Compiled List of Aircraft-Accessible Aviation Museums

WOW! I had no idea this thread would be so productive! Here is the list,
compiled from all of your posts. As you can see, some are more complete
than others. If anyone can add some of the missing information, please do
so!

For example, some people didn't post what STATE their suggested museum was
in. Can someone familiar with the area please add this? Ditto with website
URLs, and anything else you might know.

I'm going to add a page of these museums to our aviation-theme hotel's
website, once we've got it compiled. What a terrific tool this will be!

Add more if you can!

Aircraft-Accessible Aviation Museums



1. Rantoul, Illinois. The Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum You can taxi
right up to this one, and park just a few dozen feet away from an F-14
Tomcat. (Sadly, when we were there last month they had the back door
locked, so we had to walk around to the front of the building. This is a
giant hangar, so that was no small feat, with kids in tow...) See it at:
http://www.aeromuseum.org/

2. Topeka, Kansas. Combat Air Museum. Ditto above. Another great museum
located on the old Forbes Field air base.
See it at http://www.combatairmuseum.org/

3. Greenfield Iowa. Iowa Aviation Museum and Hall of Fame. Small, but very
good.
See it at http://www.flyingmuseum.com/

4. Ottumwa, Iowa. Airpower Museum and Antique Aircraft Association. This
is on a small, private, grass strip which is home to the most amazing annual
fly-in every summer. Call ahead for permission to land.
See it at http://www.aaa-apm.org/ .

5. Oshkosh, WI. EAA Airventure Museum. This one is only "sort of"
accessible by air. When I flew in during the winter in '95, I had to parkon
the opposite side of the airport (miles away) at Basler, and they drove us
over to the museum.
See it at http://www.airventuremuseum.org/.

6. Kansas City, MO (MKC) Airline History Museum

http://www.airlinehistorymuseum.com/



7. The Mid America Air Museum in Liberal, KS. It has about 100 aircraft in
it and on the ramp and is located on the airport at Liberal. One of Max
Conrad's record breaking Comanches is on display there.
http://www.swaviator.com/html/issueON99/liberal.html



8. College Park has a nice museum adjacent to the FBO "buildings". Of
course you have to have prior permission to fly in the CGS these days.
I've been through the fingerprinting and rectal probing required however.

9. The Virginia Air Museum at Richmond International is on the airport
property and one of the FBO's is right next door, so you can walk from your
plane to the
museum.

10. The Kalamazoo air museum is on the field and I can't remember if I got a
lift over there from the FBO or not.



11. The National Warplane Museum is right next door to the FBO at Elmira.
However, considering how much financial trouble they appeared to be in last
time I looked, I wouldn't bet on them still being in business next time you
fly there.

12. The Canadian National Aviation Museum
http://www.aviation.nmstc.ca/eng/english_home.html is at Rockcliffe Airport
in Ottawa, and it appears you can taxi over, but I've never tried it.



13. There is also the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton where
you can taxi up and park on the museum ramp. If you visit the museum they
will
also waive the landing fees. CYHM. www.warplane.com



14. There's a small WWII museum at PUB (Pueblo, CO). It's right behind the
FBO.



15. The Canadian bushplane museum is on the St. Marys river in Sault Ste.
Maria. Free docking if you have a floatplane.



16. WNC Air Museum is in Hendersonville, NC and is accessible by two
runways --- 0A7 and the Museum's own sod field. www.wncairmuseum.com



17. The museum at Santa Monica, CA http://www.museumofflying.com/ will open
in 2004.



18. The Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, CA.



19. Planes of Fame also has a branch in northern Arizona, at the Valle
airport near the Grand Canyon. I haven't been there, but have heard good
reports
from friends who have. http://www.planesoffame.org/valle.htm



20. Here's another: http://www.aerospacemuseum.org/gillespie/ Gillespie
Field Annex From a small one-hangar beginning, the San Diego Aerospace
Museum's annex at Gillespie Field has grown to become an integral part of
the Museum's aircraft restoration and replica reproduction program.

21. At McMinnville, the museum is across the street from the airport. You
can park where ever you want (within reason) on the airport and it's a
relatively easy walk to the museum



22. Around he The Museum of Flight (WHERE IS "HERE"? :-)



23. The small Olympia museum. The Olympia museum is a nice small museum,
and there's an FBO right next door with lots of parking.



24. the Tillamook hangar.



25. New England Air Museum at Bradley International Airport, (BDL) Windsor
Locks, CT. They have a website ,but it appears to be down.



