  Location within Indiana | |
| Established | 1982 |
|---|---|
| Location | Vincennes, Indiana |
| Coordinates | 38°40′23″N87°32′17″W / 38.673°N 87.538°W |
| Type | Military museum |
| Founder | Jim R. Osborne |
| Website | www |
The Indiana Military Museum is a military museum located in Vincennes, Indiana.
Jim R. Osborne began collecting surplus military equipment as a child after his neighbor gave him a collection of German equipment he had taken as war trophies. [1] In the late 1960s, he started acquiring land vehicles as well. [2]
At the urging of friends, the Indiana Military Museum was founded by Osborne in 1982 and opened to the public in 1984 on Bruceville Road east of Vincennes. [3] [4] A pair of buildings slated for demolition were moved to the property and were the museum's first buildings. [5] The display space was further expanded in 1988 with the acquisition of a piece of a former Harold's grocery store. [6] The museum completed the restoration of an LVT-4 in 1991. [7] A major change came in the late 1990s, when the museum realized that it needed to focus on finding a new location. [8] A number of objects were loaned to the Casino Aztar in Evansville, Indiana for a temporary exhibit in 2000. [9] Shortly thereafter, the museum closed to undergo renovations supported by a grant from the Lilly Endowment. [5]
The museum purchased a site west of Vincennes close to the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, where it reopened on 31 May 2013. [10] It acquired A4D, F-16 and Lim-5R airplanes in 2015, a T-34 tank the following year and the sail of the submarine USS Indianapolis the year after that. [11] [12] [13] [14] The museum announced plans to complete a new 24,000 sq ft (2,200 m2) exhibit hall in 2018. [15] The expansion, reduced to 8,000 sq ft (740 m2), opened the following year. [16]
The museum is located on the 14-acre (0.057 km2) site of the former Blackford Window Glass Company factory. [8] [17] Plans made at the time of the site's purchase call for the construction of a 56,000 sq ft (5,200 m2) building. [18] The museum also has a library. [19]
Exhibits include a memorial for the USS Grayback that was moved from the Heslar Naval Armory. [19] Inside the museum, there are replicas of a 1940s home, the ruins of a French cathedral and a home front factory. [20]
The museum holds a number of events in the spring and summer, including a reenactments of Civil War, World War I, World War II and Vietnam War battles. [40] [41] [42] [43]
The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch is a liaison aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Fieseler. Its nickname of Storch was derived from the lengthy legs of its main landing gear, which gave the aircraft a similar appearance to that of the long-legged, big-winged bird.
The Curtiss JN "Jenny" is a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for the US Army, the "Jenny" continued after World War I as a civilian aircraft, becoming the "backbone of American postwar [civil] aviation".
The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw is a multi-purpose piston-engined helicopter that was used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom. United States Navy and United States Coast Guard models were designated HO4S, while those of the U.S. Marine Corps were designated HRS. In 1962, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Marine Corps versions were all redesignated as H-19s like their U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force counterparts.
The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of the BT-13 in USAAC/USAAF service was known as the BT-15 Valiant, while an identical version for the US Navy was known as the SNV and was used to train naval aviators for the US Navy and its sister services, the US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard.
The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is an American biplane formerly used as a military trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Widely known as the Stearman, Boeing Stearman, or Kaydet, it served as a primary trainer for the United States Army Air Forces, the United States Navy, and with the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Kaydet throughout World War II. After the conflict was over, thousands of surplus aircraft were sold on the civilian market. In the immediate postwar years, they became popular as crop dusters and sports planes, and for aerobatic and wing walking use in air shows.
The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar is 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 Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee is an American helicopter, the fourth of a line of tandem rotor helicopters designed and built by Piasecki Helicopter. Commonly called "the flying banana", it was a multi-mission helicopter, capable of being fitted with wheels, skis or floats.
The Sikorsky H-34 is an American piston-engined military utility helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. A development of the smaller Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (S-55), the H-34 was originally powered by a radial engine, but was later adapted to turbine power by the British licensee as the Westland Wessex and by Sikorsky as the S-58T. The H-34 was also produced under license in France by Sud Aviation.
The Ryan PT-22 Recruit, the main military version of the Ryan ST, is a military trainer aircraft that was used by the United States Army Air Corps during WWII for primary pilot training.
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is a naval museum located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, at the mouth of the Cooper River on the Charleston Harbor, across from Charleston.
Palm Springs Air Museum is an aviation museum in Palm Springs, California. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit leases from the city 17 acres abutting Palm Springs International Airport.
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.
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The Motts Military Museum is a military museum located in Groveport, Ohio.
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The Museum of Missouri Military History is in Jefferson City, Missouri.
