The Museum of Mountain Flying\’s motto is to preserve the legends, lore, and historical legacy of the planes, pilots and individuals who pioneered one of the most dangerous and adventurous forms of aviation in the Rocky Mountain West. Our goal is to preserve this history for future generations through preservation and restoration of aircraft and artifacts that showcase this era and through those efforts be able to educate our visitors about a time when a pilot\’s motto was “Fly the Biggest Piece Back.”
The Planes of Fame Air Museum was founded in 1957 by Edward Maloney. It is the oldest independently operated aviation museum in the United States.
The museum collection spans the history of manned flight. We house over 150 Aircraft and displays. Many of the Aircraft are flyable, including the P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-40 Warhawk, B-25 Mitchell, P-38 Lightning, F-86 Sabre & Russian Mig 15.
Our Mission is to preserve aviation history, inspire interest in aviation, educate the public, and honor aviation pioneers and veterans.
We are a non profit 501 (c)(3) organization that has grown since 1957 through donations. We receive no monies from the government. For more info please visit: http://www.planesoffame.org
Planes of Fame Air Museum
7000 Merrill Avenue #17, Chino, CA 91710
Tel – 909-597-3722
Fax – 909-597-4755
http://www.planesoffame.org
About Classic Fighters of America
For almost 100 years and the advent of flight, man has sought to develop an aircraft that could be both offensive and defensive, and thus allow airborne supremacy. From the early 1900’s until after World War II, these aircraft were referred to as “Pursuit” types, and shared a “P” in their designations. Examples were the P-40 Tomahawk, the P-38 Lightning and the P-51 Mustang. After that war and the formation of the U.S. Air Force as a branch separate from the U.S. Army, the designations of these types were changed to “Fighters” having an “F” prefix. Examples are the F-84 and the F-86. Classic Fighters of America focuses almost entirely on Pursuit/Fighter aircraft employed by the U.S. forces in the past.
North American B-25J-25-NC, serial number 44-30733, nicknamed “Sandbar Mitchell” after it crashed on a Tanana River sandbar near Fairbanks, Alaska in June of 1969. With the help of skilled volunteers this B-25J will once again grace the skies over America in honor of the 340th Bomb Group. After spending 44 years resting on the Tanana River Sandbar, Sandbar Mitchell was recovered on July 5, 2013. She is now being restored in the Warbirds Of Glory Museum shop in Michigan.
In addition to the rare flying WWII and Korea warplanes on display at the impressive hangar of the Dixie Wing, there is a room dedicated to the display of artifacts and memorabilia of the Wars of the U.S. in the last century. On display at various points in the museum are mannequins wearing authentic uniforms of WWII. One cabinet displays WWI articles.
Several cabinets display finely crafted plastic models of Allied and Axis warplanes of the last century. This collection was crafted by the late James McConnell of Big Canoe, GA and donated to the Wing by his widow, Betty. A large collection of WWII toys is on display donated by Mr. Richard McNary. During the war, little or no metal was available for toys, so manufacturers used wood, cardboard and even plaster of paris to make these toys.
The centerpiece of the Museum is a 10 foot model of the “USS Enterprise” (CVA-6), the most decorated US warship of WWII and veteran of all but 2 major battles. It is displayed with scale models of U.S. carrier aircraft of WWII.
Various cabinets contain weapons and gear of American, British, French, Russian, German, Italian, and Japanese military services.
A large model of the “USS Missouri” battleship is displayed along with a freighter, the “Aldebarau”. Above these is a very large model of the CAF B-17 “Texas Raider”.
Aviation art by Col Mark Baldwin is displayed on the walls of the Museum along with newspapers of WWII and military insignias.
Sevearl aircraft engines are displayed including a Fairchild “Ranger”, an Allison V-12, a Rolls Royce “Merlin” V-12, a rare Guiberson diesel radial engine and the large Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp R-2800 used on the F4U Corsair fighter-bomber
The museum items supplement the stars of the Dixie Wing Hangar. These fully operational airplanes include the Douglas SBD-5 “Dauntless” divebomber, the North American P-51 D “Mustang” fighter, the Goodyear FG-1D Corsair fighter, the North American LT-6D “Mosquito” spotter attack aircraft, the Fiarchild PT-19A primary trainer, the Aeronca L-16 liason and spotter aircraft, a North American SNJ advanced trainer and two replica Japanese aircraft: the “Zero” fighter and the “Kate” torpedo bomber, these last two built for the movie “Tora, Tora, Tora!”
