National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force

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National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force
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Location within Georgia
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National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force (the United States)
Established14 May 1996
Location175 Bourne Avenue
Pooler, Georgia
Type Aviation museum
FounderMajor General Lewis E. Lyle
PresidentScott Loehr
Website mightyeighth.org

The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force is a non-profit organization with a museum facility located in Pooler, Georgia, in the western suburbs of Savannah. It educates visitors through the use of exhibits, artifacts, archival materials, and stories, most of which are dedicated to the history of the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Corps that served in the European Theatre during World War II.

Contents

Among the many World War II exhibits are aircraft including a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that can be viewed while being restored, a model of a Messerschmitt Bf 109G fighter, and a 3/4-scale model of a P-51 Mustang fighter. Aircraft on display outside include the B-47 Stratojet, MiG-17, and F-4 Phantom II from the post-WWII Cold War era.

History

Planning for a museum dedicated to the Eighth Air Force began in 1983. Thirteen years later, on 14 May 1996, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum opened to the public. [1]

A 2003 statute named the museum as the official State of Georgia center for character education. [2] The museum received a B-17 project from the National Air and Space Museum in January 2009. [3] In February 2011, a fire truck that was used at Hunter Army Airfield during World War II was donated to the museum. [4]

Areas

Aircraft on display

Photos

See also

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References

  1. Gerami, Kayvon (8 April 2008). "Founder of Mighty Eighth Museum dies". Savannah Now. GateHouse Media. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  2. Summary of General Statutes Enacted at the 2003 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia (PDF), p. 46, retrieved 26 June 2019
  3. Peebles, Will (16 January 2019). "Pooler's Mighty Eighth Museum celebrates 10 years with B-17". Savannah Now. GateHouse Media. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  4. Gould, Nancy (2 February 2011). "Hunter WWII fire truck retires at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum". U.S. Army. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  5. "B-17 Exhibit". National Museum of The Mighty Eighth Air Force. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Exhibits". National Museum of The Mighty Eighth Air Force. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  7. "Airframe Dossier - Boeing NTB-47B Stratojet, s/n 50-0062 USAF, c/n 450077". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 19 August 2019.

Coordinates: 32°06′56″N81°14′12″W / 32.11556°N 81.23667°W / 32.11556; -81.23667