The National Museum of the United States Air Force is 100 Years Old

Ken-LaRock-181027-F-IO108-001

U.S. Air Force photo by Ken LaRock, pilot Matt Kiefer

Story by Ken Kula, Photos by John Freedman, Howard German and Ken Kula except where noted.

History
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF) began as a collection of World War I relics in a hangar at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio during 1923. That’s a full century ago. It held aircraft and equipment from the United States as well as foreign countries. McCook Field was a U. S. Army flying field where experimental projects took wing. The airport was close to Huffman Prairie, where the Wright Brothers had experimented with their Wright Flyers between 1904 and 1910.

The humble beginnings of the Museum saw it as a casual collection, not open to the public. During the 1920s, the Army’s Wright Field was built on donated land nearby, and the Museum was moved to larger quarters in 1927. Through 1935, the collection resided in a laboratory building, but in 1935 a new building – built by the Works Progress Administration – became home to the growing collection of aviation airframes and artifacts.

With the advent of World War II, the Museum’s collection was put into storage when their quarters were repurposed for wartime use.

According to the NMUSAF’s web page, the next chapter in their development occurred: 

At the end of the war, General H.H. “Hap” Arnold directed the collection of items for the opening of a National Air Museum. The Air Technical Service Command, predecessor to Air Force Materiel Command, assumed the task of locating aircraft for the new National Air Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1947 the Air Force decided to re-open the Air Force Museum to emphasize aircraft technical developments, using aircraft and equipment not needed by the National Air Museum. Housed in Building 89, the collection was open by appointment only until April 1955 when it was opened to the public. It was located at adjoining Patterson Field in a World War II structure that had housed an engine-overhaul facility. Attendance in 1955 totaled 41,662 visitors. Since then, attendance has spiraled to more than one million visitors a year.

During the 1960s, the interior of the building limited development of the Museum due to the roof support post structure. Fortunately, in 1960 the not-for-profit Air Force Museum Foundation was founded, and soon plans were drawn up for a new-build museum structure. In 1971, a $6.5 million building measuring 800 by 420 feet in size was open to the public. This was specially designed to hold close to 100 aircraft. Five years later, a visitor reception addition was added to the campus, which resided on a 400 acre plot of land at Wright Field. These structures were all made possible by public contributions.

About a mile away from the new Museum, a storage facility opened in 1977. It housed Presidential and experimental aircraft. The Museum’s Memorial Park was developed through the 1980s and is still growing today.

In 1988, the Museum grew again, with an additional building of a similar hangar-style structure which holds the Korean War and Southeast Asia War Galleries. In 1989, a 500-seat IMAX theatre and new glass atrium opened.

In 2003, a third exhibit building, named the Eugene W. Kettering Cold War Gallery, was opened, and the Museum’s collection was restructured to a more chronological order. A year later, the Missile and Space Gallery opened. The tall building contains vertically-staged ICBM and satellite launchers.

In 2004, the United States Air Force Museum was re-designated as the National Museum of the United States Air Force. With this new identity, it joined the ranks of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida and the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia.

In June, 2016, a fourth exhibit hall, similar to the older three, opened to the public. This combined the outlying storage facility’s exhibits with the three main buildings and Memorial Park for the first time. These new Galleries are the: William E. Boeing Presidential Gallery, Maj. Gen. Albert Boyd and Maj. Gen. Fred Ascani Research and Development Gallery, Allan and Malcolm Lockheed and Glenn Martin Space Gallery, and Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner Global Reach Gallery.

Today, the NMUSAF contains 19 acres of indoor exhibits, numbering close to 360 aircraft and missiles, and thousands of artifacts. About one million visitors tour the huge facility each year. The four main hangar structures have insignias of the main focus on each Gallery – roundel, “Stars and Bars” and USAF wings.

Collection

The aircraft and equipment displayed within the exhibit structures are restored pristinely. Uniforms, motorized and non-motorized equipment and photos are sometimes presented in believable dioramas with and without aircraft near them.

The aircraft displayed are primarily aircraft made in the U.S.A. by American companies, but an interesting group of non-U.S manufactured aircraft are displayed too, from World War I and II through the Cold War and Desert Storm.

The Galleries within the Museum include:

Early Years Gallery

World War II Gallery

Korean War Gallery

Southeast Asia War Gallery

Cold War Gallery

Missile Gallery

Space Gallery

Research & Development Gallery

Global Reach Gallery (Old photo – while stored outdoors)

Presidential Gallery

Outdoors, there are the Air Park (with several missiles and aircraft) and the Memorial Park (Many hundred memorial trees, plaques and monuments).

Periodically, other featured exhibits not part of the permanent exhibition are presented indoors.

Amazingly, the Museum displays just a small part of its entire aircraft collection. The museum lists “On Loan” some 52 pages of aircraft it owns… most are found in museums or maintained as Gate Guards, some as far away as Europe and Asia, and countries near and far – like Canada and New Zealand. A complete list is found under the “Collections” header on the Museum’s web site.

 

Events

Several headlining events are held at the Museum every year; reunions, association gatherings and commemorative ceremonies. While the legendary Doolittle Raiders were active and alive, several reunions were held at the NMUSAF. A closed-to-the-public airstrip is maintained on the property, and during one of these, 17 B-25 Mitchell warbirds flew in to celebrate the event. The sound of 34 radial engines in formation made quite a lasting impression on many of the attendees and spectators.

For veterans to see (and sometimes even touch) aircraft that they maintained or flew appears to be quite emotional at times.

U.S. Air Force/Official NMUSAF emblem 

Conclusion

As a nation, we should look back and see the rich history of what has assisted us through some tough times, including conflicts and natural disasters. Additionally, triumphs made by technological leaps and bounds are worthy of our amazement of what was once “cutting edge”. Military aviation – specifically the Army and Air Force Branches – is well represented here for its contributions to our nation’s history. It is well worth the trip to Dayton, Ohio to see how things have changed in this slice of military aviation during its 100-year span.

The National Museum of the United States Air Force is open most days of each year, for more information about this national treasure, visit: https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

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