National Museum of Commercial Aviation

National Museum of Commercial Aviation
	Location within Metro Atlanta
Established	9 January 2006
Dissolved	7 December 2016
Location	Forest Park, Georgia, south of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
Coordinates	33°36′24″N84°23′36″W / 33.606748°N 84.393344°W
Website	https://nationalairlinemuseum.org/

Last updated April 18, 2023

The National Museum of Commercial Aviation (NMCA) was the nation's first comprehensive airline industry museum in the United States. It was located in Forest Park, Georgia, just south of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. It was founded in 2006 by Executive Director & Chief Curator Grant Wainscott. It was a public 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and was governed by a 12-member Board of Trustees, chaired by Captain Chuck Maire Jr. The NMCA was a collaborative effort between the non-profit Museum, local and regional governments, and hundreds of business, aviation and community partners throughout the country.^[1] The museum was closed with intentions of moving to a new location, but never reopened. The museum dissolved as an organization in 2016.^[2]

History

In 2003, a group of retired airline employees and civic leaders met to discuss creating a lasting legacy to the commercial airlines that helped make Atlanta home to the busiest airport in the world. From this initial conversation, a national movement was born, resulting in what is now known as the National Museum of Commercial Aviation (NMCA).

The NMCA is the first comprehensive airline industry museum in the United States, and is poised to become the nation's premier center for airline history and research, attracting visitors from around the globe. It is being designed to become a major tourism attraction and economic generator for the region, and to serve as a cultural and educational amenity for residents and visitors alike. The museum will take a broad look at all aspects of the airline industry, not just one particular airline or airport, covering everything from the birth of the airline industry to modern labor relations; from air mail to air cargo; highlighting every job in the industry and its value. Most importantly, it will preserve the artifacts and stories of the men and women who built the industry to what it is today.

In 2007, after years of research and planning, the museum selected and subsequently announced south metro Atlanta as its permanent home, followed by a major operating grant award from Clayton County, Georgia to assist with planning, research & other operating needs. As a result of growing public demand, and interest from the aviation community, the first Interim Headquarters & Research Air-Chive was opened in Forest Park, Georgia in March 2008. The Interim H.Q. was designed to act as both temporary museum and sales center to give the public an idea of what to expect further down the road, and immediately became a success.

More than 4,000 visitors came through the doors in the first 14 months open, and the demand for public programming, group tours, children's educational programming and additional exhibits necessitated a move into a much larger facility adjacent to the existing site. The current location serves as the center of operations for the museum, until the much larger main campus is built. The Interim Museum is open to the public, and contains various airline exhibits, an art gallery, children's activity center, research library, flight simulators and a gift shop. Educational and public programming efforts include an award-winning children's book club, monthly lecture series, traveling exhibits and rotating art gallery.^[1]^[3]

The first phase of the Permanent Campus located at 727 Airline Museum Way, Atlanta, Georgia 30354, is a 16,000-sf hangar which will house twelve new exhibits, cockpits and ground support equipment, the museum's growing collection, staff and volunteers. It is expected to open in 2013.^[1]^[3]

Facilities

Adjacent to the entrance corridor of the new international terminal under construction at the world's busiest airport, and in the shadow of the world's largest airline, the museum is preparing to break ground on the first phase of what will eventually become a 150,000-sf campus of buildings, aircraft, support vehicles, interactive exhibits, educational classrooms and learning labs, and memorial gardens.^[1]

Extremely good visibility from more than 800-ft of frontage on Interstate 75, direct & easy access to the airport, and tens of thousands of aviation employees in the immediate area will add to the feasibility of a "national" museum. The museum Main Campus will consist of several buildings, built in phases over a number of years. Main buildings will include a themed airport terminal covering the major decades of aviation, complete with loading bridges and full-size commercial airliners outside. Adjacent hangars and a first-of-its-kind Career Exploration & Learning Center will contain additional aircraft, classrooms and career exploration areas, theaters, archives and collections storage, themed cafeteria, and a restoration/maintenance shop.^[1]

The museum's vast array of interactive, high-tech and hands-on exhibits will help to: (1) Preserve American culture and heritage through historic aircraft and exhibits and by serving as a national archive for commercial aviation; (2) Empower youth in their formative years to connect with careers in aviation by providing a pivotal, hands-on experience, and (3) Connect the visitor to the past, present and future of air travel through interactive educational programming, and engaging displays of the early dreamers and risk takers all the way to today's corporate culture, engaging displays from the early dreamers and risk takers to today's corporate boardrooms. Special attention will be paid to the significant contributions of women, African-Americans and other important groups that make up the diverse landscape that is America.^[1]

