The Kansas Aviation Museum is a museum located in Wichita, Kansas, near 31st South and George Washington Blvd. The building, designed by Glen H. Thomas, served as Wichita Municipal Airport's terminal from 1935 to 1954. In February of 2024, the Wichita City Council approved an honorary renaming of George Washington Blvd. as "Air Capital Blvd", in recognition of the city's aviation impact.
The Museum features many display aircraft, most of them made in Kansas, including Boeing jets (WB-47E Stratojet, B-52D Stratofortress, KC-135 Stratotanker, 727 and 737), Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, Lockheed T-33, Beech Starship, Cessna T-37, Learjet 23, Cessna 500/501 Prototype, Stearman 4D "Texaco 11", Stearman Kaydet WWII trainer biplane, 1920 Laird Swallow, 1926 Super Swallow, 1930 Watkins Skylark SL, 1944 Beech Staggerwing, U-8 Seminole, Beech Bonanza, Beech Jet Mentor, Cessna 310, Cessna Skymaster/O-2, Cessna 206, and Mooney Mite. Various other light aircraft, including homebuilt, light-sport and ultralight aircraft are included.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the "Administration Building" in 1990. It has also been known as "Building One". and
History and architecture In 1927, the city purchased 640 acres of prairie, the site of airshows dating back to 1924. In June 1930 ceremony, L.W. Clapp broke ground as construction of the administrative building commenced. However, the Great Depression delayed progress until Works Progress Administration funds became available in 1934. On 31 March 1935, the building was dedicated. In 1941, the United States Army Air Corps leased the airport, added the upper control tower, and commenced operations by March 1942. Wings were added to both sides of the terminal as the army's procurement division supervised delivery of Boeing Kaydets and B-29s. By 1944, a take off or landing was occurring every 90 seconds. At the end of WWII, the airport returned to civilian use.
Several luminaries passed through the terminal, including Charles Lindbergh, Eleanore Whitney, Hopalang Cassidy, Fred Astaire, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and Wiley Post
In 1951, the airport was acquired by the US Air Force for B-47 use, and renamed Wichita Air Force Base. Civilian use continued until 1954, when the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport opened, and the base was renamed McConnell.
The Air Force continued to use the building (called Building One) until about 1984 when they shut the doors and abandoned it marking it off as surplus. It sat empty and partially gutted for at least six years until the Kansas Aviation Museum was formed in 1990 and began work.
The Kansas Aviation Museum is one of only a few museums that allow visitors to enter its exhibition aircraft. The museum operates a once yearly "Play on a Plane Day".
The museum suffered light water damage from a storm 17 June 2025.
Gallery
See also Cosmosphere in Hutchinson Combat Air Museum in Topeka Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal Kansas World War II army airfields List of aerospace museums List of museums in Kansas
References
External links
Wings Over Kansas: Aviation Hall of Fame Inductees 1986–1999 List Administrative Building from the National Park Service site Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary [ Administrative Building NRHP Application (12 page PDF)] - National Park Service