Oakland Aviation Museum, formerly called Western Aerospace Museum, was founded in 1981 as a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

operating an aviation

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

located at North Field of

Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

. It has over 30 vintage and modern airplanes, both civilian and military, and other displays that highlight noted aviators and innovators.

History

The Oakland Aviation Museum was founded in 1981 as a non-profit organization under IRS Code 501 (C) 3 under the name of Western Aerospace Museum. The museum's first home was a small room at Hangar 5 at Oakland International Airport's historic North Field. BoeingSchoolxx (5729224654)

In 1988, the museum was granted use of the historic Boeing School of Aeronautics hangar built in 1939. The hangar serves as the primary facility of the museum, providing indoor and outdoor exhibition space, aircraft restoration work areas, research library, and gift shop. In 2007, Western Aerospace Museum was renamed Oakland Aviation Museum with the historical mission refocused on the important legacy of flight at North Field and the surrounding area.

Aircraft collection

As of July 2022, the museum contains several original and reproductions of historic aircraft, including: * Wright EX Vin Fiz (replica) * 1946 Aeronca 7AC Champion *Boeing Hybrid Dirigible (1/50th scale model) * ERCO Ercoupe 415 C * Glasair SH-II RG * Kitfox IV 1200 * Jurca MJ-7 Gnatsum (P-51B scale replica) * Short Solent Mk. III Flying Boat *Thorp/Paulic T3B-1 * Kitty Hawk Flyer eVTOL *

Cessna O-2A The Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Design and develop ...

* Douglas KA-3B Skywarrior * Douglas NTA-4J Skyhawk * Grumman KA-6D Intruder * Vought A-7E Corsair II * TAV-8A Harrier * Hiller Ten99 (1099) Helicopter * Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-15bis * North American Aviation T-39 Saberliner *

Grumman F-14 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 the ...

* McDonnell Aircraft ADM-20 Quail Cruise Missile * JDT

Mini-MAX The Team Mini-MAX is a large family of single-seat, mid-wing, strut-braced, single engine aircraft, available in kit form for amateur construction. The first Mini-MAX had its first flight in 1984. Its name indicates its original design g ...

1600R EROS * Rutan Long-EZ

Aircraft engines

As of July 2022, the museum contains several aircraft engines on display, including: Pratt Witney TF30 at Oakland Aviation Museum

* Herring-Curtiss 4-stroke, 4-cylinder engine * Pratt and Whitney R-2800 twin-row 18-cylinder radial engine * General Electric J47 Turbojet * Wright R-3359 twin-row 18-cylinder cut-away radial engine *

General Electric J79 The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under li ...

Turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, a ...

*Pancake V-8 circa 1940 *Garrett GTP70

Gas Turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

* Allison T56 Series III

Turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

Pratt & Whitney TF30 The Pratt & Whitney TF30 (company designation JTF10A) is a military low-bypass turbofan engine originally designed by Pratt & Whitney for the subsonic F6D Missileer fleet defense fighter, but this project was cancelled. It was later adapted with ...

-414A

Turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...

Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a series of nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines built by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company from the 1930s to the 1950s. These engines have a displacement of ; initial versions produced ...

AN-1 9-cylinder air-cooled

Radial Engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

Elizalde Tigre IV The Elizalde Tigre IV, also known as the ENMA Tigre IV, is a Spanish four-cylinder inverted air-cooled engine designed and built by Elizalde SA shortly after the Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or Th ...

inverted 4-cylinder air-cooled (also known as a Tigre G-IV) *

Lycoming R-680 The Lycoming R-680 is a nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, the first aero engine produced by Lycoming. The engine was produced in two types, the E and B series; both are essentially the same. The B4E was available in a trainer version wi ...

9-cylinder air-cooled

Ranger V-770 The Ranger V-770 was an American air-cooled inverted V-12 aircraft engine developed by the Ranger Aircraft Engine Division of the Fairchild Engine & Aircraft Corporation in the early 1930s. Design and development In 1931, the V-770 design was ...

inverted V-12 air-cooled * Righter O-45 2-cylinder air-cooled *

Franklin O-200 The Franklin O-200 (company designation 4AC-199) was an American air-cooled aircraft engine of the early 1940s. The engine was of four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed layout and displaced . The power output ranged between and depending on vari ...

(4AC-199) flat 4-cylinder air-cooled *McCulloch 4318A small flat 4-cylinder air-cooled *

Heath-Henderson B-4 The Heath-Henderson B-4 engine was a motorcycle piston engine modified for use in aircraft. "The Heath Airplane Company's Model B-4 was an in-line, four-cylinder, air-cooled Henderson motorcycle engine converted for use in aircraft by modifying ...

4-cylinder air-cooled *Galino-Taski 2-cylinder air-cooled glider engine *Andover V-32 2-cylinder APU

Exhibits

The museum contains several galleries with exhibits, some of which emphasize the role Oakland and surrounding areas have played in the history of aviation. *

Oakland Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger fli ...

Aircraft Engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years ma ...

Room *

8th Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...

* General James Doolittle *

US 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 ...

Aviation *

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

* Women in Aviation *

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

* Transocean Air Lines *Legacy of

World Airways World Airways, Inc. was a United States airline headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia in Greater Atlanta. The company operated mostly non-scheduled services but did fly scheduled passenger services as well, notably with McDonnell Douglas DC- ...

* Trans International Airlines/

Transamerica Airlines Trans International Airlines (TIA) was an airline that offered charter service from and within the United States. It also operated scheduled passenger service flying as Transamerica Airlines as well as charter flights during its last decade. Its ...

Special events and tours

Oakland Aviation Museum offers group tours of up to 30 people for schools, retirement communities or organizations. The museum hosts a number of special events including Open Cockpit Day. Groups can rent the museum for their own event.

References

External links

Official website
Aerospace museums in California Museums in Oakland, California Oakland International Airport {{US-aerospace-museum-stub