March Field Air Museum

The March Field Air Museum is an aviation museum near Moreno Valley and Riverside, California, adjacent to March Air Reserve Base.

History

The museum was founded in 1979 as March Air Force Base Museum. One of the first exhibits at the museum was a collection of art painted by Hazel Olson. It moved to a new location at the base's former commissary, where it reopened to the public in 1981. That same year, a B-29 was flown to the museum. The museum moved again in 1993 to its current location west of the runway along Interstate 215. Originally operated by the Air Force, the museum's operation was transferred to a nonprofit organization in 1996.

Exhibits

Outside, the museum has constructed Firebase Romeo Charlie, a reproduction of a Vietnam-era forward operating location.

Aircraft on display

The museum has over 100 aircraft on display.

* Aero Commander U-9A ''52-6218''
* Bell AH-1F Cobra ''69-16416''
* Bell P-39Q Airacobra – Composite
* Bell P-59 Airacomet ''44-22614''
* Bell OH-58 Kiowa ''71-61668''
* Bell UH-1B Iroquois ''62-12537''
* Bell UH-1D Iroquois ''66-0925''
* Bell UH-1F Iroquois ''63-13143''
* Bensen B-8M
* Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress ''44-6393'' " ''Starduster''" – This aircraft served as Lt Gen Ira C. Eaker's personal transport.
* Boeing B-29A Superfortress ''44-61669''
* Boeing B-47E Stratojet ''53-2275''
* Boeing B-52D Stratofortress ''55-0679'' – This aircraft flew 175 combat missions in the Vietnam War.
* Boeing KC-97L Stratofreighter ''53-0363''
* Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker ''55-3130'' ''"Old Granddad"''
* Cessna A-37 Dragonfly ''71-0790''
* Cessna T-37B Tweet ''57-2316''
* Cessna O-2A Skymaster ''68-11067''
* Cessna O-2B Skymaster ''67-21465''
* Consolidated PT-6A ''30-385''
* Convair C-131D Samaritan ''54-2808''
* Convair F-102A Delta Dagger ''56-1114''
* Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk
* Douglas A-26C Invader ''44-35224''
* Douglas EA-1E Skyraider ''132789''
* Douglas C-54Q Skymaster ''56514''
* Fairchild PT-19B
* Fairchild C-123K Provider ''54-0612''
* Folland Gnat ''E1076''
* General Atomics MQ-1B Predator
* General Dynamics FB-111A Aardvark ''68-0245''
* Grumman YF-14A Tomcat ''157990'' – This aircraft was the 11th prototype F-14.
* Grumman HU-16E Albatross ''1293''
* Hughes OH-6A Cayuse ''68-17252''
* Lockheed C-141B Starlifter ''65-0257''
* Lockheed D-21B
* Lockheed P-38L Lightning – Replica
* Lockheed R5O-5 Lodestar ''12473''
* Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ''61-7975''
* Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star ''58-0513''
* LTV A-7D Corsair II ''69-6188''
* Martin EB-57B Canberra ''52-1519''
* McDonnell F-101B Voodoo ''59-0418''
* McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II ''63-7693''
* McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II ''68-0382''
* McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II ''63-7746''
* McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle ''76-0008''
* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19
* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 ''0393215744''
* MMIST CQ-10A Snowgoose
* Nieuport 11 – Scale replica
* Nieuport 11 – Scale replica
* North American TB-25J Mitchell ''44-31032''
* North American F-86H Sabre ''53-1304''
* North American F-86L Sabre ''50-0560''
* North American F-100C Super Sabre ''54-1786''
* North American SNJ-4 Texan ''51360''
* Northrop F-89J Scorpion ''52-1949''
* Northrop T-38A Talon ''60-0593''
* Northrop YA-9A ''71-1368''
* Piasecki H-21 Workhorse ''53-4326''
* Republic F-84C Thunderjet ''47-1595''
* Republic F-84F Thunderstreak ''51-9432''
* Republic F-105B Thunderchief ''57-5803''
* Republic F-105D Thunderchief ''62-4383''
* Sauser P6E – Replica
* Schweizer TG-2
* Sikorsky HH-34J Choctaw ''148943''
* Stearman PT-13D Kaydet ''42-16388''
* Stinson L-5 Sentinel
* Vultee BT-13A Valiant ''41-21487''
* Vultee BT-13A Valiant ''N54865'' – This aircraft was converted to resemble an Aichi D3A Val Dive Bomber for the 1970 movie ''Tora! Tora! Tora!''.
* ''Wright Flyer'' – Replica

Indoor exhibits

Indoor displays include:
*A replica ''Wright Flyer''
*A section of a Boeing B-47 cockpit which was used in the filming of the 1955 film ''Strategic Air Command'' starring Jimmy Stewart.
*A movie played on a regular recurring schedule
*A German 30mm cannon and jet engines
*Missile and bomb cross-sections

Memorials

*A memorial to War dogs.
*The Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act, signed July 25, 2014, designated the memorial at the museum in honor of current and former members of the Armed Forces who have been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as the Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial. The national memorial was dedicated on October 27, 2010.

In the media

Television

The March Field Air Museum was featured on an episode of ''Ghost Adventures'' in 2018. The team of paranormal investigators investigated paranormal claims of artifacts being thrown out of their glass cases by an unseen force while in the Main Hangar, voices of children who died with their mother from the flu when they lived on the property before the Restoration Hangar was built, and sounds of soldiers preparing for battle while in the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter display aircraft.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

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Aerospace museums in California
Military in Riverside County, California
Museums in Riverside, California
Military and war museums in California
Museums in Riverside County, California
1979 establishments in California
Museums established in 1979
National Memorials of the United States