The Alaska Aviation Museum, previously the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, is located on

Lake Hood Seaplane Base Lake Hood Seaplane Base is a state-owned seaplane base located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The Lake Hood Strip is a gravel runway located adjacent to th ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

. Its mission since 1988, is to preserve, display, and honor Alaska's aviation heritage, by preserving and displaying historic aircraft, artifacts, and memorabilia, and to foster public interest in aviation and its history. The museum has over thirty aircraft on display, a restoration hangar, flight simulators, two theaters, and a Hall of Fame. It provides an emphasis on historic

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

, aviation artifacts, and

memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

that contributed to the development and progress of aviation in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, including

Bush flying Bush flying refers to aircraft operations carried out in the bush. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormally ...

, and the World War II Army base on

Adak Island Adak Island ( ale, Adaax, russian: Адак) or Father Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaska's southernmost town, Adak, Alaska, Adak, is located on the island. The isl ...

Overview

The museum is made up of the Main, Rasmuson, South, and Restoration Hangars; as well as a shelter. Also on display is the air traffic control tower cab used at

Merrill Field Merrill Field is a public-use general aviation airport located one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is owned by Municipality of Anchorage. It opened in 1930 as Anchorage Aviation Field and w ...

from 1962 to 2002.

History

The Alaskan Historical Aircraft Society was founded in 1977 and the museum opened to the public in 1988.

Collection

* American Pilgrim 100-B ''6605'' * Beechcraft Model 18S ''7728'' * Bell UH-1H Iroquois ''65-12849'' * Boeing 737-290C * Consolidated OA-10A Catalina ''44-33954'' *

Curtiss P-40E Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was a WWII fighter aircraft that was developed from the P-36 Hawk, via the P-37. Many variants were built, some in large numbers, under names including the Hawk, Tomahawk and Kittyhawk. Allison-engined Model 75 XP ...

de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing propeller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a bush plane and has been used ...

''1207'' *

Douglas World Cruiser The Douglas World Cruiser (DWC) was developed to meet a requirement from the United States Army Air Service for an aircraft suitable for an attempt at the first flight around the world. The Douglas Aircraft Company responded with a modified varia ...

''"Seattle"'' * Fairchild 24G ''2933'' *

Grumman G-21A Goose The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, an ...

''B-102'' *

Grumman G-44 Widgeon The Grumman G-44 Widgeon is a small, five-person, twin-engined, amphibious aircraft. It was designated J4F by the United States Navy and Coast Guard and OA-14 by the United States Army Air Corps and United States Army Air Forces. Design and deve ...

''1312'' *

Helio Courier The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light STOL utility aircraft designed in 1949. Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in Pittsburg, Kansas, from 1954 until 1974 by the Helio Aircraft Company. The design featured four lead ...

* Keystone-Loening Commuter ''313'' * McDonnell Douglas GF-15A Eagle ''74-0084'' *

Noorduyn Norseman The Noorduyn Norseman, also known as the C-64 Norseman, is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. Distinctive stubby landing gear protrusions from the lower fuselage make it easily recognizable. Intro ...

''507'' *

Piasecki H-21B The Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee is an American helicopter, the fourth of a line of tandem rotor helicopters designed and built by Piasecki Helicopter (later Boeing Vertol). Commonly called "the flying banana", it was a multi-mission helicop ...

''54-4004'' *

Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the Piper PA-11 Cub Special, PA-11 Cub Special, and traces its lineage back through the Piper J-3 Cub, J-3 Cub to the ...

''18-4459'' * Stearman C2B ''121'' * Stinson L-1 Vigilant ''41-18915'' * Stinson V-77 Reliant ''77-36'' * Taylorcraft BC-12D ''7265'' *

Taylorcraft L-2 The Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper is an American observation and liaison aircraft built by Taylorcraft for the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Design and development In 1941 the United States Army Air Forces ordered four Taylo ...

''5416'' * Travel Air S-6000-B ''967'' *

Waco YKC Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

''3991''

Hall of fame

* 2000 –

Noel Wien Noel Wien (June 8, 1899July 19, 1977) was an American pioneer aviator. He was the founder of Wien Alaska Airways. Biography Wien was born in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin, but the family moved to a homestead in 1905, to a place now called Cook, Minne ...

* 2001 – Ray Petersen * 2002 – Joe Crosson * 2003 –

Carl Ben Eielson Carl Benjamin "Ben" Eielson (July 20, 1897 – November 9, 1929) was an American aviator, bush pilot and explorer. Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska is named in his honor. In 1997 Carl Ben Eielson was inducted into the North Dakota Aviation Ha ...

* 2004 –

Bob Ellis Robert James Ellis (10 May 1942 – 3 April 2016) was an Australian writer, journalist, filmmaker, and political commentator. He was a student at the University of Sydney at the same time as other notable Australians including Clive James, Germa ...

* 2005 –

Robert Campbell Reeve Robert Campbell Reeve (March 27, 1902 – August 25, 1980) was an American pilot, who was the founder of Reeve Aleutian Airways. He was the Republican nominee for the 1952 House election against incumbent Bob Bartlett. Childhood Reeve was born ...

* 2006 – Merle "Mudhole" Smith * 2007 –

Russel Merrill Russel ("Russ") Hyde Merrill (April 8, 1894 – September 16, 1929) was an Alaskan aviation pioneer. Early life Born on 8 April 1894 in Des Moines, Iowa, he attended Grinnell College for three years before transferring to Cornell. Before graduatin ...

* 2008 – Art Woodley * 2009 – Ruth M. Jefford * 2010 – Sheldon B. "Shell" Simmons * 2011 ** Harold Gillam, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** Ed Rasmuson, Lifetime Achievement Award ** Rita & Bobby Sholton, Aviation Entrepreneur Award * 2012 ** A.A. Bennett, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** Lowell Thomas, Lifetime Achievement Award ** Eva & Wilfred Ryan, Aviation Entrepreneur Award * 2013 ** Dottie & Jim Magoffin, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** Rex Bishopp, Lifetime Achievement Award ** Cliff Everts, Aviation Entrepreneur Award * 2014 ** Bill English, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** F. Atlee Dodge, Lifetime Achievement Award ** Jack Peck, Aviation Entrepreneur Award * 2015 ** Frank Dorbandt, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** George Pappas, Lifetime Achievement Award ** Oren Hudson, Aviation Entrepreneur Award * 2016 ** Stephen E. Mills, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** Lavelle & Dick Betz, Lifetime Achievement Award ** Harold Esmailka, Aviation Entrepreneur Award * 2017 ** Sam O. White, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** Holger "Jorgy" Jorgensen, Lifetime Achievement Award ** J. Vic Brown, Aviation Entrepreneur Award * 2018 ** Kenny Neese, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** Mike Hunt, Lifetime Achievement Award ** Carl Brady, Aviation Entrepreneur Award * 2019 ** Leon "Babe" Alsworth, Explorer & Pathfinder Award ** Jim Jansen, Lifetime Achievement Award ** Hans Roald Amundsen, Aviation Entrepreneur Award

References

External links