Lyon Air Museum – Greatest Generation Tribute

If you're fascinated by history, the Greatest Generation, World War II, and aviation, there's a good chance you’re already aware of the Lyon Air Museum - Greatest Generation Tribute.  If you don't know or haven't yet visited the Lyon Air Museum, add it to your to-do list immediately. Nestled away in a Santa Ana industrial park, directly on the tarmac of John Wayne Airport, the Lyon Air Museum features airworthy craft documenting many facets of World War II. Not only an aircraft at the museum, but Lyon also showcases various ground vehicles as well - including a parade vehicle that Adolf Hitler rode in. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the Lyon Air Museum is that members of the Greatest Generation themselves - World War II veterans - volunteer as docents, bringing this truly incredible venue to life nearly every day. Click play to listen below as Mark Foster, Lyon Air Museum CEO, shares more fascinating details in this iDSC podcast. And be sure to check out the amazing photo gallery too. ***Transcript*** Recorded July 31, 2018, in Santa Ana, CA Mark Foster: We're the Greatest Generation in an aviation museum, so we focus primarily on World War II veterans and aviation. We've got famous airplanes, the rare flyable World War II type airplanes. We've got the military vehicles, motorcycles... we even have a very historical car that was originally owned by the evil dictator, Adolph Hitler. Introduction to the Lyon Air Museum Tom Smith: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, the podcast all about mobility, from the automotive capital of the United States, Southern California. Tom Smith here, and I am in ... Where are we technically? Costa Mesa, right? Mark Foster: We're Santa Ana, which is really Newport Beach, Irvine, Costa Mesa. It's all kind of around the corner, and it's at John Wayne Airport. That's the thing, we're not near John Wayne, we're at John Wayne Airport. Tom Smith: That is Mark Foster, who is the, what's your exact title? Mark Foster: Whatever you want to call me, but President, CEO. Tom Smith: Okay. President, CEO of the Lyon Air Museum. Mark Foster: Correct. Tom Smith: Right down here, literally, I'm looking at Alaska Airlines getting ready, it's taxiing down the runway right now. Mark, thank you very much for having me and the iDriveSoCal podcast. Again, all about mobility, from the automotive capital of the United States. A big piece of mobility is air travel. The Lyon Air Museum. Tom: You have a couple of things going on in the museum currently, but I recently learned about you guys. I guess you've been around since '09, and I recently learned about you guys on KTLA. Saw a quick piece and said, "Hey, I really want to go down there and have a chat," because you guys do some really, really cool stuff down here. So, with that strange, kind of totally non-traditional introduction, Mark Foster of the Lyon's Air Museum, literally right on John Wayne Airport watching planes taxi as we do this interview. Thank you for joining me. Mark Foster: Oh, it's great to have you. Thanks, Tom. Aviation Museum Dedicated to The Greatest Generation Tom Smith: So, high-level. What do you guys do here? "We're the Greatest Generation in aviation museum." Mark Foster: Well, we're an aviation museum, and we're the Greatest Generation in an aviation museum, so we focus primarily on World War II veterans and aviation. Tom Smith: Okay. For those that don't, and I think there's a whole lot of people that aren't aware of the opportunity to come and check out what you guys have here, but your museum, again, you're right on the John Wayne Airport tarmac, you can come and see what? Lyon Air Museum shares John Wayne Airport tarmac.