  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 was purchased a site west of Vincennes and 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 was a German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It was notable for its excellent short field (STOL) performance and low stalling speed of 50 km/h. French-built later variants often appear at air shows. Compared to most other liaison aircraft of the period, the Storch was quite large and heavy, with its wingspan exceeding 14 meters and its weight slightly over 1,300 kg when fully loaded. It was significantly heavier, slower, and less agile than Allied liaison aircraft such as the American Piper L-4 or Stinson L-5, or the British Auster.
The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the 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, as it became the "backbone of American postwar [civil] aviation".
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 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 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, using wheels, skis and floats.
The Sikorsky H-34 "Choctaw" is an American piston-engined military helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. It has seen extended use when adapted to turbine power by the British licensee as the Westland Wessex and Sikorsky as the later S-58T.
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 Naval Aircraft Factory N3N was an American tandem-seat, open cockpit, primary training biplane aircraft built by the Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the 1930s and early 1940s.
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 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.
The Palm Springs Air Museum (PSAM), is a aviation museum in Palm Springs, California focused on World War II aviation. Many of these aircraft have been used by motion picture companies in movies.
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.
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 Grissom Air Museum is a military aviation museum at Grissom Air Reserve Base near Peru, Indiana with over twenty aircraft on display.
The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located at the Cape May Airport in Lower Township, in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States.
The Hagerstown Aviation Museum is an aviation museum at the Hagerstown Regional Airport in Hagerstown, Maryland. It is focused on the history of the Fairchild Aircraft Corporation.
The Motts Military Museum is a military museum located in Groveport, Ohio.
