Established | 1981[1] |
---|---|
Location | Hill Air Force Base, Roy, Utah |
Coordinates | 41°09′43″N112°01′10″W / 41.16194°N 112.01944°W |
Type | Military aviation museum |
Collection size | 70+ aircraft [2] |
Visitors | 265,000 annually [1] |
Director | Aaron Clark [3] |
Website | aerospaceutah |
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.
Preparations for a museum began in 1984, when ground was broken on an "Aerospace Park and Museum". [4] [lower-alpha 1] The museum itself opened in 1987 in a World War II warehouse. By 1989, the original base chapel had been moved to the museum and rededicated. [6] In 1991, a new 9,600 sq ft (890 m2) administration building and 36,000 sq ft (3,300 m2) hangar were dedicated. [7]
The museum recovered a number of aircraft wrecks, including a B-24, B-26, P-38, and P-40 from Alaska in the mid-1990s. [8] [9] [10] [11] [lower-alpha 2]
In 1996, the museum became the home of the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame. [13] In 1997, it was alleged that seven years prior a number of artifacts and a C-131 were removed from the museum without authorization. [14]
The museum grew again in 1999, when a second display hangar was opened as the Lindquist-Stewart Fighter Gallery. [7] A mezzanine was added to the first hangar, now renamed the Hadley Gallery, the following year. [15] [7] An exhibit about Women Airforce Service Pilots was opened in 2004. [16]
In 2014, the museum announced it would be removing 18 aircraft from its collection. [17] Large scale repainting of the exterior display aircraft took place in 2015, with 5 airplanes and 2 missiles being affected. [18] For the twentieth anniversary of its opening in 2016, the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame was renovated. [19]
The museum completed the conversion of a C-130 fuselage into a classroom in 2019. [20] [21] [22] The museum embarked on expansion in 2021, building a new restoration facility and receiving $12 million from the state for the construction of a third hangar. [23] [24] At the same time, it was forced to announce plans to demolish its World War II barracks as it was too deteriorated to repair. [25] Ground was broken for the 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2) building and 7,000 sq ft (650 m2) connector in October 2022. [26] [27] The museum began moving aircraft into the hangar in November 2023, which was dedicated as the L.S. Skaggs Gallery the following May. [28] [29]
The museum is also home to the Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education, which is located inside a C-130 fuselage. [30]
In addition to its collection of aircraft, the museum also houses the Major General Rex A. Hadley Research Library and Archives, which contains technical and historical information related to the aircraft on display. [31]
Also onsite is the Col. Nathan H. Mazer Memorial Chapel. [32]
The museum has a number of exhibits about aviators from Utah such as Brigadier General Leon C. Packer and former senator Jake Garn. [33] [34] Other subjects include nose art of the 509th Composite Group and the Eighth Air Force. [35] [36]
The Lockheed JetStar is a business jet produced from the early 1960s to the 1970s. The JetStar was the first dedicated business jet to enter service, as well as the only such airplane built by Lockheed. It was also one of the largest aircraft in the class for many years, seating ten plus two crew. It is distinguishable from other small jets by its four engines, mounted on the rear of the fuselage, and the "slipper"-style fuel tanks fixed to the wings.
The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. The first C-119 made its initial flight in November 1947, and by the time production ceased in 1955, more than 1,100 had been built.
The Michigan Flight Museum, formerly known as the Yankee Air Museum, is an aviation museum located at Willow Run Airport in Van Buren Township, Michigan. The museum has a small fleet of flying aircraft and a collection of static display aircraft outdoors.
The Convair C-131 Samaritan is an American twin-engined military transport produced from 1954 to 1956 by Convair. It is the military version of the Convair CV-240 family of airliners.
The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum is a museum focusing on aircraft and nuclear missiles of the United States Air Force during the Cold War. It is located near Ashland, Nebraska, along Interstate 80 southwest of Omaha. The objective of the museum is to preserve and display historic aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles, and provide educational resources.
The Palm Springs Air Museum (PSAM), is an aviation museum in Palm Springs, California. Many of these aircraft on display have been used by motion picture companies in movies.
The South Dakota Air and Space Museum is an aviation museum located in Box Elder, South Dakota, just outside the main gate of Ellsworth AFB. It is dedicated to the history of the United States Air Force, the base and aerospace in South Dakota.
The Air Zoo, founded as the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, is an aviation museum and indoor amusement park next to the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport in Portage, Michigan. The Air Zoo holds many historical and rare aircraft, including the world's fastest air-breathing aircraft, the SR-71B Blackbird. Many of its antique planes are airworthy. Among its other attractions are a 180-degree theater that projects a 2-D film simulation of a B-17 bombing mission during World War II; and various amusement rides, including flight simulators of a rocket trip to Mars, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet, a stunt biplane, a hot air balloon, a veteran U.S. Navy F-14A Tomcat that served aboard USS America, and more. Air Zoo is a Smithsonian Affiliate.
The Florence Air & Missile Museum was an aviation museum previously located at the entrance to the Florence Regional Airport, in Florence, South Carolina. The museum closed at the end of 1997.
The Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum is a non-profit aviation museum located in Southern Colorado. It was founded in the mid-1970s by former Pueblo City Manager Fred Weisbrod. The museum is made up of two hangars that were built in 2005 and 2011. The hangars house several of the museum's aircraft along with thousands of artifacts dating from World War I to modern day. PWAM is home to the International B-24 Memorial Museum and the Southern Colorado Space Museum and Learning Center. There are several historic military vehicles in the museum's collection, many of which are still in operational condition. The museum is located six miles east of Pueblo, Colorado on US Highway 50 at the Pueblo Memorial Airport, occupying space on what was the Pueblo Army Air Base during World War II. It is managed and maintained by the Pueblo Historical Aircraft Society.
The Barksdale Global Power Museum is an aviation museum run by the United States Air Force on Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City, Louisiana. Hosted by the 2nd Bomb Wing, it maintains a large collection of military aircraft and historical artifacts that illuminate the early days of United States military aviation, the Barksdale base, and the formations of the 2nd Bomb Wing and the 8th Air Force.
The Aerospace Museum of California is a private non-profit aviation museum located in North Highlands, California, outside of Sacramento, California, on the grounds of the former McClellan Air Force Base.
The Grissom Air Museum is a military aviation museum at Grissom Air Reserve Base near Peru, Indiana with over twenty aircraft on display.
The Flugausstellung Peter Junior, previously the Flugausstellung Hermeskeil, is a private aviation museum in the town of Hermeskeil in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Chico Air Museum is a nonprofit aviation museum located at the Chico Municipal Airport in Chico, California. Its mission statement is to "collect, preserve, document and display aircraft, and aviation and space artifacts. The museum’s primary purpose is to educate and inspire people of all ages about aviation and the history of flight".
War Eagles Air Museum is an aerospace and automotive museum with several exhibits. It is located at Doña Ana County International Jetport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
The Malmstrom Museum is an aviation museum located at Malmstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls, Montana.
The Boron Aerospace Museum is an aerospace museum located in Boron, California.
The Pate Museum of Transportation was a transportation museum located in Cresson, Texas.