Looking for Information on Closed/Renamed Aviation Museums

[Dan K]

Just to clarify from the "Closed Museums" list on page 4:

There really is no connection between Polar Aviation Museum and Golden Wings (in Blaine, MN), other than they are/were based at the same airport.

For those interested in learning more about Wally Fisk, Amjet, and the Polar Aviation Museum, one would be hard put to find a better source of detail than this thread:

http://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=191805&page=4

[Noha307]

Just to clarify from the "Closed Museums" list on page 4:

There really is no connection between Polar Aviation Museum and Golden Wings (in Blaine, MN), other than they are/were based at the same airport.

What is is about that airport that is so unconducive to aviation museums? Along with the American Wings Air Museum, it is currently zero for three in terms of successes. What doesn't make sense to me is that, according to an Air & Space magazine article, there's a large community with an interest in aviation history there. There's an aviation historian club in the area. Pat Harker's F-82 is even somewhere at the airport. Given that level of support, it seems like they should have easily been successful.

Is it a case of oversaturation where they are just unintentionally cannibalizing off of each other's visitors? Maybe a case like the situation at Chino where Planes of Fame and Yanks where the airport is "not big enough for the both of us"?

I might have guessed that maybe it's a case of people who are great mechanics and pilots, but lack the skills of administration. However, if anything, the history in the forum thread you linked demonstrates that Wally Fisk ran a tight ship that even established a cordial relationship with the FAA. On the other hand, it seems clear it was run as more of a business than a museum.

Maybe it's just the informal culture at the airport? (Something I took away from the ASM article above.) Or in the region as a whole? Unfortunately, the story of aviation museums at the nearby Flying Cloud Airport isn't much better. First, the Planes of Fame East closed in 1997. Then Wings of the North was only able to hold on to its museum facility for 5 years. The Minnesota Air National Guard Museum still exists, but if I remember correctly it's had its own set of difficulties. (e.g. the SR-71 transfer[1], [2], an AH-1 transfer; lack of display space. However, this latter issue probably has more to do with the fact the museum is located on the grounds of a major international airport. Admittedly, MNANGM is really in a different category anyway, since it is a static, more directly military oriented museum.) On the other hand, the CAF Minnesota Wing has been operating since 1971, so I might be reaching a bit with this connection.

On the other hand, there seems to be an emerging group of "Northern Tier" aviation museums: Dakota Territory Air Museum, Fagen Fighters, and Wings of the North. They are tied together by their connection to their use of AirCorps Aviation as a restoration shop. (I recently received a mailer from them that included all of these museum's logos.) Hopefully they will have better success.

By the way, none of this is to impugn the efforts of anyone involved in these museums. (I greatly admire Greg Herrick for his unique accomplishment of requiring the FAA to preserve technical drawings and design data.) It's very likely that it is in large part due to factors outside of their control. I want them to succeed, but if we don't know why some have failed, it is hard to know what to do to ensure the others' survival.

For those interested in learning more about Wally Fisk, Amjet, and the Polar Aviation Museum, one would be hard put to find a better source of detail than this thread:

http://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=191805&page=4

Thanks! I took a look through that thread, it really does have some excellent information. That write up by "J.R." is probably one of the best inside histories of an aviation museum I have read.

[k5083]

I never visited Planes of Fame East, but I did get to see some of the aircraft at airshows when I was young. The Planes of Fame P-38, then painted as "Joltin' Josie" visited Kalamazoo for the airshow one year, and I specifically remember seeing what is now the Palm Springs Air Museum F6F Hellcat at Muskegon. I may have seen the Corsair at some point too, but that was probably 30 years ago now.

Pond was a big supporter of Oshkosh and when the collection was at its height during the late 80s and early 90s, he brought a lot of planes. My slides from OSH 1987 include his Wildcat, Bearcat, Corsair, B-25, P-40, P-47, and TBM, all at the one show. The Air Zoo used to bring several planes in those days also and between the two of them, you could count on seeing 1 or 2 of most of the major US operational types. They were really the core that the warbird display at OSH was built around then.

The P-38 had been a static display at the Air Museum in CA for many years, and my understanding at the time was that Pond funded its restoration to airworthy status in exchange for having it spend the summers up there in MN.

August

[Noha307]

As an offshoot of a personal project to improve coverage of the Air Force History and Museums Program on Wikipedia, I recently started looking into museums that were part of the AFHMP (or its predecessors), but have since closed. Unfortunately, finding evidence of their existence, much less any information about them, has been very difficult. Therefore, if anyone knows of any examples that are missing from the lists below or additional sources of information about the ones that are present, please mention them.