Collection

The museum has a rapidly growing collection of more than 100,000 artifacts. Major concentrations include 500 uniforms dating as far back as the 1930s, advertising memorabilia, rare cockpits and trainers, 2,500 pieces of in-flight serving ware, vintage toys and models, and original artwork.^[3]

Most noteworthy in the collection include the world's only known Martin 404 Cockpit Procedures Trainer (CPT) in Southern Airways livery, TUG Technologies first TUG Tractor, and the cockpit of an ex Eastern Air Lines Martin 404, later owned by Ray Charles. The museum's aircraft collection includes a former United Airlines/FedEx Express Boeing 727, and a former FedEx Express/Mountain Air Cargo Fokker F-27 Friendship.^[3]

In 2013, aviation airliner artist Marc Y. Chenevert began searching for a repository to donate his vast airliner and art collection. Associates suggested to Chenevert that he contact the National Museum of Commercial Aviation and was introduced to Richard Grigg, NMCA Curator. The museum was highly interested in Marc's aviation collection and in August 2013, Grigg traveled to Chenevert's home in Asheville, North Carolina to accept the donation of his non Braniff International Airways airliner drawings Collection. The museum will also receive Chenevert's drawing desk and tools that he has used since the early 1970s. Chenevert's Braniff International Airways Collection has been donated to Braniff Flying Colors Collection based in Dallas, Texas.^[4]

Related Research Articles

The Convair 880 is an American narrow-body jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics. It was designed to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 by being smaller but faster, a niche that failed to create demand. When it was first introduced, some in aviation circles claimed that at 615 mph (990 km/h), it was the fastest jet transport in the world. Only 65 Convair 880s were produced over the lifetime of the production run from 1959 to 1962, and General Dynamics eventually withdrew from the airliner market after considering the 880 project a failure. The Convair 990 Coronado was a stretched and faster variant of the 880.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1980.

Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport is five miles north of Lubbock, in Lubbock County, Texas, United States. Originally Lubbock International Airport, it was renamed in 2004 for former Texas governor Preston E. Smith, an alumnus of Texas Tech University.

The BAC One-Eleven was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-seat airliner with a British United Airways order on 9 May 1961. The prototype conducted its maiden flight on 20 August 1963, and it was first delivered to its launch customer on 22 January 1965. The 119-seat, stretched 500 series was introduced in 1967. Total production amounted to 244 until 1982 in the United Kingdom and between 1982 and 1989 in Romania where nine Rombac One-Eleven were licence-built by Romaero.

Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 until 1982 and continues today as a retailer, hotelier, travel service and branding and licensing company, administering the former airline's employee pass program and other airline administrative duties. Braniff's routes were primarily in the midwestern and southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. In the late 1970s it expanded to Asia and Europe. The airline ceased air carrier operations in May 1982 because of high fuel prices, credit card interest rates and extreme competition from the large trunk carriers and the new airline startups created by the Airline Deregulation Act of December 1978. Two later airlines used the Braniff name: the Hyatt Hotels-backed Braniff, Inc. in 1983–89, and Braniff International Airlines, Inc. in 1991–92.

The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (NAMC), a Japanese consortium. It was the only post-war airliner to be wholly designed and manufactured in Japan until the development of the Mitsubishi SpaceJet during the 2010s, roughly 50 years later.

The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, Douglas reworked it after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range commercial transport market. Douglas built over 700, and many still fly in cargo, military, and wildfire control roles.

Pan American-Grace Airways, also known as Panagra, and dubbed "The World's Friendliest Airline" was an airline formed as a joint venture between Pan American World Airways and Grace Shipping Company. On September 13, 1928, a small single-engine Fairchild airliner flew from Lima, Peru, to Talara, Peru, which marked not only the beginning of Pan American Grace Airways but also the inauguration of scheduled air transportation along the West Coast of South America. From this short flight in 1928 to nonstop flights from New York to South America with Douglas DC-8 Intercontinental Jets in 1966, Panagra became the standard-bearer for transportation between the US Mainland East Coast and the West Coast of South America for 39 years. The "World's Friendliest Airline" merged with Braniff International Airways in 1967, and the combined carrier became the largest US airline serving South America.

Fort Smith Regional Airport is a public use joint civil–military airport located near the Interstate 540 freeway three nautical miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Fort Smith, in Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States. FSM is governed by the Fort Smith Airport Commission as established by the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas. It serves the transportation needs of residents and businesses of western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. FSM is currently served by American Eagle, the regional airline affiliate of American Airlines. It has a large population of corporate and general aviation aircraft. A full-service fixed-base operator (FBO), Signature Flight Support, provides service to general aviation, airline, and military operators.

