Kansas Aviation Museum

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Kansas Aviation Museum
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Kansas Aviation Museum (the United States)
Former name
Wichita Municipal Airport
EstablishedApril 19, 1991
Location3350 George Washington Blvd
Wichita, Kansas 67210 USA [1]
Coordinates 37°37′56″N97°16′25″W / 37.63222°N 97.27361°W / 37.63222; -97.27361 [1]
TypeAviation Museum
Visitors42,205 (2023)
DirectorBen Sauceda [2]
Website kansasaviationmuseum.org
Administration Building
LocationMcConnell AFB,
Wichita, Kansas
Arealess than one acre
Architect Glen H. Thomas
Architectural style Art Deco
NRHP reference No. 90000908 [3]
Added to NRHPJune 11, 1990

The Kansas Aviation Museum is a museum located in Wichita, Kansas, United States, near 31st South and George Washington Blvd. The building, designed by Glen H. Thomas, was the former Wichita Municipal Airport terminal from 1935 to 1954. In February of 2024, the Wichita City Council approved an honorary over-naming of George Washington Blvd. as "Air Capital Blvd", recognizing the impact that Wichita makes in aviation.

Contents

The Museum features many display aircraft including the WB-47E Stratojet, B-52D Stratofortress, KC-135 Stratotanker, Boeing 727, Boeing 737-2H4, Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, Beech Starship, Cessna T-37, Learjet 23, Cessna 500/501 Prototype, Stearman 4D, Texaco 11, Stearman Trainer, 1920 Laird Swallow, 1926 Swallow, 1930 Watkins Skylark SL, 1944 Beech Staggerwing, U-8 Seminole, Mooney Mite, and Lockheed T-33.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Administration Building in 1990. [3] It has also been known as Building One. [3] [4]

History and Architecture

In 1927, the city purchased 640 acres of prairie, the site of airshows dating back to 1924. In June 1930 ceremony, L.W. Clapp broke ground as construction of the administrative building commenced. However, the Great Depression delayed progress until Works Progress Administration funds became available in 1934. On 31 March 1935, the building was dedicated. In 1941, the united States Army Air Corps leased the airport, added the upper control tower, and commenced operations by March 1942. Wings were added to both sides of the terminal as the army's procurement division supervised delivery of Boeing Kaydets and B-29s. By 1944, a take off or landing was occurring every 90 seconds. At the end of WWII, the airport returned to civilian use. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Several luminaries passed through the terminal, including Charles Lindbergh, Eleanore Whitney, Hopalang Cassidy, Fred Astaire, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and Wiley Post [8]

In 1951, the airport was acquired by the US Air Force for B-47 use, and renamed Wichita Air Force Base. Civilian use continued until 1954, when the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport opened, and the base was renamed McConnell. [7]

The Air Force continued to use the building (called Building One) until about 1984 when they shut the doors and abandoned it marking it off as surplus. It sat empty and partially gutted for at least six years until the Kansas Aviation Museum was formed in 1990 and began work. [9]

The Kansas Aviation Museum is one of only a few museums that allow visitors to enter its exhibition aircraft. The museum operates a once yearly "Play on a Plane Day". [10]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) details for Kansas Aviation Museum; United States Geological Survey (USGS); December 8, 2008.
  2. ↑ Kansas Aviation Museum organization page
  3. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Administration Building / Building One". National Park Service. and accompanying photos
  5. ↑ "ICT History". Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  6. ↑ "History of the Building". Kansas Aviation Museum. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  7. 1 2 "McConnell AFB, KS" . Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  8. 1 2 Wichita, Where Aviation Took Wing. Greteman Group. 2019. pp. 65, 147, 160, 167. ISBN   9780981518206.
  9. ↑ "Airports and their Stories". AOPA Pilot: 73. May 2014.
  10. ↑ "Kansas Museum Opening Planes". 20 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
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