Museum curators are Col Mark Baldwin and Col Walt Cantrell. The Dixie Wing and the Commemorative Air Force is a 501-c3 tax exempt organization. The museum is staffed by volunteers and supported mainly by donations.
The Museum is home to the 35th Division Museum. It includes 36 pieces of military equipment outside–airplanes, helicopters, tanks, artillery, jeeps, trucks, artillery tractors, etc. The Museum includes over 125 inside exhibits, including exhibits on the Civil War, Indian Wars in Kansas, Spanish-American War, Mexican Border War of 1916, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm-Desert Shield, and the Global Wars on Terrorism–Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The Museum includes the Kansas National Guard Hall of Fame, a MAS*H replica of the “Swamp,” an original oil portrait of Adolph Hitler, a Snowgoose UAV, and Maj Daniel Forbes.
The Combat Air Museum is a non-profit institution dedicated to the creation of facilities and resources for the education of the local and regional communities through the collection, preservation, conservation and exhibition of aircraft, information, artifacts, technology and art associated with the military aviation history of the United States of America.
Founded in the 1970’s, The Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum has a continually growing collection of over 45 historic warbirds from the beginnings of aviation to the present day. The VAC is a 501(3)c educational organization dedicated to the preservation of, education about and commemoration of Warbirds from all eras and the men and women who flew, maintained and fought in them.
Pappy Boyington Field Museum is dedicated to preserving local aviation histoy and the efforts of veterans and aviators who have sacrificed and contributed to preserving the integrity and peace to which the United States has been graced.
Pappy Boyington Field Museum preserves the military and aviation history of area residents. We are a federal and Idaho 501(c)3 charitable non-profit, and donations are tax deductible. We are looking for military scrapbooks and stories of local veterans. We also pay particular honor to locally born and raised WW2 Ace Greg “Pappy” Boyington.
The Alfred & Lois Kelch Aviation Museum, Inc. is located at the Brodhead Airport (C37), near Brodhead, Wisconsin. Housed in four hangars, the museum contains a unique collection of aircraft and automobiles from the 1920’s and 1930’s, many of which are one-of-a-kind or sole surviving examples. All of the aircraft are fully restored and most are flyable.
Flyable aircraft, military vehicle collection
Liberty Aviation Museum is a newer museum that opened in July of 2012 at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport (KPCW Carl Keller Field) in Port Clinton, Ohio. Our museum consists our B-25 Mitchell, WWII bomber “Georgie’s Gal” built in 1945, recently restored by Aero Trader out of Chino, CA. (The B-25 Mitchell is currently away from the museum until late July 2015) Ground vehicles include a 1941 Dodge ambulance, 2 Jeeps, German 37mm AA gun, German Horch Truck, German Field Kitchen, German Kubel, 3 BMW Motorcycles, Tiger Tank Replica, Hetzer Tank Replica, Panther Tank Replica (currently undergoing restoration away from the museum), & 2 WWII PT boats under current restoration (Currently not available for public viewing until new hangar expansion opens after Memorial Day. View the PT 728 Thomcat facebook page for photos of the restoration of the boat! The PT-728 will be on display in the new hangar expansion when the building opens after Memorial Day. The sister boat, the PT-724 is in storage currently and not available for viewing) The PT-728 Thomcat will be available for boat experiences after restoration is completed! Don’t forget to check out the Tin Goose Diner attached to the museum! Open year round, open 7 days a week (7am-7pm), serving breakfast, lunch and dinner! You can fly in or drive in to visit us! When flying in, please radio the FBO to verify that our ramp is open for parking. If it isn’t, you can park at the airport and we have a shuttle that will bring you to our facility next door! Ford Tri-Motor rides are available.
We are honoured to have one of only 4 Avro Lancaster bombers, with functioning Merlin engines, left in the world.
