  Location within California | |
Former name | Moffett Field Historical Society Museum |
|---|---|
| Established | 1994 |
| Location | Mountain View, California |
| Coordinates | 37°24′41″N122°03′15″W / 37.4113°N 122.0542°W |
| Type | Aviation museum |
| Founder |
|
| Executive director | Jeff Wasel [1] |
| Website | www |
The Moffett Field Museum is an aviation museum located at the Moffett Federal Airfield near Mountain View, California, focused on the history of the airport.
Following the 1992 announcement that NAS Moffett Field was closing and the airport would be turned over to the National Air and Space Administration, a group of individuals established the Hail and Farewell Committee to collect historical artifacts related to the base. [2] The Moffett Field Historical Society was founded in May 1993 by Carol Henderson and Rose Lesslie. [3]
The museum originally opened in a 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) portion of Hangar One in 1994. For five years the museum was sponsored by the United States Navy Reserve. However, this ended when NASA raised the rent on the hangar in 1999. [lower-alpha 1] At the same time, NASA required the museum to install a sprinkler system. Three years later, in January 2002, the museum was forced to close as it was unable to afford the system. [5]
The museum reopened in Building 126, a former U.S. Navy recreation center, across the street from Hangar One in April 2005. [3] [6]
The museum opened time capsule in April 2007, but most of the contents were damaged by water. [7]
The museum began preparing a Lockheed U-2C for display in August 2014. [8]
The museum briefly closed in 2017 for upgrades to its HVAC system. [9]
The museum received an official duplicate of Rear Admiral William A. Moffett's Medal of Honor and sword in April 2018. [10]
A library is located at the museum. [11]
Exhibits at the museum include electronic warfare, navigation, the USS Macon, a collection of ship's silver serving dishes, Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, memorial, a collection of uniforms, aircrew survival equipment, a Link Trainer, the various aviation organizations at Moffett Field over the years and a room with a model train layout leftover from the building's time as a Navy recreation center. [12]
The museum hold a bimonthly series of STEM clinics. [23] [6]
The Gerard P. Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) was a national facility operated by NASA to support research in infrared astronomy. The observation platform was a highly modified Lockheed C-141A Starlifter jet transport aircraft with a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km), capable of conducting research operations at altitudes of up to 48,000 feet (14 km).
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.
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 Lockheed YO-3 Quiet Star is an American single-engined, propeller-driven aircraft that was developed for battlefield observation during the Vietnam War. Designed to be as quiet as possible, it was intended to observe troop movements in near-silence during the hours of darkness.
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 Patuxent River Naval Air Museum is a museum at Lexington Park, Maryland, first opened in 1978, which preserves and interprets the Naval Air Station Patuxent River history and heritage of advancing US naval aviation technology with artifacts, photographs and film, documents, and related heritage memorabilia from Patuxent River and other naval stations. The museum is dedicated to those who have employed their talents in advancing naval aviation research, development, testing, and evaluation.
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 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 Quonset Air Museum was an aerospace museum located in Quonset Point Business Park in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
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".
The Warhawk Air Museum is an aviation museum located in Nampa, Idaho.
The Historic Aircraft Restoration Project is an aviation museum located in Hangar B at Floyd Bennett Field in New York, New York.
The Heritage in Flight Museum is an aviation museum located at the Logan County Airport in Lincoln, Illinois.
The Santa Maria Museum of Flight is an aviation museum located at the Santa Maria Public Airport in Santa Maria, California.
The Minter Field Air Museum is an aviation museum located at the Shafter Airport in Shafter, California focused on the history of Minter Field Army Airfield.
The Pate Museum of Transportation was a transportation museum located in Cresson, Texas.