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National Museum of World War II Aviation

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National Museum of World War II Aviation
National Museum of World War II Aviation is located in Colorado<div style="position: absolute; top: Expression error: Missing operand for *.%; left: 1457.3%; height: 0; width: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">
Location within Colorado
Established2008 (2008)
LocationColorado Springs, Colorado
Coordinates38°49′16″N 104°43′18″W / 38.8212°N 104.7216°W / 38.8212; -104.7216Coordinates: 38°49′16″N 104°43′18″W / 38.8212°N 104.7216°W / 38.8212; -104.7216
TypeMilitary aviation museum
Director
  • Mark Earle
  • Tom Perkins[1]
PresidentBill Klaers[1]
Websiteworldwariiaviation.org

The National Museum of World War II Aviation is an aviation museum located at Colorado Springs Airport in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

History[]

The origins of the museum date to the founding of WestPac Restorations at Rialto Municipal Airport in Rialto, California in 1997 by Bill Klaers and Alan Wojciak. Due to the planned closure of the airport in 2014, Jim Fry convinced the owners to move the business to Colorado Springs Airport, where he had built three hangars in 2006. There the National Museum of World War II Aviation was established. It opened to the public six years later in October 2012.[2][3][4][5]

In 2014, the museum received two grants totaling $6 million to build a 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m2) "Aviation Hall".[6] In 2016, Jim Slattery loaned 15 aircraft to the museum.[7] In early 2018, it received an official "national museum" designation from the United States Congress.[8][9] The museum began construction on a new 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) hangar in November 2018.[10][11] The museum received donations of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Stinson V-77 Reliant in late 2019.[12][13]

Construction of the 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) Kaija Raven Shook Aeronautical Pavilion was completed in 2019.[14][15]

Exhibits[]

The museum has a series of exhibits that trace the history of the United States' involvement in World War II.[16]

The museum has several interactive displays and simulators including a fully functional Link trainer that is demonstrated daily. Simulators that visitors can experience include an N3N simulator and a modified Link Trainer. Projects under development include a bombardier simulator using a Norden bombsight and a simulated B-17 waist gunner position shooting down enemy aircraft.[citation needed]

Collection[]

On display[]

Under restoration[]

Land vehicles[]

In addition to its aircraft, the museum also maintains a collection of land vehicles:

