the Ellsworth AFB gate

Entrance area to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum (staff photo)

It is located at 2890 Rushmore Drive, Ellsworth AFB, SD 57706, with convenient access from Interstate Highway I-90.

Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Parking is also free. It is staffed by volunteers, who do a great job of keeping the facility open and operating, restoring aircraft, and building new exhibits with only limited funding.

A charge is required for the Ellsworth AFB bus tours, which typically run from mid-May through mid-September. Security checks are required. Visit the website of the museum for details on the base and Minuteman tours.

Inside, visitors can view a variety of exhibits, dioramas, photographs, maps, memorabilia and videos about the history of the Air Force, Ellsworth AFB, and South Dakota aviation.

The indoor exhibit areas are typically closed in January and February for updating. We recommend you contact the staff prior to your trip to confirm opening days and hours.

All aircraft exhibits are located outdoors in an airpark along paved sidewalks and flat paths. On hot days, be sure to bring bottled water, and use sunscreen.

Also located on the premises is the Gift Shop, featuring shirts, caps, airplane models, patches, photographs and many other items related to the Air Force, the Strategic Air Command, Ellsworth AFB, and South Dakota.

For more information, phone 605.385.5189, or visit the website of the museum.

A Brief History of Ellsworth Air Force Base ... And the Base Today

B-1B Lancers on the flightline at Ellsworth AFB (Photo courtesy of Ellsworth Air Force Base)

In January of 1942, the U.S. War Department established Rapid City Army Air Base as a training location for B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber units.

In July of 1945 Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize with the pending end of World War ii.

Rapid City AAB was again reactivated in October of 1945, and designated a permanent facility by the Army Air Force. The base briefly trained weather reconnaissance and combat squadrons using P-61 Black Widow, P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, and B-25 Mitchell aircraft. The airfield was again temporarily closed from September 1946 – March 1947 for a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.

When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset. The primary unit assigned to the base was the new 28th Bombardment Wing (28 BMW) flying the B-29 Superfortress.

B-52H Stratofortress from Minot AFB lands at Ellsworth AFB in March of 2014
(Photo courtesy of Ellsworth Air Force Base)

In July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker. To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.

In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.

Today, Ellsworth AFB continues to be a major active military facility and a major contributor to the economy of the Rapid City area.

The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing (28 BW) assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force. The 28 BW is one of only two B-1B Lancer strategic bomber wings in the United States Air Force, the other being the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas.

The base is named in honor of Brigadier General Richard E. Ellsworth (1911–1953), who was killed when his RB-36 Peacemaker aircraft crashed near Nut Cove, Newfoundland during a training flight.