South Dakota Air and Space Museum

The South Dakota Air & Space Museum is located at Ellsworth Air Force Base just northeast of Rapid City. The museum has an extensive collection of artifacts and exhibits that detail the history of Ellsworth Air Force Base. The base was home to the 44th Strategic Missile Wing and the 28th Bomb Wing during the Cold War. Twenty-eight aircraft are on display around the museum, and the building housing the museum was originally four aircraft hangers. The museum is open year round, and admission is free. I visited in July 2025.
Not all of the aircraft are shown in this essay, but you can view 27 of them by clicking the following link. (Somehow I completely missed the T-33).

Aircraft (may take a few seconds to run) Hover cursor over a picture to pause slideshow. Click the arrows on a picture to move to next or previous slide.

Welcome

South Dakota Air and Space Museum

Aircraft "Garden"

Twenty-eight aircraft are on display on the grounds around the museum building (including 3 missiles). The way they are arranged reminded me of a garden, so I nicknamed it the "Aircraft Garden". Aircraft from World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, and the Cold War are represented. Sorry, no stealth fighters. The aircraft pictured in this section all played a role in the history of Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Aircraft on display in the "Aircraft Garden"

EC-135A Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS)

B-1B Lancer

B-52D Stratofortress

Each of the aircraft had an information sign like this

B-29 Superfortress

LGM-30F Minuteman II

F-84F Thunderstreak

MIM-3 Nike Ajax

B-25 Mitchell Bomber

F-86H Sabre

HGM-25A Titan I

The Museum

The museum's exhibits are housed in what were originally four aircraft alert hangers. These hangers housed the aircraft of the 54th fighter interceptor squadron that could be airborne at a moments notice to intercept any Russian bombers during the Cold War. The museum's exhibits cover not only the history of Ellworth Air Force Base, but also military and civilian aviation over the last 100 years. As usual, too many pictures. Oh well.

South Dakota Air and Space Museum

Air Combat Command Emblem

Strategic Air Command Emblem

Museum Lobby

You are leaving the American Sector

AIR-2A "Genie" Missile

BT-13A Valiant Trainer

Wright R-2600 "Cyclone 14" Engine

Modern Flight Suit

Minuteman Fire Control Room - Deputy Commanders Console

ADM-20 "Quail" Missile

One of the Museum's Galleries

B-1B Offensive Systems Operator (OSO) and Defensive Systems Operator (DSO) Simulator

Stinson L-5 Sentinel Liasion Aircraft

B-25 Mitchell model

Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" model

Background information obtained from www.nps.gov/places/sdaasm.htm, mybaseguide.com/south-dakota-air-and-space-museum, and Wikipedia.
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