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Museum Leadership". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/about-us/museum-leadership. 
  2. ↑ "History". http://westpacrestorations.com/index.php?page=history. 
  3. ↑ "Today’s Museum". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/about-us/todays-museum. 
  4. ↑ "FAQs". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/about-us/faqs. 
  5. ↑ Heilman, Wayne (12 March 2010). "Proposed museum would celebrate WWII air power". The Gazette. http://gazette.com/news/proposed-museum-would-celebrate-wwii-air-power/article_58dcce39-9497-59d7-b60d-fc32be18c759.html. 
  6. ↑ Heilman, Wayne (11 July 2014). "World War II Aviation museum gets $6 million to triple in size". The Gazette. http://gazette.com/life/world-war-ii-aviation-museum-gets-6-million-to-triple-in-size/article_974d618a-03ab-5576-8cd8-99bed758515b.html. 
  7. ↑ Roeder, Tom (5 June 2016). "Colorado Springs WWII aviation museum adds 15 planes, including hulking Albatross, to its collection". The Gazette. http://gazette.com/news/colorado-springs-wwii-aviation-museum-adds-15-planes-including-hulking-albatross-to-its-collection/article_bb3cdd76-e275-567e-b015-4d529aafe4b0.html. 
  8. ↑ Matthews, Mark K. (7 January 2018). "Colorado Springs’ WWII aviation museum gets congressional honor – and fundraising clout that goes with it". Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/2018/01/07/colorado-springs-wwii-aviation-museum-congressional-honor. 
  9. ↑ Censky, Abigail (3 March 2018). "Triple WWII ace accepts national designation for Colorado Springs aviation museum". The Gazette. http://gazette.com/military/triple-wwii-ace-accepts-national-designation-for-colorado-springs-aviation-museum/article_0e8791db-3a5d-5e71-befc-9915b03c029b.html. 
  10. ↑ Heilman, Wayne (17 July 2018). "Colorado Springs museum adding hangar space to display aircraft, exhibits". The Gazette. http://gazette.com/business/colorado-springs-museum-adding-hangar-space-to-display-aircraft-exhibits/article_d9b9fdf4-89ce-11e8-adc1-2b9248fe2d33.html. 
  11. ↑ Roeder, Tom (8 November 2018). "WWII aviation museum in Colorado Springs breaks ground on big expansion". The Gazette. http://gazette.com/military/wwii-aviation-museum-in-colorado-springs-breaks-ground-on-big-expansion/article_51e814bc-e2b9-11e8-b6ab-cf1e13024e20.html. 
  12. ↑ Henderson, Liz (10 October 2019). "P-38 Lightning finds a home at newly built National Museum of World War II hangar". The Gazette. http://gazette.com/premium/p--lightning-finds-a-home-at-newly-built-national/article_ec6b78ae-eba9-11e9-a1f2-a7e83b697f8e.html. 
  13. ↑ Earls, Stephanie (11 November 2019). "Tuskegee Airman donates prized plane to aviation museum on Veterans Day". The Gazette. http://gazette.com/news/tuskegee-airman-donates-prized-plane-to-aviation-museum-on-veterans-day/article_452f7368-ffe7-11e9-bb49-6705503689a5.html. 
  14. ↑ Roeder, Tom (8 November 2018). "WWII aviation museum in Colorado Springs breaks ground on big expansion". Denver Gazette. http://www.gazette.com/military/wwii-aviation-museum-in-colorado-springs-breaks-ground-on-big-expansion/article_51e814bc-e2b9-11e8-b6ab-cf1e13024e20.html. 
  15. ↑ Heilman, Wayne (20 February 2022). "World War II aviation museum planning second phase late this year". Denver Gazette. http://www.gazette.com/business/world-war-ii-aviation-museum-planning-second-phase-late-this-year/article_8cbcaa78-8868-11ec-af43-8fc8884c4942.html. 
  16. ↑ "Exhibits". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/exhibits. 
  17. ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 17.11 17.12 17.13 17.14 17.15 17.16 17.17 "Complete Aircraft List". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/complete-aircraft-list. 
  18. ↑ "Beechcraft Model 18 (C45)". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/beechcraft-model-18-c45. 
  19. ↑ "Beechcraft T-34 Mentor". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/beech-t-34-mentor. 
  20. ↑ "Brewster F3A Corsair". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/brewster-f3a-corsair. 
  21. ↑ "PBY/PBV-1A Catalina". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/consolidated-pby-catalina. 
  22. ↑ "Cessna L-19 Bird Dog". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/cessna-l-19-bird-dog. 
  23. ↑ "Douglas AD-5 Skyraider". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/douglas-ad-5-skyraider. 
  24. ↑ "SBD Dauntless". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/sbd-dauntless. 
  25. ↑ "Fairchild PT-19". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/fairchild-pt-19. 
  26. ↑ "Grumman F3F Flying Barrel". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/grumman-f3f-flying-barrel. 
  27. ↑ "Grumman F7F Tigercat". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/grumman-f7f-tigercat. 
  28. ↑ "Grumman G-44 Widgeon". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/grumman-g-44-widgeon. 
  29. ↑ "Grumman TBM Avenger". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/grumman-tbm-avenger. 
  30. ↑ "Howard DGA-15". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/howard-dga-15. 
  31. ↑ "Lockheed P-38 Lightning". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/lockheed-p-38-lightning. 
  32. ↑ "North American T-6 Texan". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/north-american-t-6-texan. 
  33. ↑ "North American T-28 Trojan". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/north-american-t-28-trojan. 
  34. ↑ "North American B-25 Mitchell". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/north-american-b-25-mitchell. 
  35. ↑ Desko, Dan. "B-25J-20-NC SN 44-29199 "In the Mood"". http://b-25history.org/aircraft/4429199.htm. 
  36. ↑ "Republic P47 Thunderbolt". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/republic-p47-thunderbolt. 
  37. ↑ "Stinson L-5 Sentinel". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/stinson-l-5-sentinel. 
  38. ↑ "Stinson V77 Reliant". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/stinson-v77-reliant. 
  39. ↑ "Chance Vought F4U Corsair". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/chance-vought-f4u-corsair. 
  40. ↑ "Waco JYM". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/waco-jym. 
  41. ↑ "FAA Registry [N9525H"]. U.S. Department of Transportation. http://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=9525H. 
  42. ↑ "Chevrolet Airfield Crash Truck". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/chevrolet-airfield-crash-truck. 
  43. ↑ "Ford GPW". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/ford-gpw. 
  44. ↑ "M2A1 Half Track". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/m2a1-half-track. 
  45. ↑ "M3A1 Scout Car". http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/m3a1-scout-car. 

External links[]

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