The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum is an

aviation museum An aviation museum, air museum, or air and space museum is a museum exhibiting the history and cultural artifacts, artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual, replica or accurate reproduction aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, P ...

located at the

Cape May Airport Cape May Airport or Cape May County Airport is a public use airport in Lower Township, Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, the airport is four nautical miles (7 km) northwest o ...

in Lower Township, in

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are fiv ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States.

History

The

, which hosts the museum, was originally constructed by the U.S. Navy from 1941 to 1942. Commissioned in April 1943 as Naval Air Station Rio Grande, the field was so named due to its proximity to the community of

Rio Grande, New Jersey Rio Grande () is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Middle Township and Lower Township in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. Though for the 1990 to 2010 U.S. censuses the CDP was entirely loc ...

. Due to problems with mail, telegram and telephone service, caused in part by confusion with Rio Grande City, Texas, the Navy opted to rename the airfield as Naval Air Station Wildwood in June 1943. Hughs Cayuse OH-6A NASW

In the mid-1990s, Dr. Joseph Salvatore purchased Hangar #1, which was then in a dilapidated condition. The museum is located in the airport's Hangar #1, which is typical of the design of many U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aircraft hangars of the 1940s, many of which are still in use today at both active Naval Air Stations, Marine Corps Air Stations and Coast Guard Air Stations across the United States, as well as other civilian airports that formerly served as air stations. The museum's hangar is currently listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The museum's aircraft collection focuses on

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when the U.S. Navy conducted training operations at the site, but also includes more recent vintage military aircraft from the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and the post-Cold War period. The museum suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Aircraft on display

The museum's collection includes: * Air & Space 18A ''18-59'' *

Bell AH-1 Cobra The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake. The A ...

''67-15633'' * Bell EH-1X Iroquois ''69-15905'' * Bell UH-1M Iroquois * Boeing-Stearman N2S-3 Kaydet ''38073'' * Boeing-Stearman PT-17 Kaydet ''40-1825'' * Cessna 150 * Cessna OE-2 Bird Dog ''140090'' *

Douglas A-4A Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic aircraft, subsonic Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta wing, delta-wi ...

''142180'' * General Dynamics F-16B Fighting Falcon ''78-0088'' *

Grumman F-14B Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after t ...

''161422'' *

Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

* Grumman TBM-3E Avenger ''86180'' *

Hughes OH-6 Cayuse The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse is a single-engine light helicopter that was designed and produced by the American aerospace company Hughes Helicopters. Its formal name is derived from the Cayuse people while its "Loach" nickname comes from the acronym f ...

''67-16638'' *

Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

''10055'' * Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star ''10056'' * McCulloch J-2 *

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...

''1961'' * North American T-28C Trojan ''140557'' *

Northrop F-5E Tiger II The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and the ...

''741572'' *

Sikorsky HH-52A Seaguard The Sikorsky HH-52 Seaguard (company designation S-62) was an early amphibious helicopter designed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It was the first of the company's amphibious rotorcraft to fly. The S-62 ...

''1462'' * Vultee BT-13 Valiant ''42-88708'' *

V-2 The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed ...

rocket – replica NASW Cessna 150.jpg, Cessna 150 Sikorsky Seaguard NASW.jpg, Sikorsky Seaguard TBM-3E Avenger.JPG, TBM-3E Avenger T-28C Trojan NASW.jpg, T-28C Trojan Vultee BT-13 Valient NASW.jpg, Vultee BT-13 Valiant MIG 15 NASW air intake.jpg , MiG-15

References

External links

* {{authority control Aerospace museums in New Jersey Maritime museums in New Jersey Military and war museums in New Jersey Wildwood Museums in Cape May County, New Jersey Museums established in 1997 1997 establishments in New Jersey Lower Township, New Jersey

History

Aircraft on display

See also

References

External links