This 32-building facility stores, preserves, and restores rare historic aircraft and space vehicles for the National Air and Space Museum. Named for Paul E. Garber, the man who was personally responsible for collecting more than half of the 352 Smithsonian-owned aircraft on display at the facility and on loan elsewhere around the world.
Free docent-led tours of the facility are offered daily Monday-Friday, and twice daily on weekends; the 3-hour tour includes five of the facility buildings with a visit to the main workshop, where skilled craftsmen can be seen restoring aircraft, a process that can require years of labor for a single plane. Reservations for these tours must be made at least two weeks in advance.
The facility is located southeast of Washington DC and the National Air and Space Museum. The buildings have no public facilities, and age restrictions are enforced. Closed major holidays.