26. The Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL is accessible from GA.



27. Reading Airport, Reading PA has a museum you can easily walk to from
one of the FBOs.



28. The Shuttleworth Trust Museum, Biggleswade UK. Grass runway as I recall
but it has been at least 15 years since I was there.



29. Castle Air Museum, http://www.elite.net/castle-air/. Right next
oor -- easy walking distance -- to KMER (Castle Airport, Merced), the old
Castle Airforce Base. (yes, you get 11,000' of runway to play with and an
apron built for dozens of B-52s on the way to the tiedowns). The museum
itself is great -- everything from an SR-71 and a B-52 to a Cessna "Blue
Canoe". I've spent several days there... (but the food there is dreadful).



30. The CAFÉ museum at Galveston and the Museum at Midland are both
accessible. I like the on in Galveston better, but the one in Midland has
more made up exhibits



31. Check this one out, I taxied right up to the front door and enjoyed the
visit: http://www.tnairmuseum.com/index2.html



32. The Staggerwing Museum at Tullahoma, Tennessee (THA).
www.staggerwing.com



33. Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight, near Lakeland, Fl.



34. Tennessee Museum Of Aviation at Sevierville, TN (Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge
Airport GKT) http://www.tnairmuseum.com/



35. Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, NC (CLT)
http://www.chacweb.com/

36. Petticord Foundation for Aircraft Construction in Asheboro, NC (HBI)
(704) 359-8442

37. Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, NC (FFA)
http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/indepth/grounds_menu.htm

38. Civil Air Patrol and Manteo Navy Aviation Air Station Museum in Manteo,
NC (MQI) http://www.fly2mqi.com/museum.asp



39. Lone Star Flight Museum, Galveston, Texas, KGLS. From their website at
www.lsfm.org -- "Fly-in visits are encouraged-Unicom 123.05"



40. Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Springs Airport, CA (KPSP)
http://www.air-museum.org/



41. http://www.southernmuseumofflight.org/ Located at the airport in
Birmingham, Alabama. Two blocks from Birmingham International Airport.

42. The Owl's Head Transportation Museum in Owl's Head Maine (RKD).



43. The Mid Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania, Carl Spatz Field
(KRDG) http://www.maam.org/ Request taxi to the museum. Open daily.
Don't miss their WW II weekends, usually the first weekend of June. "The
Museum's collection includes award-winning warbirds, classic airliners, rare
& unusual military and civilian aircraft and historic exhibits."

44, The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, Bradley Intl
Airport (KBDL). http://www.neam.org/cont_about.htm Inquire FBO about a
courtesy shuttle to the museum. Open daily.

45. The Aviation Hall of Fame & Museum of New Jersey at Teterboro Airport,
(KTEB). http://www.njahof.org/ Open Tues-Sun 10-4. Not sure about ramp
or courtesy shuttles, KTEB can be extremely busy, so best to call ahead.



46. Hiller Aviation Museum at KSQL on the San Francisco Peninsula.
http://www.hiller.org/



47. Pacific Coast Air Museum, Santa Rosa, CA
www.pacificcoastairmuseum.org

48. Castle Air Museum, A****er, CA
www.elite.net/castle-air/

49. Wings of History Air Museum, San Martin, CA
www.wingsofhistory.org



50. There is also a soaring museum at Morarity, NM and there are taxiways
all over the place.

--

Jay Honeck

Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993

www.AlexisParkInn.com

"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:



For example, some people didn't post what STATE their suggested museum was
in. Can someone familiar with the area please add this? Ditto with website
URLs, and anything else you might know.


Add more if you can!

Aircraft-Accessible Aviation Museums






24. the Tillamook hangar.



http://www.tillamookair.com

Just wanted to add to the Tillamook, Oregon listing.
I live 10 minutes by RV-6 from the Tillamook air museum. The building is almost
as interesting as the aircraft. It is an old WWll blimp hangar and is the
largest wooden structure in the world. There used to be two hangars but about 10
years ago one of them burned down while being used to store hay.

Great job Jay
Thanks
Jerry

--

Jay Honeck

Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993

www.AlexisParkInn.com

"Your Aviation Destination"

More info on the Kalamazoo Michigan Air Zoo KAZO
www.airzoo.org
Yes, you can taxi right to the museum.

