The Aerospace Museum of California is an aviation museum located in North Highlands, California on the grounds of the former McClellan Air Force Base. It features displays of authentic military and civilian aircraft as well as space vehicle replicas. It preserves the history and mission of this former base as well as those of neighboring bases like Beale (active) and Mather (closed) Air Force Bases. McClellan Air Force Base closed in 2001 and became McClellan Airfield, a civil aviation airport.
Video Aerospace Museum of California
History
The museum was originally established as the McClellan Aviation Museum in 1986. It was chartered by the National Museum of the United States Air Force. In 2001 it incorporated as a non-profit organization. In 2005 its name was changed to the Aerospace Museum of California. In 2004 the museum moved to 3200 Freedom Park Drive, McClellan Park and in February 2007 opened its new 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) Hardie Setzer Pavilion enabling some of the aircraft to be displayed indoors.
Maps Aerospace Museum of California
Exhibits
The museum has over 40 aircraft in its collection from a fully restored Fairchild PT-19 to one of the last Grumman F-14D Tomcat retired from U.S. Navy service in 2006. In addition to aircraft, the collection includes many other historic artifacts relating to Sacramento's aerospace heritage. It also houses an extensive collection of historic aircraft engines. These include examples ranging from a World War I-era Gnome and Rhone rotary piston engines, large radial piston engines, and jet engines. Jet engines normally in the exhibit hall are GE I-16 (1940, Whittle design), J-57 #35 (1952), and J-58 "turbo-ramjet", used on the SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3+ spyplane. The museum features an art gallery containing more than 50 original works, many from the Air Force Art Collection and the United States Coast Guard Art Collection.
Notable Aircraft
- Lockheed F-104B Starfighter
- Douglas C-53D Skytrooper
- Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat
- HH-3E Jolly Green Giant
- Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
See also
- List of aerospace museums
- McClellan Air Force Base
- National Museum of the United States Air Force
Gallery
References
External links
- Aerospace Museum of California
- California Aerospace Academy
Source of article : Wikipedia
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