'No Foolin' – We’ve Got a Great Hangar Talk and Fantastic Flying Demo for April 1, 2023!

Doors will open at 9:00am and Hangar Talk begins at 10:30am and lasts until 12:00pm. Regular admission prices are in effect and Museum Members always get in free!

This month, Hangar Talk promises some engaging presentations that will take us back in time.  Our Flying Demo features one of our most popular aircraft – the Museum’s Lockheed P-38J “Lightning.”

Here’s What’s Happening During Hangar Talk:

“Hooray for Hollywood” Conclusion

During the four years that America fought in World War II, the Hollywood Film Industry worked overtime to help the nation through the conflict.  From work in Recruitment, Training, Morale Boosting, and Fundraising, thousands of Hollywood actors and technicians kept our fighting forces and the public informed and motivated to the cause.  But in our final presentation of this four part series, we’ll take a look at the men and women of the film industry who served their nation in uniform.  In Part One, we looked at four such men – Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Gene Autry, and Jackie Coogan.  Now we’ll dive deeper into several other veterans of this conflict – many who would achieve stardom in the decades after the conflict was over.

80 Years Ago This Month – the Yamamoto Shootdown.

It was the first time in United States history that the military targeted an individual for destruction.  But in the case of Japanese Imperial Navy Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, when the opportunity came to remove him from his position as the chief Japanese strategist of the Pacific War, the Army Air Force jumped into action.  The Museum’s Richard Malvino will take us back to 80 years ago this month in a day by day, step by step analysis of this crucial, conflict-changing event.

TED Talk: Dick Merrill - An Ordinary Guy Who Lived an Extraordinary Life

As only the Museum’s Ted Mount can, this month’s TED Talk focuses on a little known but remarkable figure in aviation history.  Ted will take an up-close look at aviator Dick Merrill, who amassed an amazing 45,000 hours in the air over the course of fifty years.  He saw aviation go from a series of rickety aircraft barnstorming across the country to supersonic passenger travel.  And he was part of it all.  

Flying Demo of the Lockheed P-38J “Lightning”

This month we fly another of our most popular aircraft – the crowd-pleasing Lockheed P-38J “Lightning.”

Considered one of the best fighter aircraft of the second world war, this twin-engine demon fought in multiple theaters.  The two leading aces of World War II both flew the Lightning, and it was key in several critical battles, including the Yamamoto Shootdown discussed during Hangar Talk.

The Flying Demo will begin at 12:15pm and feature a brief presentation by Richard Malvino of the Museum followed by engine-start directly in front of the crowd.  The aircraft will taxi away and then we’ll conduct our “Members Only Raffle” which will feature a free flight in the Museum’s Vultee BT-13B “Valiant.”  

We’ll then thrill to the sights of the “Lightning” flying over the Museum for twenty minutes and upon its return, guests will be able to ask questions of her pilot, longtime Museum flyer, Kevin Eldridge.

In addition to all of the above, we’ll have food trucks on hand, our Museum Guides will tell you the stories of the Museum and its world-renowned collection, they’ll be fun for the kids, and our B-17 will be open for visitors to tour the inside.  A great way to spend the day at Planes of Fame!