Sunday, June 21, 2015

Airplane museums are worth a visit

The Nicholas-Beazley-3, (NB-3) was one of the first planes to have an aluminum skeleton which allowed it to be light and fuel efficient. This one is on display at the Nicholas Beazley Aircraft Museum in Marshall, Mo.   -  photo by Jim Winnerman



• By Jim Winnerman, Post-Dispatch



Perhaps you are familiar with several of the larger airplane museums in the United States such as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington or the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla. However, there is a preponderance of smaller air museums worth a visit, including several in Illinois and Missouri.

Many have only a few planes and exhibits, but they are probably run by experienced pilots and volunteers eager to talk to visitors. All are destinations for aviation aficionados, but each also offers an opportunity for the public to learn about flying. Many offer volunteer opportunities to help restore historic aircraft. Below are brief descriptions of several air museums just a short drive from St. Louis.

THE CHANUTE AIR MUSEUM

Rantoul, Ill.; aeromuseum.org

Situated in a hangar and spread out over the airport tarmac on the deactivated Chanute Air Force Base, this museum is home to more than 40 planes and numerous exhibits. “Most are military on loan from military museums,” curator Mark Hanson said.

A popular plane for visitors is the P51 H Mustang used in World War II. “With an elongated, bulbous front nose and impressive wartime record, it is a cool plane,” Hanson says. “Another historically significant plane is our XB47 Stratojet, the forerunner of the B-52. Only two were built, and the museum has the one remaining.”

Displays are devoted to the history of flight before the Wright Brothers, civilian aviation, the Korean War, the Tuskegee Airmen, and POWs and MIAs.

Hanson says the mission of the airport is to preserve the civilian and military history of Illinois and Chanute Air Force Base. “The base was opened in 1917 and was the location where over 2 million technicians were trained to work on military aircraft,” Hanson says. “We are off the beaten path, but a great place to visit.”

PRAIRIE AVIATION MUSEUM

Bloomington, Ill.; prairieaviationmuseum.org

Halfway between St. Louis and Chicago, this museum is home to eight planes, three helicopters and numerous exhibits on such topics as float planes, women in aviation, aerobatic planes and blimps. The main attraction is the F-14 used in the movie “Top Gun” with Tom Cruise.

Once a month throughout the summer an “open cockpit” day gives visitors the opportunity to climb into the pilot’s seat of the planes on display and talk to someone who either flew the plane or has in-depth knowledge about the aircraft.

“We are a very family-friendly museum,” spokesman Mike Sallee said.

GREATER ST. LOUIS AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

Cahokia; airandspacemuseum.org

This museum is quite different than most, including its location in “Hangar 2,” a 1929 historic brick structure at the St. Louis Downtown Airport (formerly Parks Airport.) Early aviators associated with the building include Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Albert Lambert, Oliver Parks, Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart.

Notable is the library collection of more than 250,000 photographs of airplanes and their detailed descriptions. The information is used by aviation historians worldwide. Also in the museum collection are several wind tunnel models of airplanes made by the former McDonnell Douglas.

The collection of 11 aircraft on display includes a World War II-era LK10 sail plane and the original trailer used to move the plane.

“The airport is also home to planes that pull advertising banners above the St. Louis metropolitan area,” says museum curator Mike Burke. “Lucky visitors might witness a plane pick up the banner on a hook, or see it dropped at the end of a flight.”

Many visitors include summer school groups and Scout groups working on their aviation merit badges. Through the Young Eagles chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association the museum arranges free flights for youth 8 to 18 interested in aviation.

THE HISTORICAL AIRCRAFT RESTORATION MUSEUM

Maryland Heights; historicaircraftrestorationmuseum.org

Behind the uninteresting doors of four hangars at Creve Coeur Airport are what Mike Burke, curator of the Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum, describes as “an unknown national treasure from the golden age of flight.” The collection includes 65 vintage biplanes and other historical aircraft. All date between 1917 and 1954 and most are in flying condition with oil pans under the engines catching dripping oil that keeps the motors lubricated.

Three of the planes exhibited were flown by Charles Lindbergh. A 1916 restored “Jenny” (JN-4) is one of only two known to exist. A Zenith Z6a biplane has an eight-passenger compartment in the fuselage, but the pilot flew the aircraft from a cockpit outside and on top of the plane.

Also on display is a 1930 plane made in St. Louis known as the Super Cardinal. The logo painted on the tail is virtually the same as the St. Louis baseball Cardinals’, except that the birds are perched on a propeller instead of a bat.

“Many of the planes are all that is left of that particular model,” says curator Al Stix.

NICHOLAS BEAZLeY AIRCRAFT MUSEUM

Marshall, Mo.; nicholasbeazley.org

In 1923 area residents Howard Beazley and Russell Nicholas formed the Nicholas-Beazley Airplane Co. in Marshall and began selling planes produced by others. The men also established a flying school in town that trained more than 3,600 pilots between 1924 and 1931.

By 1927 the company was manufacturing planes, producing the Nicholas-Beazley-3. When most planes were still wooden biplanes, the single-wing NB-3 was one of the first to have an aluminum skeleton, which allowed it to be light and fuel-efficient.

Townspeople purchased the last remaining NB-3 in 2005, and the plane was the catalyst for the establishment of the Nicholas Beazley Aviation Museum, which opened in 2008 where it is displayed.

Also on display is a “Flying Flea.” Built in 1935 in the then-shuttered Nicholas-Beazley factory, it was among the first home-built kit airplanes in the world.

Several large display cases contain more memorabilia about the airplane industry in Marshall, including Nicholas’ flying license signed by Orville Wright. Young adults can experience what it is like to be a pilot in a cockpit simulator.

AIRLINE HISTORY MUSEUM

Kansas City; airlinehistory.org

Commercial airline passengers who flew from the 1940s through the 1970s are probably familiar with the planes on display at this museum. Included is a four-propeller Super G Constellation, or “Connie,” distinguished by its triple tail design.

Also on display is a DC-3, the plane that replaced long-distance train travel after World War II. The aircraft’s legendary ruggedness is embodied in the often-repeated phrase that it is “a collection of parts flying in loose formation.”

The museum also exhibits a 400-seat, L-1011, by far the largest airplane to be on display in the bistate area.

Displays include a huge collection of photographs, artifacts, printed material, and audio/visual displays that present an authentic insight into an era in passenger aviation history. Uniforms, galley items, logbooks, personal mementos and much more bring the propeller-driven era to life.

COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE — MISSOURI WING

St. Charles; cafmo.org

This museum is one of more than 72 “wings” of the Commemorative Air Force. Located at airfields throughout the United States, the organization’s objective is to honor the men and women who built, serviced and flew all World War II aircraft by preserving a complete flying collection of all the planes used in the conflict.

The World War II planes stationed at the Smartt Field in St. Charles include:

• A North American B-25J Medium Bomber, one of 10,000 that had been built, each capable of carrying 3,000 pounds of bombs.

• A T3M-3E, the same model plane President George Bush was flying when he was shot down and then rescued.

• An Aeronca L-3 Observation Plane, which was used for enemy reconnaissance and to direct artillery.

For information on all air museums by state and worldwide, visit these websites:
• aero-web.org/air.htm
• aerofiles.com/museums.html

Original article can be found here:  http://www.stltoday.com


The P-51 H Mustang on display at the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul, Ill. 
photo by Jim Winnerman

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