Have a look in our Facebook Musée Avion MONTELIMAR……search on GOOGLE or in http://www.meacmtl.com
Hundreds of rare aviation items and artifacts are on display in the Spirit of Flight Hall of Honor representing the past, present and future of flight.
Our mission is to save and display aircraft and flight memorabilia to honor all veterans, and to educate the general public on the significance of aviation and aviation history.
The Yankee Air Museum was established to help preserve Southeast Michigan’s extraordinary aviation history. This history has many components – such as the 1941/1942 construction of the Willow Run Bomber Plant by the Ford Motor Company. Ford brought automotive assembly line techniques to aircraft production, building 8,685 B-24 Liberator bombers, a key part of the Allied arsenal in WWII. At its peak, the Bomber Plant employed over 42,000 people (about 40% of which were women, unprecedented for the times), producing up to one B-24 an hour.
A group of local aviation enthusiasts wanted to preserve this heritage and organized the Yankee Air Force in 1981 (the name evolved into the Yankee Air Museum in the early 1990’s.) They began planning to preserve the history of the Bomber Plant. Countless hours of work would go into this project, continuing to this day.
In late 1981, Museum personnel acquired a WWII era hangar on airport grounds; thousands of hours of work went into restoring the hangar into a useable facility. Subsequently, a series of flyable aircraft, static aircraft, and a wide range of aviation art, uniforms, instruments, and other artifacts were obtained and displayed. The Museum was formally dedicated in May, 1982.
The first flyable aircraft in the collection was a Douglas C-47 WWII era transport, obtained in 1982. Originally named Yankee Doodle Dandy, this aircraft was repainted/renamed in 2018 as Hairless Joe in a China-Burma-India WWII Theater paint scheme.
The next flyable purchased was a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress. Named the Yankee Lady, it underwent nine years of restoration, beginning in 1986, and returning to flying status in 1995.
A North American B-25D Mitchell medium bomber was then acquired in 1987. The Yankee Warrior saw combat in World War II (eight missions over Italy) and is one of only two B-25Ds still flying today.
In 2014, an additional flyable was obtained – a Waco YMF-5C, recreating the barnstorming era in aviation.
These aircraft are flown and displayed at numerous air shows, and are the pride of the Museum. Rides can be purchased on these aircraft, helping people establish a connection to previous generations of aviators.
The Museum grew through the 1980’s and 1990’s. In October 2004, a devastating setback occurred – a fire that destroyed the hangar housing the museum. Through the heroic efforts of personnel on hand, the B-17 and C-47 were towed, pushed and pulled out of the building before the fire reached them, saving the heart of the collection. The B-25 had just landed and was not in the hangar; aircraft on display outside of the hangar were not damaged. The Museum however, lost virtually all of the aircraft tooling, equipment, spare parts, office and display fixtures, and all of the artifacts.
Museum members, staff and volunteers, as well as many others in the community swung into action (donations for rebuilding were received from all over the world). A key step was purchasing in 2009 a building from the Michigan Institute of Aviation and Technology. The Museum moved into this building in October 2010 (six years to the day of the fire), which has about 28,000 square feet of display area for aircraft and artifacts, and additional space for restoration work, offices, classrooms and a retail gift store.
Other actions taken included renovating a schoolhouse built by Henry Ford in 1938 into the David and Andrea Robertson Education Center (dedicated in June 2010), which holds the Research Library. Numerous aircraft have been added to the collection – a few examples include a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk, a North American F-100 Super Sabre, a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber (salvaged from Lake Michigan) and a Bell AH-1J helicopter. The Michigan Aerospace Foundation (doing business as the Yankee Air Museum Foundation) was established in 2001 to coordinate fundraising efforts.
While the aircraft are very impressive, much more is done to promote aviation and history. The artifacts collection has been rebuilt, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. Numerous aviation speakers have appeared, including Steve Ritchie, the only Air Force pilot ace in Vietnam, Bob Mason, author of Chickenhawk, about helicopter pilots in Vietnam, and Alexander Jefferson, a Tuskegee Airman and P-51 pilot.
