SFO – Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum

I think it’s pretty cool that SFO has a Museum staff and galleries. If my flight is delayed due to fog or because United has all kinds of operational issues, I can delight in some of the galleries.
The most notable one I’ve seen is along this long span between the TSA check point in Terminal 3 departures and the food court hub near gates 76 – 90. This one rotates every 3 – 6 months or so and has featured Art Deco, Korean ceramics, Japanese toys (action figures and stuffies like Hello! Kitty), and old fashioned cars. It makes that hallway seem slightly more bearable. And yes, most are behind the plastic protective boxes, which obscures your visibility and photography. If you’re really lazy, you can look from the moving walkways.
There’s another exhibit of planes as you walk from International Arrivals to Terminal 3 baggage claim.
It certainly is a nice and welcome distraction from airport anxieties and frustrations.

This is a nice museum with different displays in different parts of the airport. Most of the displays are obscured by reflections on the glass that protects them. When I was here different display areas had different topics they cover and i was told they change frequently. It is nice to have something to see and do if I am early for a flight. The displays were mostly interesting.

An impressive selection of art/​artifacts awaits you in the United terminal at SFO. I’ve enjoyed the wide variety of displayed items over the years, with the Japanese Toy display taking the cake. I could have spent two hours checking it all out. Awesome.
In the end, you can’t ask for much more when at an airport. It’s a great use of space, provides a much needed distraction from the regular airport drudgery, and makes me appreciate whatever they have displayed. Win-​win-​win.

A must visit whenever I connect through SFO. Interesting subject matter, excellent displays and information always helps to pass the time more quickly.

SFO Museum is located inside San Francisco International Airport. It operates over 20 galleries of art, science, technology, culture, and photography throughout all of the airport’s terminals. The exhibitions are constantly rotating, so if you travel through SFO a lot, the material is often fresh and interesting. Some memorable, quirky, and cool past exhibitions include a collection of robot portraits and a 100 year history of board games.
There is currently a very cool exhibition being shown in Terminal 3, Level 2 (Departures) after security. It’s called «Japanese Toys! From Kokeshi to Kaiju» and is being shown from November 2013 to April 2014. The gallery can be seen from the moving walkways, but is better on foot. Luckily, I had enough time before my flight boarded to leisurely walk and take in the exhibits of this fascinating gallery.
It begins with Japanese folk art and wooden toy dolls (kokeshi) from the 17^th century and works its way up to more modern 20^th century toys featuring internationally known characters such as Godzilla, Speed Racer, and Hello Kitty. Many toys, some still in the original packaging, are showcased inside glass display cases. Along with the vintage toys and action figures, some displays have large, colorful, manga/​comic book-​like artwork on the side and photographs flanking either side of the moving walkways. Cool stuff.
One display was dedicated solely to Ultraman and showed the franchise’s toys’ progression throughout the decades. Other dedicated display examples include robots, Godzilla, and kaiju (giant movie monsters). If you ever saw the 2013 film Pacific Rim, the monsters in that movie are kaiju. Throughout the gallery space are giant sculptures. There’s one of a flying Kamen Rider (Masked Rider). Awesome.
In addition to the changing exhibits, there’s a permanent commercial aviation museum and library. The aviation museum put out its own galleries such as the history of flight gear to female flight attendant uniforms. They also have various airline industry collections such as airline bags, airline food service dishware and silverware, and luggage tags. There’s even an air sickness bag collection (haha). That brings back bad childhood memories.
Thank you, SFO Museum, for making the oftentimes dull travel experience a bit more enlightening.

For 10÷4÷13, my wife and I took BART into SFO for the purpose of checking out the museum. You can find some vintage artifacts on the history of some airlines and even toys related to them. It’s not a large place that will take a day but you can actually spend about 30 min. and if you’re doing any research for school there is the library upstairs which I believe you need an appt. Afterwards we watched planes take off and rode the tram around. Oh and it’s free!

Very cool to see the type of creativity that some people have! The big piece of art here is a Hummer made out of styrofoam. It could be the same size as the real Hummer, H2. Very cool!
If you are in terminal 3 go check it out! You cannot miss this display.
It is all in the walkway through the terminal and there are always people stopping to look and take pictures of all the displays.

Learn to deal with fog.
New terminals are nice. Constant morning fog delays are not. Even if they can’t build another runway due to environmental concerns, the airport should pressure airlines to sensibly schedule flights so they aren’t constantly delayed when there’s morning fog.

A great place to go if you got time to kill between flights. A lot of flight history is covered here, especially international travel.

What a hidden gem! What a fab idea and a great place to stop by in case you’re early for a flight or after dropping someone off. They have different exhibitions every so often I believe… we caught the CAT exhibition (one of the first chinese airlines — later bought by the CIA — hmmm?). Loved walking down the halls and seeing the model aircrafts and pilot/​staff wings on display. Wonder how you get to read the books locked in the cabinets though?
Definitely stopping by again next time we’re at SFO Intl terminal — If we hadn’t had the meter ticking at Short term parking, I think we might have stayed all afternoon!

The SFO museum has some amazing displays and I dont think people fully appreciate them since it is at the airport. I’ve seen a few displays, one with tiny buildings… But this time, they had a 100 yrs of board games on display… But I honestly wouldnt have checked it out if I wasnt waiting for my flight.
I feel that the SFO museum should try to promote outside of the airport. I do know that it is for people that are just passing by, but some of the displays are truly amazing and worthy of pictures.

When you’re passing through SFO, have you ever skipped the moving walkways and wandered to your gate? If so, you may have noticed some fantastic displays. I’ve seen exhibits of toys, of textiles, and a few others. Tonight in Terminal 3, the SFO Museum collaborated with the Asian Art Museum and there are some «Dieties in Stone» for your viewing pleasure. If you find yourself at the airport early, take the time to walk to your gate. You’ll get a bit of exercise and a bit of culture!

This was a great little museum featuring aviation history for SFO and the Bay area that shouldn’t be missed if you have time between flights at the airport… it was a gem in the middle of a busy airport with all sorts of historical items. Also they have special exhibitions on all sorts of topics — when I was there they had a display of the history of the microscope.

If you’ve got an extra few minutes while you’re at SFO, head down to the south end of the International Terminal and check out this museum-​within-​an-​airport. It’s a replica of the original SFO departures terminal (long demolished) and has rotating exhibits focused on the history of the airport, airliners, air travel and so on. It’s worth it just for the airplane models, but stay for the rest!

A delightfully compact exhibit of aviation artifacts, like uniforms, inflight amenities, and timetables. (Currently running: «To Paradise and Beyond: Trans-​Pacific Air Service through Hawai’i»)
Though small, fans of Pan Am’s China Clipper service will find the permanent exhibit to be as complete as you’re ever going to find in one spot.