Alaska Aviation Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Alaska Aviation Museum

The museum in Winter 2019
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Former name	Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum
Established	1988 (1988)
Type	Aviation museum
Founder	Ted Spencer

The Alaska Aviation Museum is a super cool place in Anchorage, Alaska. It used to be called the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. You can find it right on Lake Hood Seaplane Base, which is a very busy place for planes that land on water.

Since 1988, the museum's main job has been to save and show off Alaska's amazing history with airplanes. They keep and display old planes, special items, and memories from the past. The museum also wants to help people get excited about flying and its history. They have more than thirty airplanes to see, a special hangar where they fix old planes, and even flight simulators you can try. There are also two theaters and a Hall of Fame. The museum really focuses on planes and items that helped aviation grow in Alaska. This includes Bush flying, which is flying in remote areas, and planes used at the World War II Army base on Adak Island.

What You Can See at the Museum

The museum has several buildings where you can explore. These include the Main, Rasmuson, South, and Restoration Hangars. A hangar is like a big garage for airplanes. There's also a special shelter. You can even see the old air traffic control tower from Merrill Field. This tower helped guide planes from 1962 to 2002.

How the Museum Started

The Alaskan Historical Aircraft Society was created in 1977. Then, the museum officially opened its doors to the public in 1988. It has been teaching people about Alaska's flying history ever since!

Amazing Aircraft Collection

A North American T-6 Texan plane at the museum

A Grumman Goose airplane

The Fairchild Pilgrim plane

The Alaska Aviation Museum has a fantastic collection of historic aircraft. These planes helped shape Alaska's past and show how flying changed over time. Here are some of the cool planes you might see:

See also

• History of aviation in Alaska
• List of airlines in Alaska
• List of Alaskan Hall of Fame pilots