The Museum of Aviation is the second-largest aerospace museum of the United States Air Force. The museum is located just outside Warner Robins, Georgia (near Robins Air Force Base). , the museum included four exhibit buildings and more than 85 historic aircraft, among other exhibits, on its . The museum is also the home of Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. Admission is free to nearly half-million visitors each year, which makes it the fourth-most-visited museum of the United States Department of Defense.
History The Museum of Aviation, originally the Southeastern Museum of Aviation, was founded in 1980, after World War I aviator Guy Orlando Stone offered his collection of aviation memorabilia to Robins Air Force Base under the condition that the base could build a museum to house it. The Air Force approved the museum in late 1980, and the Southeastern Museum of Aviation Foundation, a non-profit Organization, was incorporated in 1981 with the support of local civilians and base officials. Also in 1981, the Air Force Logistics Command, under General James P. Mullins, created its Heritage Program to preserve the history of Air Force logistics. The museum became a part of the base's contribution to the program.
The museum opened its first office in 1982 after the acquisition of another private collection. That same year, the Air Force approved the museum's ten-year plan, and fundraising efforts began to collect the $9.5 million in projected construction costs for a permanent museum facility. The museum's first airplane arrived in 1983; a total of twenty-seven airplanes were acquired over the course of the year. The museum officially opened to the public in November 1984 with twenty planes on display and twenty more being restored.
By 1988, the museum's name had changed to the Museum of Aviation at Robins.
In 1989, Georgia governor Joe Frank Harris signed legislation to create the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame, to be housed at the museum. Among the original inductees included Stone, whose collections had helped launch the museum.
In the 1990s, museum facilities expanded with addition of the "Hangar One" exhibit space in a former aircraft hangar. In 1992, the museum dedicated its 60,000-square-foot "Phase II" facility, later named the Eagle Building, which housed a theater, a diorama, and more aircraft, among other exhibits. In 1996, the "Century of Flight Hangar" added an additional 60,000 square feet.
In 2013, the museum announced that thirty-two aircraft were to be removed from display. Some of these were relocated to other museums, while others were scrapped on-site.
In 2019, the museum unveiled a statue of Eugene Bullard, the first African-American pilot to fly in combat. Bullard, a native of Columbus, Georgia, served in the "Aéronautique Militaire", or French Air Force during World War I. He was posthumously commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in 1994.
A team disassembled a C-47 at the Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry in preparation to move it to the museum in June 2024.
Aircraft on display
Bombers
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Boeing B-29B Superfortress Boeing B-52D Stratofortress Douglas VB-26B Invader Douglas WB-66D Destroyer Lockheed P-2H Neptune Martin B-57B Canberra Rockwell B-1B Lancer
Cargo aircraft
Beechcraft C-45G Expeditor Boeing EC-135N Boeing KC-97L Stratofreighter Cessna UC-78 Bobcat Curtiss C-46D Commando de Havilland Canada C-7A Caribou Douglas C-47A Skytrain Douglas C-54G Skymaster Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar Fairchild UC-123K Provider Douglas C-124C Globemaster II Lockheed AC-130A Spectre Lockheed C-130E Hercules Lockheed C-141C Starlifter Lockheed EC-121K Lockheed VC-140B
Fighters
Cessna A-37A Dragonfly Convair F-102A Delta Dagger Convair F-106A Delta Dart Curtiss P-40N Warhawk Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon General Dynamics F-111E Aardvark Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star McDonnell F-101F Voodoo McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle (gate guardian) McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 North American F-86H Sabre North American F-100D Super Sabre North American P-51H Mustang Northrop F-89J Scorpion Republic F-84E Thunderjet Republic F-105D Thunderchief
Helicopters
Bell UH-1F Iroquois Bell UH-1P Iroquois Kaman HH-43A Huskie Sikorsky H-19D Chickasaw Sikorsky HH-3E Sikorsky MH-53M Vertol CH-21B Workhorse
Missiles and drones
AIM-4D Falcon AIM-4E Falcon AIM-4F Falcon AIM-4G Falcon AIM-9L Sidewinder AIM-26A Falcon AIM-120 AMRAAM AIR-2A Genie AGM-28 Hound Dog AGM-88 HARM AGM-136A Tacit Rainbow AQM-34N Firebee AQM-34V Firebee II BQM-34A Firebee BQM-34F Firebee II Lockheed D-21 MGM‐13A Mace MQM-107D Streaker Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk TM-61A Matador YCGM-121B Seek Spinner
Trainers
Boeing-Stearman PT-17 Kaydet Cessna T-37B Tweet Fairchild PT-19A Lockheed T-33A North American T-6G Texan North American T-28A Trojan North American T-39A Sabreliner Ryan PT-22 Recruit Vultee BT-13A Valiant
Special aircraft The SR-71 Blackbird on display is the reigning airspeed record holder. Serial number 61-7958 set an absolute speed record of on July 28, 1976, which still stands.A-12, YF-12A, & SR-71 Timeline of Events
1896 Chanute Glider Aeronca 7AC Champion Cessna O-1E Bird Dog Cessna O-2A Skymaster Cessna U-3B de Havilland Canada U-6A Epps 1912 Monoplane Grumman HU-16B Albatross Helio U-10D Laister-Kauffman TG-4A Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird Lockheed U-2D Rockwell OV-10 Bronco Stinson L-5E Sentinel
Education center
The museum includes a non-profit education center called the National STEM Academy. The academy offers field trips and independent programs that integrate STEM disciplines with humanities subjects such as history and literature. These programs focus on career opportunities and workforce development. Activities, including field trips, workshops, and special events, are conducted at the Museum of Aviation, at school sites through outreach programs, and via live virtual field trips.
See also List of aerospace museums
References
External links Museum of Aviation