Tupelo Regional Airport is a public use airport located 3.7 miles; 3.2 nautical miles (6 km) west of the central business district of Tupelo, a city in Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is owned by the Tupelo Airport Authority. The airport is mostly used for general aviation, but is also served by one commercial airline with scheduled passenger service subsidized by the federal Essential Air Service (EAS) program. Many college football teams visiting the University of Mississippi, 49 miles west in Oxford, fly into Tupelo.

Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport is 5 miles east of downtown Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas.

The Delta Flight Museum is an aviation and corporate museum located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, near the airline's main hub, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The museum is housed in two 1940s-era Delta Air Lines aircraft hangars at Delta's headquarters, designated a Historic Aerospace Site in 2011. Its mission is to allow visitors from around the world "to explore aviation history, celebrate the story and people of Delta, and discover the future of flight." Over 40 airlines in Delta's family tree can be found in the museum's collections and exhibitions. The museum is a nonprofit organization and relies on volunteers, corporate sponsors, donations, event rentals and merchandise sales. The Delta Flight Museum is considered an ongoing project and items are added to the collections year round.

The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Topeka Regional Airport</span> Joint-use civil-military airport in Kansas, United States

Topeka Regional Airport, formerly known as Forbes Field, is a joint civil-military public airport owned by the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority in Shawnee County, Kansas, seven miles south of downtown Topeka, the capital city of Kansas. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a general aviation airport.

The Sullenberger Aviation Museum formerly the Carolinas Aviation Museum, is an aviation museum on the grounds of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mid-Continent Airlines was an airline which operated in the central United States from the 1930s until 1952 when it was acquired by and merged with Braniff International Airways. Mid-Continent Airlines was originally founded as a flight school at Rickenbacker Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, during 1928, by Arthur Hanford Jr., a dairy operator. The Hanford Produce Company was the largest creamery in the United States with over 100 trucks in operation. The company was primarily a dairy but also sold ice cream and poultry. The Hanford's also founded and built the new Rickenbacker Airport and operated eight gas stations and several service repair garages under the name Hanford's, Inc. The airport was a division of Hanford's, Inc., but the service stations and garages were later sold to finance airline operations. Mid-Continent was based in Kansas City, Missouri at the time of its acquisition by Braniff.

The Boeing 747SP is a shortened version of the Boeing 747 wide-body airliner, designed for a longer range. Boeing needed a smaller aircraft to compete with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar tri-jet wide-bodies, introduced in 1971/1972. Pan Am requested a 747-100 derivative to fly between New York and the Middle East, a request also shared by Iran Air, and the first order came from Pan Am in 1973.

A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. Freight hubs include classification yards, airports, seaports and truck terminals, or combinations of these. For private transport by car, the parking lot functions as a unimodal hub.

The American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum (CRSM) is located on the campus of the American Airlines Flight Academy, which is situated at the southern end of DFW Airport, in the city limits of Fort Worth, Texas, and in close proximity to the world headquarters of American Airlines. The location is at the midpoint between Downtown Dallas and Downtown Fort Worth near the intersection of Highways 183 and 360. The CRSM has an exhibit gallery of approximately 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) and a 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) hangar that houses the Flagship Knoxville, a fully restored DC-3 aircraft. The museum also includes a 1,500-square-foot (140 m²) gift shop and a large-format theatre similar to IMAX.

Universal Aviation Corporation was an airline holding company based in United States.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Burress, Jim. "National Museum of Commercial Aviation Closer to Building New Campus". WABE 90.1 News. www.wabe.org. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
↑ "Georgia Corporations Division - NATIONAL MUSEUM OF COMMERCIAL AVIATION, INC". Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
1 2 3 4 Yeomans, Curt. "National Museum of Commercial Aviation becomes home of Smithsonian collection". Clayton News Daily Jonesboro, Georgia. www.news-daily.com. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
↑ Marshall, Alli. "Local artist Marc Chenevert donates his portfolio to the National Museum of Commercial Aviation". Mountain XPress Newspaper. www.mountainx.com. Retrieved 21 September 2013.

External links

National Museum of Commercial Aviation - Home site

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Burress-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Burress, Jim. "National Museum of Commercial Aviation Closer to Building New Campus". WABE 90.1 News. www.wabe.org. Retrieved 22 September 2013.

[2] "Georgia Corporations Division - NATIONAL MUSEUM OF COMMERCIAL AVIATION, INC". Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.

[Yeomans-3] 1 2 3 4 Yeomans, Curt. "National Museum of Commercial Aviation becomes home of Smithsonian collection". Clayton News Daily Jonesboro, Georgia. www.news-daily.com. Retrieved 22 September 2013.

[Marshall-4] Marshall, Alli. "Local artist Marc Chenevert donates his portfolio to the National Museum of Commercial Aviation". Mountain XPress Newspaper. www.mountainx.com. Retrieved 21 September 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]