The Museum is the driving force behind the Thunder Over Michigan, one of the premier air shows in the US – the US Navy Blue Angels and the US Air Force Thunderbirds have made numerous appearances over the years. Each year, a wide range of historic aircraft are flown in for display.
The Museum also focuses on youth programming – STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education is integrated into exhibits and programs to inspire young people to pursue education and career opportunities in those fields. Numerous programs are centered on Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other youth organizations.
From day one, the Museum has worked towards ”educating individuals through the history of US military aviation, technology, and home-front efforts while inspiring ….pride in our national accomplishments.” To support this goal, the remaining 144,000 square feet of the Willow Run Bomber Plant was purchased in 2014. About 30,000 square feet of the renovated plant will be used for permanent hangar space for the flyable aircraft, with an expected construction completion date of December 31, 2019. The remaining area will house the Museum’s static aircraft, exhibits, and administrative offices; timing for this phase of the renovation is fund-raising dependent. When the move-in is completed, the Yankee Air Museum will have fulfilled one of its original goals – helping preserve this piece of Southeast Michigan’s aviation history.
If you are interested in supporting the Yankee Air Museum’s work, please contact Elisa Guyton, Associate Development Director, at 734-483-4030 ext. 227 or mail a donation to Yankee Air Museum, 47884 D Street, Belleville MI, 48111.
The Mississippi Wing of the Commemorative Air Force is an all volunteer organization based in Madison, MS at Bruce Campbell Field. We are a local representation of a worldwide organization known as the Commemorative Air Force.Our current project is a WWII era Stinson Model 10-A. We have recently overhauled the engine and are now in the process of completing the restoration and preparing the aircraft for its first flight. Updates can be found in our newsletter section of the site, or on our Stinson News page.The Commemorative Air Force is an all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c)3 organization incorporated under Texas laws for charitable and educational purposes.Where and When do you Meet…The Mississippi Wing of the Commemorative Air Force meets third Saturday of each month in our hangar on Bruce Campbell Field (KMBO) in Madison, MS. The CAF Mission…To preserve, in flying condition, a complete collection of combat aircraft which were flown by all military services of the United States in World War II.To provide museum buildings for permanent protection and display of these aircraft as a tribute to the thousands of men and women who built, serviced and flew them.To perpetuate in the memory and hearts of all Americans the spirit in which these great planes were flown for the defense of our nation.To establish an organization having the dedication, enthusiasm and esprit de corps necessary to operate, maintain and preserve these aircraft as symbols of our American military aviation heritage.
In the late 1990’s, a group of local military folks, agriculture pilots and international Warbird restorers were at the Fargo AirSho. After the show they realized there was a wealth of historic aircraft, knowledge and a passion for aviation, education and restoration. These folks included the late Gerry Beck, Robert Odegaard, Robert Miller, Darrol Schroeder, Alex Macdonald, Matt Butler, the late Warren Diederich and a few others. The founders developed the mission statement, developed a three-building long term plan and opened the museum’s first hangar in 2001. In 2008, the organization retired the debt on the first building and plans are now in play to build the next two buildings.
Errol Severe was born to fly.In 1994, God asked this former Delta Airlines pilot and military man to manifest that passion as Aviation Cadet World in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s a calling he takes seriously.He and his wife, Beth, have since dedicated their lives to building an experience that exemplifies the best of American flight. The nonprofit group is supported by visitors and donors like you who believe it is important to celebrate this country’s accomplishments in the air.“This will not be a dry museum; rather it will be a living experience,” said Errol. “It will be a place where everyone can come, and for a brief moment in history, become a cadet. You will even be able to fly your own simulator. In short, a place where every man, woman and child can travel back in time to the glory days of the Cadet Corps,”Aviation Cadet World is a sprawling property nestled in the Ozarks Mountains of Northwest Arkansas. In addition to numerous attractions, it boasts Silver Wings Field, a working runway for private aircrafts.Errol said one of his greatest pleasures is seeing a former airman connect with the jets and other aircraft, remembering their time in the air. He also finds it rewarding when children are inspired and made curious to learn more about flying from what they experience at Aviation Cadet World.
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