So far, the instances I am aware of are:

• Air Force Rescue Memorial Museum - Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico (closed January 1990)[1]
• Beale Air Force Base Museum - Beale Air Force Base, east of Marysville, California (closed in February 1995)[2]
• Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Museum - Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona (closed 1949)[3]
• Fairchild Heritage Museum - Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington (closed 2002)[4][5]
• Lowry Heritage Museum - Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colorado[6][7]
• Edward H. White II Museum of Aerospace Medicine - Brooks City-Base, San Antonio, Texas (closed in 2011)
• Plattsburgh Air Force Base Museum - Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, New York (closed in 1995)[8]
• Randolph Air Force Base Museum - Randolph Air Force Base, Universal City, Texas (closed in 1958)[9]
• Silver Wings Aviation Museum - Mather Air Force Base, near Sacramento, California[10][13][12]
• USAF Security Forces Museum - Lackland AFB, next to San Antonio, Texas (closed in August 2014)[13]

There are also a number I have found evidence of once existing, but no mentions of their closure - despite the fact they are not mentioned on the Aviation Museums page on NMUSAF's website:

• Grand Forks Air Force Base Museum - Grand Forks Air Force Base, Emerado, North Dakota[14]
• Harlingen Air Force Base Museum (?) - Harlingen Air Force Base Museum, Harlingen, Texas[15]
• McGuire Air Force Base Heritage Center - McGuire Air Force Base, Wrightstown, New Jersey[16]
• Newark Air Force Station Museum - Newark Air Force Station, Heath, Ohio[17]
• Sampson Air Force Base Museum - Sampson Air Force Base, Ovid, New York
• Whiteman Air Force Base Heritage Center - Whiteman Air Force Base, Knob Noster, Missouri[18][19]

Finally, a few notes:

• The above lists do not include former AFHMP museums that became private after being dropped from the program. These museums are the Aerospace Museum of California, the Castle Air Museum, the Grissom Air Museum, the March Field Air Museum, the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum, the Selfridge Military Air Museum, and the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum.
• While Wings Over the Rockies took the place of the Lowry Heritage Museum, it is my understanding that they were technically two separate institutions - not one that transitioned from government to private.
• The Fairchild Heritage Museum collection was granted to a private group called the Armed Forces and Aerospace Museum Society by an act of congress in 2002.[20] This eventually became the Honor Point Military and Aerospace Museum. However, as above, there is no direct organizational connection to the Air Force museum.

[Noha307]

Another one that may have never gotten off the ground (pardon the pun) is the Museum of Airline History and Airman’s Hall of Fame. The individual behind the museum was Jeffrey Whitesell, who owned and operated the last airworthy Martin 404, N636X, as part of the nonprofit organization Airliners of America at the time. It was supposed to be co-located with the Southern California Wing of the then Confederate Air Force at Camarillo Airport and the two news articles (1, 2) mentioning it both date to late 1999, so it seems that it was picking up steam around that time. While it's not clear what happened in the intervening time, N636X would eventually be flown to the Planes of Fame Air Museum on 29 February 2008, where it had been donated.[1]

[Noha307]

A few quick ones I came across (or found more information about) recently:

• Combat and Transport Aircraft Museum - located in Broussard, Louisiana, held an airshow in 1992 at St. Landry Parish Airport[1], apparently defunct by 1996 based on lack of Internal Revenue Service filing[2]
• Southern Utah Air Museum - located in Washington, Utah around 2004; apparently later moved to St. George, Utah; had approximately 7 aircraft nose sections, B-52 cockpit now at Tillamook Air Museum[3]
• Southwest Air Museum - located near the main entrance to General Dynamics on the west side of Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas; had an AT-21[4], B-58[5], F-86D/L, F-89D, KC-97L[6] and B-36, mentioned in a previous post

[Noha307]

The first hint I encountered of an former aviation museum in Louisville, Kentucky was another thread with a post that mentioned a B-29 located at an "Aircraft Industries Museum". A quick bit of searching on Newspapers.com turned up two articles. The first revealed that the museum was the idea of a man named Howard G. White who proposed in 1960 that it be located at the Kentucky Fairgrounds. It was to feature a "World Center of Flight Building" and would function as a aeronautical engineering school. (It seems Mr. White was ahead of his time in this regard.) [1] The second article seems to hint at problems with the proposal as it states the museum lacked a location and describes the aircraft at the museum being damaged by vandals. Six aircraft are stated to be present, but only four are named: a B-25, B-26, B-29, F-86.[2] Thanks to the aforementioned WIX post and Joe Baugher, we know the B-29 was actually a YKB-29J, 44-86402.[3] A quick search reveals two of the others were a B-25J, 44-30378 and an A-26C, 44-35923.[4][5] Goodall states another one of the aircraft was B-47B, 51-2095.[6] It is not clear what happened to the museum, but it appears in a list of organizations as late as 1978.[7]

On a different note, I came across a blog from that tracks an apparently abortive effort by a man named Robert T. Swift to start "A New Southwest Air & Space Flight Museum" in the 2010s.

