The N1K2-J was a land-based derivative of a floatplane design by Kawanishi, entering service in early 1944 and proving to be one of the best dogfighting aircraft produced by either side. This example was flown by the elite 343 Kōkūtai naval fighter unit and was shipped to the US in November 1945 and assigned evaluation identity FE-306, later T2-306. One of four surviving, it was placed in storage at NAS Norfolk in 1947, going on show at the New England Air Museum in 1974 and moving to Pensacola in 1992

Some 584 J2Fs were built from introduction in 1936, but this one was not delivered until 1945. After service at several different stations on the East Coast, it was transferred to NAS Norfolk for storage in 1948. In 1969 it went on show at the USMC museum at Quantico, VA, moving to Pensacola in 1974

From acceptance in 1944 this Helldiver flew with VB-84 and then VB-14/USS Wasp but in May 1945 ditched in Otay Lake, CA after engine failure. The crew were saved but it was not until 2010 that the wreckage was recovered. The major restoration project has only recently been completed

After serving as a regular USN transport from 1943, BuNo 12418 was transferred to VX-6, NAS Patuxent River in 1955 and converted next year to R4D-5L for use in Antarctica. On 31st October 1956, it made the first ever landing at the South Pole, the crew of seven becoming the first humans there since the Royal Navy's Captain Scott reached the pole in 1912. Qué Será Será was presented to the Smithsonian Institute in 1958 and placed in store at its Silver Hill facility. In 1974 it was loaned to the Naval Aviation Museum but was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Restored for display inside by 2011

The USN purchased a total of 360 Beech D-17s from 1937, 18 of them designated as GB-1s and 342 GB-2s powered by an uprated P&W R-985-50 engine. Named "Traveller," the GB-2 served as both a liaison aircraft and as a transport to take ferry pilots to aircraft factories around the US for pick up and delivery of new aircraft for the fleet

Painted as a USN FF-1 of VF-5B "Red Rippers", this is actually a G-23 supplied in 1942 as one of the first aircraft for the Fuerza Aerea de Nicaragua. It only saw limited use before being left to languish in a scrap area at Zololtan airfield. In 1961 an Oklahoma spray plane pilot hired to work in Nicaragua discovered the G-23 and arranged to buy it for $150, restoring it flying condition by 1966 when he flew it to the Grumman factory at Bethpage, Long Island as N2803J where it was restored and flown to Pensacola the following year after appearances on the airshow circuit.

Built by Curtiss-Wright at Buffalo, NY and taken into service with the USN in April 1933, this BFC-2 dive bomber's first assignment was to Battle Force (Pacific Fleet) at North Island. In July 1933, it was assigned to VF-1B. It is displayed as it later operated with Bombing Squadron 2B (VB-2B) on the USS Langley, Lexington and Saratoga from 1934 to 1938. The squadron is the oldest active Navy unit, now operating as VFA-14 "Tophatters" with the F/A-18E, while the name Goshawk also lives on in the form of the McDonnell Douglas T-45, many of which are locally based

This aircraft never served the USN and is in fact USAAC P-12 32-096, assigned to the 73rd Pursuit Sqdn at March Field, CA, later transferring to the 95th PS. Damaged and repaired three times after landing accidents, around 1941 it was sold as NC7037U. Arriving at the navy museum in 1993, it was painted to represent F4B-4 BuNo A9029 "Felix the Cat" of VF-6 on the USS Saratoga from 1932 to 1936

This is the last surviving Coronado, one of 210 built. Originally a PB2Y-3, it served VR-4 as a transport after conversion to PB2Y-3R with faired-over turrets. Further conversions to PB2Y-5R and PB2Y-5Z saw it fitted out with a VIP interior, flying the deputy and staff of Admiral Nimitz to Tokyo for Japan's surrender on 2 September 1945. Registered N69003 post-war, Howard Hughes used it in preparing to fly his HK-1 flying boat, remaining airworthy until the 1960s. By 1975 it was on display at a Spruce Goose memorial at Long Beach and in 1977 was barged through the Panama Canal to Pensacola