My son, Father in law, and nephew visited the museum last summer. The
highlight was the SR71, but not only did we get to see it, we got a trip to
the restoration center where various parts of the SR 71, including the
engines had been removed for various reasons. This was a great hands on
tour on which we also got to view the museum's other aircraft that weren't
currently on display, but I'm sorry to say the guide informed us that they
may quit giving such intimate tours of the restoration center due to
insurance reasons. For those of you who have seen the Zoo's great
collection of Grumman Cats, ranging from the F14 Tomcat to the HellCat and
BearCat, flying at passed airshows including OSH, those days are over as
well. The director of the museum told us that their insurance carrier
reduced their coverage to a point where it is impossible to fly more than
one of the great cats at a time. The AirZoo's affiliation with the
Smithsonian Institute gives them the ability to "borrow" and restore some
remarkable and rare aircraft.

From Circlemichigan.com:
The Air Zoo, known as one of the world's finest aviation museums, in April
2004 will be known as the only aviation theme park in the world! Combining
the best of museums and theme parks - the "new" Air Zoo will delight and
amaze visitors of all ages, including live character actors portraying the
most notable names in aviation history. Talk to Orville and Wilbur Wright
after their historic flight at Kittyhawk or Charles Lindbergh after his
record-setting flight over the Atlantic. Groups can become part of the
mission over Nazi occupied Germany aboard a World War II Flying Fortress in
Michigan's only 4D theatre. A 3D theatre will put you aboard the space
shuttle, whose destination is a trip around the International Space Station.
Two carnival-style rides, depicting hot air balloon flights and bi-plane
rides will be featured inside the museum. See the world's largest mural (40'
x 400') as it portrays the history of aviation. In addition, full-motion
flight simulators, changing exhibits from the Smithsonian Institute, a
restaurant, expanded museum gift shop and nature trails will round out your
experience. The "new" Air Zoo will be the third building in a three-building
campus where each building features a different experience. A Flight
Research and Education Center will house an impressive display of World War
II aircraft, while the Flight and Restoration Center will be home to the
many ongoing aircraft restoration projects. The Flight and Restoration
Center is open by special appointment only.

--
Jim Burns III

Remove "nospam" to reply

Here are the proper details for the three I initially reported:

The Virginia Aviation Museum, Richmond VA
URL is: http://www.vam.smv.org/

College Park Aviation Museum, College Park, MD
http://www.pgparks.com/places/historic/cpam/

The Kalamazoo Air Zoom, Kalamazoo, MI
http://www.airzoo.org/

All three are walkable (a block or less) from the GA parking area.

26. The Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL is accessible from GA.

http://www.vacwarbirds.org

Warbird Airshow- March 13 & 14, 2004 See site for fly-in info.

33. Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight, near Lakeland, Fl.

http://www.fantasyofflight.com/
Note: Fantasy of Flight does not allow individual fly-in.
You must make prior arrangements and have a group of 10 or more planes.
Or participate in the Florida Pilots Associations fly-in
(http://www.floridapilot.com) .

Canadian Bush Plane Heritage Center and Museum

The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre is located in the historic former
Ontario Provincial Air Service hangar at the edge of the St. Marys River in
downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Sault Ste. Marie (also known as
the Soo) is located on the border between Canada and the United States at
the hub of the Great Lakes. It is easily reached through Ontario via
Trans-Canada Highway 17 or through Michigan via US Interstate I-75.

The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre is also an official, registered
water-based airport for floatplanes, as well as an excellent helicopter
landing site.
Canadian Federal designation PX8

--
Jim Burns III

Remove "nospam" to reply

There is also a small helicopter museum at Lenhardt's Airpark in Hubbard
Oregon.

- Carl -

Helicopter museum at Brandwine PA (N99)
One of the prototype V-22 Osprey sits in front.

Lexington KY has an air museum (KLEX) on the field that you can park in
front of.

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 15:43:05 GMT, Jerry Springer
wrote:

http://www.tillamookair.com

Just wanted to add to the Tillamook, Oregon listing.
I live 10 minutes by RV-6 from the Tillamook air museum. The building is almost
as interesting as the aircraft. It is an old WWll blimp hangar and is the
largest wooden structure in the world. There used to be two hangars but about 10
years ago one of them burned down while being used to store hay.

If you land on runway 1 at Tillamook, OR (S47), just continue to the
north end and then taxi to the Blimp Hangar. Otherwise backtaxi on
19. You can park right next to the door. There's an cafe for your
hundred dollar burger, although it's closed until March 6.

Jerry's right -- The Blimp Hanger is itself worth a trip. It covers
seven acres. Be sure to check out the basketball hoops at each end,
1072 feet apart, 192 feet high.

There's a free film about the hangar construction. It was planned
before WWII, and then after Pearl Harbor the builders were told to
rush, but not use steel as that was needed for other things. So they
used wood. Some of the timbers made from old growth Douglas Fir are
12x16".

- John Ousterhout -