Project Orion

The goal of Project Orion is to create an outdoor display of the last active duty P-3C Orion at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL as a memorial to the US Navy’s Maritime Patrol Community and the world’s premier maritime patrol aircraft.

For over 60 years, the P-3 and it’s variants served in conflicts all over the world and was flown by 21 operators in 17 countries. The P-3 proved to be an incredibly versatile, multi-mission aircraft and was usually first on station and last to leave in any crisis. Today, of the 650 P-3’s that were built, twenty eight are still actively flying but that number gets smaller each year.  Only nine are available for visits by the public.

The aircraft to be used for this display is BuNo 162776. She flew for over thirty five years in twelve different squadrons including east and west coast locations. She completed her last deployment with VP-40 in 2019 and then transferred to the National Naval Aviation Museum where she now sits in the “Bone Yard” section of the museum.

To achieve our goal of creating a world class, museum quality display, we are launching a capital campaign to raise $500,000 by January 1st, 2026. These funds will be used to restore, preserve and relocate -776 and construct an appropriate platform to showcase the aircraft. It will also provide a place for official functions such as re-enlistments, change of commands, memorial services or simply a place to rest for museum visitors.