The new Michigan Flight Museum

[Roger Cain]

Times are a changing, their name is no longer the Yankee Air Museum, it is now the Michigan Flight Museum. [url]https://miflightmuseum.org/url]
Good name change? What are your thoughts?

[sandiego89]

Times are a changing, their name is no longer the Yankee Air Museum, it is now the Michigan Flight Museum. [url]https://miflightmuseum.org/url]
Good name change? What are your thoughts?

Likely a good name change, gets people to know at least what state it is in, and retires a name that might have other connotations or cause pause/division from some wanting to visit. And no I am not going to get into the politics of that.

[kalamazookid]

They can call the museum whatever they want as far as I'm concerned. It's probably a good move for publicity and advertising purposes and I'm glad it isn't the "National Museum" of whatever or some non-descriptive STEM name, which both seem to be en vogue across the museum industry these days. I'm sure there are a lot of weirdos who think it's "woke" or whatever. The new name at least describes the location and purpose of the museum in the title.

More importantly, I'd like to know the status on the museum's flying planes for airshows after the hangar door collapse. Other than the occasional vague comment on social media, the museum has been mum on it. A basic statement would at least tell people what's going on, manage expectations and maybe even provide an avenue for fundraising for repairs if they need it.

[TAdan]

I liked the YAM name, but the new name is certainly memorable and concise. Probably easier for the general public to recognize.

[Steve Nelson]

Kinda generic, but way better than the last rebranding attempt. Ten years ago they announced the name would be changing to the thoroughly unwieldy "National Museum of Aviation and Technology at Historic Willow Run" but the idea quickly (and thankfully) died. I'll probably always refer to it as "Yankee," but then I still call the place in Dayton the "Air Force Museum" (and "Episode IV: A New Hope" will always just be "Star Wars" to me.)

SN

[Randy Haskin]

To me, the name doesn't matter so much as what they do.

In my few interactions with their maintenance and ops staff at Thunder, they're a class act. Best of luck to them under a new moniker.

[Noha307]

Generally speaking, IMHO, a good aviation museum name will include the following features:

• Begin with a term describing either the location (e.g. British Columbia Aviation Museum) or subject matter (National Naval Aviation Museum)
• Include the word "museum"

The new name ticks both those boxes, so I would say its a good decision.

An example of a poor name change is Aero Space Museum of Calgary > The Hangar Flight Museum, as it:

• Begins with an article
• Is incredibly vague (Where is this museum? How can it be distinguished from others?)

However, the previous name was a bit clunky, so my suggestion would have been: Calgary Aerospace Museum.

• Eliminates the unnecessary "of" (see, National Museum of Naval Aviation > National Naval Aviation Museum)
• Combines "Aero" and "Space" into a single word, as is standard

[Xray]

Sounds overly simple and generic, people in Sault Ste. Marie might think they are close to it but are actually 350 miles away. At least they resisted calling it Ypsilanti, though Ypsi is unique and has a nice ring to it - And most of all, at least they didn't let Comerica or some other corporation lease the name.

[raconnel]

As a Red Sox fan, I approve this change.

[JohnB]

I visited them a long time ago....

I wish them luck, I really appreciate how difficult it is to run/fund a museum with operational aircraft.

That said, I still wish they hadn't scrapped the Argosy.
I have a factory HP desk model I was going to donate to them... .

[kalamazookid]

Looks like they are not scheduling B-17 flights this year:

https://miflightmuseum.org/b-17-bomber/

This could be because of the hangar door collapse or the rumors of a pending sale could turn out to be true. I have no inside info there.

To my knowledge, none of the other aircraft have made any appearances yet this year and all appearances by the B-25 and C-47 through mid-July have been cancelled. I'm treating any scheduled appearance by the museum aircraft this year as wishful thinking. Maybe they'll be able to figure something out with the hangar door to get to a few airshows.

[lmritger]

Sounds like Yankee Lady has been sold - which is an absolutely shocking development, at least to me.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/5682157551/

Lynn

[LegendaryWings]

Why did the museum sell B-17 Yankee Lady and who has it been sold to?

[YAF340]

Yep! The B17, Yankee Lady has been sold. Don't know who. Been told a Private Collector in California. She is sitting outside waiting on a prop. Joe

[Warbird Kid]

I've heard rumors about this for a few weeks now. Sad day indeed. Following in the footsteps of the old National Warplane Museum when they moved to Elmira and Lone Star Flight Museum when they moved to Houston.