 The front of the Don Sheldon Building | |
  Location within Alaska | |
Former name |
|
|---|---|
| Established | 1967 |
| Location | Wasilla, Alaska |
| Coordinates | 61°34′39″N149°32′42″W / 61.5774°N 149.5450°W |
| Type | Transportation museum |
| Website | www |
The Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry is a transportation museum located near Wasilla Airport in Wasilla, Alaska.
As part of the 1967 Alaska Centennial celebrations, an effort was begun to collect the history of Alaskan aviation. [lower-alpha 1] In June of that year, the Centennial Aviation Progress Museum Committee first met under the chairmanship of Jack Peck. However, within a year the project was taken over by the state, which expanded the scope to all transportation in Alaska. [1] It was developed into the Centennial Train – six former World War II troop cars with exhibits that toured the state. Afterwards, it was placed on display next to the museum. [2]
On 5 September 1973, the museum was destroyed by a fire. 85 to 90 percent of the collection, including at least seven airplanes and many other vehicles, were lost. [3] [lower-alpha 2] The museum was already suffering from financial problems before the fire and requested funding from the state to help it recover. [5]
It moved to an 8,000 sq ft (740 m2) building the Alaska Stair Fairgrounds in Palmer in 1976 where it became the Alaska Historical and Transportation Museum. [2] [6] The funding from the state; $80,000; came through the following year. [7]
However, in 1985, the Alaska State Fair announced it would not renew the museum's lease when it ended in 1987. As a result, the museum changed its name to the Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry and began searching for a new location. [8] In October 1990, it began moving to 10 acres (0.040 km2) it purchased on Jacobsen Lake near Wasilla. [9] [lower-alpha 3]
Exhibits at the museum include radio communication vacuum tubes, automobile fuel and the Whitney Section House. [11] There are also collections of vehicles including snowmobiles, and agricultural machinery. [12]
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 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, capable of being fitted with wheels, skis or floats.
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 Fairchild Model 24, also called the Fairchild Model 24 Argus and UC-61 Forwarder, is a four-seat, single-engine monoplane light transport aircraft designed by the Fairchild Aviation Corporation in the 1930s. It was adopted by the United States Army Air Corps as UC-61 and also by the Royal Air Force. The Model 24 was itself a development of previous Fairchild models and became a successful civil and military utility aircraft.
The Beechcraft Model 18 is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to November 1969, over 9,000 were built, making it one of the world's most widely used light aircraft. Sold worldwide as a civilian executive, utility, cargo aircraft, and passenger airliner on tailwheels, nosewheels, skis, or floats, it was also used as a military aircraft.
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 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 Alaska Aviation Museum, previously the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, is located on Lake Hood Seaplane Base in Anchorage, Alaska. Its mission since 1988, is to preserve, display, and honor Alaska's aviation heritage, by preserving and displaying historic aircraft, artifacts, and memorabilia, and to foster public interest in aviation and its history. The museum has over thirty aircraft on display, a restoration hangar, flight simulators, two theaters, and a Hall of Fame. It provides an emphasis on historic aircraft, aviation artifacts, and memorabilia that contributed to the development and progress of aviation in Alaska, including Bush flying, and the World War II Army base on Adak Island.
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 Malmstrom Museum is an aviation museum located at Malmstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls, Montana.
The Mid America Flight Museum is an aviation museum located at the Mount Pleasant Regional Airport in Mount Pleasant, Texas.
The Pioneer Air Museum is an aviation museum located at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, Alaska.
The Heritage in Flight Museum is an aviation museum located at the Logan County Airport in Lincoln, Illinois.
The Historical Aircraft Squadron is a non-profit organization located at the Fairfield County Airport in Carroll, Ohio focused on aviation history.
