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Former name | Veterans Memorial Air Park [1] |
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| Location | Fort Worth, Texas, United States |
| Coordinates | 32°48′20″N97°21′20″W / 32.805655°N 97.355540°W |
| Type | Aviation Museum |
| Director | Jim Hodgson |
| Website | www.fortworthaviationmuseum.com |
The Fort Worth Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located next to Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. [2] The museum was rebranded in 2013 and was previously known as the Veterans Memorial Air Park. [3]
The Fort Worth Aviation Museum (FWAM) is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of aviation in Fort Worth, the North Texas region, and around the world. [4] [5] The museum displays aviation artifacts and provides historical interpretation on a variety of civil and military topics. FWAM operates under the charter of the OV-10 Bronco Association, Inc., [6] a 501(c)(3) not for profit corporation.
In addition to an air park with twenty-four airplanes, FWAM houses two museums. Along with the B-36 Peacemaker Museum, [7] the Forward Air Controllers' Museum [8] tells the stories of Forward Air Control (FAC) used in Close Air Support (CAS), the history of the North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco, and the history of aviation in North Texas with an emphasis on Air Force Plant 4 (currently operated by Lockheed Martin). [9]
FWAM's motto is "Bringing Aviation History to Life", and its mission is summarized as "Preservation, Inspiration, Education", or PIE. [10]
The VMAP aircraft collection consists of twenty-five warbirds dating from 1943 to the present: [11] [12] [13]
To expand community knowledge of aviation and it cultural and economic impacts on North Texas, the FWAM prepared a list of North Texas Aviation Landmarks and Sites. The list outlines twenty-five of some of the more important sites and presents a priority for officially recognizing those locations. [44] [45]
The Museum worked with the City of Fort Worth to establish First Flight Park in August 2013. [46] The park is near the site of the first powered aircraft flight in Fort Worth by Roland Garros and the Moisant International Aviators in January 1911. A Texas Historical Commission marker was placed on the site in January 2014. [47]
VMAP promotes the rich aviation heritage of the North Texas region through the Historic Aviation Preservation Project, or HAPP. VMAP is actively involved with the City of Fort Worth to identify and preserve areas, items and landmarks of significance to the history of aviation in North Texas and show how aviation transformed the region from cattle and oil into one of the premier aviation centers of the world. This includes cataloging and preserving items acquired from the recently defunct Fort Worth Air and Space Museum Foundation. [48]
In partnership with the Fort Worth Public Library, FWAM sponsors an annual book fair called "Women, Pilots, and Writers in Aviation." [49] Many of the featured authors [50] are on hand to sign books and talk about their work.
FWAM holds an annual reunion for Forward Air Controllers and Pilots who flew in the OV-10 Bronco. [51]
Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly 350 square miles (910 km2) into Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise counties. According to a 2024 United States census estimate, Fort Worth's population was 978,468, making it the 5th-most populous city in the state and the 12th-most populous in the United States. Fort Worth is the second-largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, which is the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the United States, and the most populous in Texas.
The North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is an American twin-turboprop light attack and observation aircraft. It was developed in the 1960s as a special aircraft for counter-insurgency (COIN) combat, and one of its primary missions was as a forward air control (FAC) aircraft. It can carry up to 3,200 lb (1,450 kg) of external munitions and internal loads such as paratroopers or stretchers, and can loiter for three or more hours.
Camp Taliaferro was a World War I flight-training center run under the direction of the Air Service, United States Army in the Fort Worth, Texas, area. Camp Taliaferro had an administration center near what is now the Will Rogers Memorial Center complex in Fort Worth's cultural area near University Drive and W Lancaster Avenue.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas region, in the U.S. state of Texas.
The Cessna O-2 Skymaster is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010.
The Cessna O-1 Bird Dog is a liaison and observation aircraft that first flew on December 14, 1949, and entered service in 1950 as the L-19 in the Korean War. It went to serve in many branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, was not retired until the 1970s in a number of variants, and also served in the Vietnam War. It was also called the OE-1 and OE-2 in Navy service, flying with the Marine Corps, and in the 1960s it was re-designated the O-1. It remains a civilian-flown warbird aircraft, and there are examples in aviation museums. It was the first all-metal fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army following the Army Air Forces' separation from it in 1947. The Bird Dog had a lengthy career in the U.S. military as well as in other countries, with over 3400 produced.
The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk is an American armed military observation and attack aircraft that was designed for battlefield surveillance and light strike capabilities. It has a twin turboprop configuration, and carries two crew members in side-by-side seating. The Mohawk was intended to operate from short, unimproved runways in support of United States Army maneuver forces.
The B-36 Peacemaker Museum is a non-profit organization "Dedicated to the preservation of the rich aviation history of North Texas".
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located 5 nautical miles west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military airfield is operated by the United States Navy Reserve. It is located in the cities of Fort Worth, Westworth Village, and White Settlement in the western part of the Fort Worth urban area.
Fort Worth Meacham International Airport is a general aviation airport located near the intersection of Interstate 820 and Business U.S. Highway 287 in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is named after former Fort Worth Mayor Henry C. Meacham. The airport covers 745 acres.
Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings.
Hill Aerospace Museum is a military aviation museum located at Hill Air Force Base in Roy, Utah. It is dedicated to the history of the base and aviation in Utah.
Steven Logan Bennett was a United States Air Force pilot who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Vietnam War on August 8, 1974.
The Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum is a United States Marine Corps aviation museum currently located at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California. The museum contains exhibits and artifacts relating to the history and legacy of United States Marine Corps Aviation. The outdoor exhibits include 31 historical aircraft, multiple military vehicles and equipment. Indoor exhibits feature photographs, artifacts and artwork from the early days of aviation to the present.
Biggs Army Airfield is a United States Army military airbase located on the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas.
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