The SNC Falcon was an all-metal trainer derived from a light fighter design, the Curtiss CW-22. A total of 305 were built, this example only serving the Navy between 1942 and 1944. It was registered N8021J by 1956 and arrived at the museum in 1984

Displayed in its early USN colours, this Wildcat was taken on charge in June 1941 and assigned to VF-72 as NAS Norfolk with a short period on loan to FAA 892 Sqdn in mid-1942. The F4F-3 was the first version of the Wildcat to be produced in quantity for the Navy and unlike later models, did not have folding wings. In 1943 it was allocated to the Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) at NAS Glenview, IL and was yet another aircraft lost in Lake Michigan when it ditched during at attempted take-off from USS Wolverine in August that year, lying in the depths till recovery in 1991

The OS2U was widely used during WWII for scouting and rescue duties. Launched by ship's catapult, they were recovered using a sea sled towed just below the surface. The aircraft would land in the wake, taxi to the sled and engage it with a hook on the bottom of the float before being craned aboard. This one was allocated BuNo 5926 but supplied in 1942 under Lend-Lease to the Armada Nacional del Uruguay with serial A-752. It was returned for preservation at Pensacola in 1971 and carries spurious serial 07534, in fact allocated to a Stearman

Built in 1939, this was the last SB2U-2 to be constructed and is now also the only surviving example of the Vindicator carrier dive-bomber. The type remained in service at the time of the Battle of Midway, but by 1943 all had been withdrawn to training units. While assigned to USS Wolverine, in June 1943 it crashed into Lake Michigan after a landing accident, the pilot being rescued after the aircraft slid off the carrier's deck. It was recovered in 1990 and after restoration was marked as an aircraft of USS Essex

In April 1941 this F4F-3A was on the strength of VF-7 aboard USS Wasp as part of the Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic before the United States entered WWII. By 1943 it had been assigned to training carrier USS Sable and became yet another casualty swallowed by the waves of Lake Michigan after an accident flying off USS Sable. Recovered by 1987. There must be half a dozen exhibits in the NMNA that were recovered from the depths of Lake Michigan, in fact over 200 aircraft are reckoned to have crashed in the Great Lakes during the war

Alongside the floatplane N3N-3 is this land-based version which was accepted by the USN September 1941, serving at the NAIT instructor school at NAS Corpus Christi, TX and the US Naval Academy at Anapolis, MD from 1947. Struck off as late as 1959, it was sold as N6399T and joined the museum collection in 1978

This Dragonfly was delivered to the USCG as 235 in 1946 and was based at Salem, MA. In 1951 the serial numbering was revised to 1235 and 10 years later it was sold as N4927E, but entered the NMNA in 1983

This F4U was built in 1943 at Vought's plant in Stratford, CT and is a rare example of the early "birdcage" variant. Assigned to the Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) at NAS Glenview, the aircraft was used to train pilots for carrier landings on the converted paddlewheel steamships USS Wolverine and USS Sable. Like the museum's Vindicator, it is another aircraft that fell into Lake Michigan in June 1943 while attempting a landing on the Wolverine. It was recovered from the lake in 2010 and was restored by the museum over 14 years, only recently being placed on show

Like a number of the aircraft in the collection, this SBD is another crash victim that was much later retrieved from the watery depths. Having survived Pearl Harbor, it sank a Japanese warship in March 1942 but ditched into Lake Michigan in June 1943 while attempting to land on USS Sable having been relegated to training duties out of NAS Glenview. It was raised from the lake in 1994

Backed by the mighty SP-5B Marlin, this HH-52 was taken on strength by the USCG in 1963 and served at several different Coast Guard Air Stations before retirement to the museum in 1987

Operated from 1938 by VMF-2 from NAS San Diego, in August 1940 this F3F crashed while on approach to USS Saratoga due to a faulty fuel valve, the pilot being successfully rescued. The aircraft was discovered by a Navy submersible at a depth of 1,800ft in 1988 and was recovered in 1990