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The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located at the Cape May Airport in Lower Township, in
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
The museum's collection includes:
*
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
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 f ...
, 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 Cape May Airport, which hosts the museum, was originally constructed by theU.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
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. Due to problems with mail, telegram and telephone service, caused in part by confusion with Rio Grande City, Texas
Rio Grande City is a city in and the county seat of Starr County, Texas. The population was 14,411 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is west of McAllen. The city also holds the March record high for the United States at . The city is c ...
, the Navy opted to rename the airfield as Naval Air Station Wildwood
Naval Air Station Wildwood was a United States Navy airport located in Lower Township, Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, - The zoning map shows the airport in the township boundaries. about northwest of the central business district o ...
in June 1943.
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 ...
.
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 opposing ...
, when the U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
conducted training operations at the site, but also includes more recent vintage military aircraft from the Cold War, 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 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 Vietnam a ...
and the post-Cold War period.
The museum suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
in 2012.
Aircraft on display
The museum's collection includes:
* Air & Space 18A
The Air & Space 18A is a gyroplane that was manufactured in the central United States between 1965 and 2000.
The Air & Space 18A is one of the last three gyroplanes issued a Standard Airworthiness Certificate (September 1961) by the United State ...
''18-59''
* Bell AH-1 Cobra ''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
The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...
* Cessna OE-2 Bird Dog ''140090''
* Douglas A-4A Skyhawk ''142180''
* General Dynamics F-16B Fighting Falcon ''78-0088''
* Grumman F-14B Tomcat ''161422''
* Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat
* Grumman TBM-3E Avenger ''86180''
* Hughes OH-6 Cayuse ''67-16638''
* Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star ''10055''
* Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star ''10056''
* McCulloch J-2 __NOTOC__
The McCulloch J-2 was a small, two-seat autogyro with an enclosed cabin, one of only three designs of this type of aircraft to receive a type certificate in the United States. It was built by McCulloch Aircraft Corporation.
Design and d ...
* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 ''1961''
* North American T-28C Trojan ''140557''
* Northrop F-5E Tiger II ''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
The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of the ...
''42-88708''
* V-2 rocket – replica
See also
*List of museums in New Jersey
This list of museums in New Jersey is a list of museums, defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, ...
* List of aerospace museums
This is a list of aviation museums and museums that contain significant aerospace-related exhibits throughout the world. The aviation museums are listed alphabetically by country and their article name.
Afghanistan
* OMAR Mine Museum, Kabul - inc ...
* List of maritime museums in the United States
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