Museum of Aviation (Warner Robins)

Museum of Aviation

2006 aerial photo of museum buildings and aircraft
Location within Georgia
Former name	Southeastern Museum of Aviation
Established	1981
Location	Robins Air Force Base, Georgia
Coordinates	32°35′24″N 83°35′16″W / 32.59000°N 83.58778°W / 32.59000; -83.58778
Type	Military aviation museum
Director	Ken Emery
Owner	United States Air Force
Website	http://www.museumofaviation.org/

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). As of July 2019^[update], the museum included four exhibit buildings and more than 85 historic aircraft, among other exhibits, on its 51 acres (21 ha).^[1] The museum is also the home of Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[2] 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.^[2] 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.^[2]

The museum opened its first office in 1982 after the acquisition of another private collection.^[2] 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.^[2] 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.^[4]

By 1988, the museum's name had changed to the Museum of Aviation at Robins.^[5]

In 1989, Georgia governor Joe Frank Harris signed legislation to create the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame, to be housed at the museum.^[6] Among the original inductees included Stone, whose collections had helped launch the museum.^[2][7]

In the 1990's, museum facilities expanded with addition of the "Hangar One" exhibit space in a former aircraft hangar.^[5] 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.^[5] In 1996, the "Century of Flight Hangar" added an additional 60,000 square feet.^[5]

In 2013, the museum announced that thirty-two aircraft were to be removed from display.^[8] 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.^[9]

A team disassembled a C-47 at the Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry in preparation to move it to the museum in June 2024.^[10]

The SR-71 Blackbird on display is the current record holder for the fastest flight airspeed. Serial number 61-7958 set an absolute speed record of 1,905.81 knots (2,193.2 mph; 3,529.6 km/h) on July 28, 1976, which stands today.^[81]

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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.

• List of aerospace museums

• Museum of Aviation

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