[Noha307]

Another couple quick name changes:

• Fort Worth Aviation Museum <-- Veterans Memorial Air Park[1]
• The Hangar Flight Museum <-- Aero Space Museum of Calgary <-- Air Museum of Canada

[sandiego89]

What is is about that airport that is so unconducive to aviation museums? Along with the American Wings Air Museum, it is currently zero for three in terms of successes. What doesn't make sense to me is that, according to an Air & Space magazine article, there's a large community with an interest in aviation history there......Given that level of support, it seems like they should have easily been successful......

I might offer that a Minnesota location might have something to do with it. Frankly that part of the country is not great for year round visitors for a smallish collection. Even local support only goes so for- local casual visitors may go 1-2 times, and enthusiasts a few more times. To generate the foot traffic you need more than that. While the area may get some summer foot traffic, it is a long time from Labor day to Memorial day where it drops way off. Collections with better year round weather, other activities for non-warbird (gasp!) activities, and access to major highways with people passing by help quite a bit. When was the the last time your heard someone say "I can't wait to go to Minneapolis for vacation!?" No offence to anyone there, but many other museums have better year round climate, other attractions nearby or at least on the route, and are closer to large artery highways for casual passing traffic.

[JohnB]

Noah307
Regarding the Honor Point Museum in Spokane, I'm afraid I have had news. It closed circa 2018.
It started life with plans for a huge purpose built museum covering local veterans from all the armed forces, some aircraft (notably the B-52) were going to be relocated from Fairchild AFBs static park.

Eventually, it moved into a large single bay hangar at the Felts Field general aviation field. It featured many aviation displays, but had no complete aircraft on display (though some local warbirds were 'loaned"). A favorite display was a never used B-17 nose piece outfitted with a Norden bombsight. Also, a lot of artifacts from Fairchild and the local Air National Guard were displayed.
Despite decent attendance, it eventually ran out of money. The artifacts are in storage, some are used by a group that has a 30 foot walk through trailer which is used as a mobile museum which goes to community events and travels to schools and senior centers.

I have told the volunteers that after I sell my antique roadster, I plan on donating my 20 foot enclosed auto trailer to them to help them expand operations.

Coincidentally, the Honor Point Museum was next to the new building built for the Historic Flight Foundation, which leads to a lot of confusion. As an example, Trip Advisor reviews for one museum are frequently posed under the other's name, despite them never operating at the same time.
Also, the section of the four hangar complex formerly used by the museum is now operated by Historic Flight and used for storage and maintenance.

[Noha307]

As mentioned in a previous thread, there was a Wings and Rotors Air Museum in Murrieta, California (not to be confused with the Classic Rotors Museum in Ramona, California or the Harper Collection in Deming, New Mexico) that closed in 2019.

Also, according to another previous thread, the since closed North Cascades Vintage Aircraft Museum mentioned in a previous post used to be called the Skagot Aero Education Museum.

[ZRX61]

In related news, the KC97 at Fox Field in Lancaster Ca is in the process of being dismantled by Scoggins Aviation. I assume it will move to his yard at Mojave.
Not sure what's happening with the other aircraft at the former Milestones of Flight Museum (known local as the Millstones of Flight Museum.)

[wls3]

Planes of Fame Valle, Arizona, also known as Planes of Fame Grand Canyon.
Didn't see where this one was listed earlier, if so sorry.
Recent trip in Arizona, in the middle of nowhere, I came across it.
After then looking it up, it opened in 1995 and closed to the public in 2023.

Here are a few photos.

[Noha307]

Planes of Fame Valle, Arizona, also known as Planes of Fame Grand Canyon.
Didn't see where this one was listed earlier, if so sorry.
Recent trip in Arizona, in the middle of nowhere, I came across it.
After then looking it up, it opened in 1995 and closed to the public in 2023.

I don't think it has been listed because it was open when this thread was started. Good suggestion.

A small one I came across today was the Pennine Aviation Museum in England.[1]

[Chris Brame]

I see the C-97 center section that was intended for the B-50 Kensmen.