Past Events

11:30 am - Palm Springs Air Museum Pipe Band performs. 1 PM - Program - Canadian airmen were among the first into action as plans for the Normandy invasion developed. Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) squadrons belonging to Bomber Command’s No. 6 Group had already been involved for several months in bombing key enemy targets in the invasion area: roads, bridges, railways, airfields, and command and communications centers. As the moment to launch the invasion neared, Allied bombers dropped thousands…

Sit in the cockpit of a vintage warbird, in the comfort of an air-conditioned hangar. Today’s open cockpit is the F-100 Super Sabre. Please wear comfortable clothing and rubber-soled shoes.

Special operations warfare, unconventional military actions against enemy vulnerabilities that are undertaken by specially designated, selected, trained, equipped, and supported units known as special forces. Some special operations are spectacular direct raids that capture wide publicity, but others are long-term indirect efforts that are never made known. No matter what form it takes, each special operation is an effort to resolve, specific problems at the strategic level that are difficult or impossible to address with conventional forces alone. Let’s take…

Opening Exhibit Reception  & Program - A visually arresting and powerful first-person history of one of the defining events of the 20th century through original black and white portraits and personal stories of Holocaust survivors living in California. Critically lauded, the exhibition showcases photographer Evvy Eisen's fifteen year-long project working with this unique group of Californians. Each piece includes a dramatic black-and-white portrait and compelling narrative of the Survivors' own description of his/her experiences before, during, and after World War…

Sit inside the cockpit of a vintage warbird. Today's open cockpit is the P-47 Thunderbolt, inside an air-conditioned hangar. Please remember to wear comfortable clothing and rubber-soled shoes. Physical restrictions may apply.

After Field Marshall Montgomery’s MARKET GARDEN Operation turned into a major rout, the Allied armies ground to a halt along the German border due to a lack of supplies. In the fall/winter of 1944, the Germans launched a new offensive on the Western Front in a desperate gamble to turn the tide in the West. In a final forlorn throw of the strategic dice, Hitler mounted the Ardennes offensive. The Battle of the Bulge caught the Allies unprepared. In this…

A hell-bent-for-leather fighter pilot, Elwyn G. Righetti remains one of the most unknown, yet compelling, colorful, and controversial commanders of World War II. Arriving late to the war, he led the England-based 55th Fighter Group against the Nazis during the closing months of the fight with a no-holds-barred aggressiveness that transformed the group from a middling organization of no reputation into a headline-grabbing team that had to make excuses to no one. However, success came at a high cost in…