Hagerstown Aviation Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 14 July 2005 |
|---|---|
| Location | Hagerstown, Maryland |
| Type | Aviation museum |
The Hagerstown Aviation Museum is a cool place to visit if you love airplanes! It's an aviation museum located at the Hagerstown Regional Airport in Hagerstown, Maryland. This museum is all about the amazing history of the Fairchild Aircraft Corporation, which made many important airplanes.
Contents
History of the Museum
How the Museum Started
The idea for an aviation museum in Hagerstown began way back in 1995. A group of people, including Richard Henson, Kent Mitchell, John Seburn, and Kurtis Meyers, dreamed of creating a place to celebrate local aviation history.
After about ten years of planning, the museum finally opened its doors to the public. This happened on July 14, 2005, at the Discovery Station in downtown Hagerstown, Maryland.
Growing the Collection
Just one year later, in 2006, the museum started a big fundraising effort. They wanted to buy a special airplane: a Fairchild C-82 Packet. This was the first of many cargo planes built by Fairchild in Hagerstown. The museum successfully bought this plane at an auction in Greybull, Wyoming.
In 2019, the museum added another large aircraft to its collection. They purchased a C-123 and carefully moved it by truck to the airport.
A New Home for Airplanes
For a while, the museum thought about building a brand-new hangar for its planes. But in 2020, they found a perfect spot! They moved into the old Fairchild Aircraft Flight Test Hangar. This building was once used to test the very planes the museum now collects. Three years later, in 2023, the museum was able to buy this historic building.
The museum celebrated its grand opening in its new home on September 14, 2024.
Airplane Collection
The Hagerstown Aviation Museum has a fantastic collection of airplanes. Some are on display for everyone to see, while others are kept safely in storage.
Aircraft on Display
These are the airplanes you can usually see when you visit the museum:
- Bellanca CE – This is the original body of an old airplane.
- Fairchild 22 C7D 922
- Fairchild 24R-9 R9-405
- Fairchild 24R-46 R46-129
- Fairchild C-82A Packet 45-57814
- Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar 22111
- Fairchild C-123K Provider 54-0681
- Fairchild PT-19A 42-65485
- Fairchild PT-19A 42-83447
- Fairchild PT-19A 44-33689
- Fairchild PT-23
- Fairchild PT-26
- Fairchild UC-61C 42-70862
- Fairchild XNQ 75726
- Kreider-Reisner KR-31
- North American T-6G Texan 49-3390
Aircraft in Storage
These airplanes are part of the museum's collection but are currently kept in storage. They might be waiting for restoration or a chance to be displayed later:
- Bell UH-1V Iroquois
- Fairchild C-123K Provider 54-0592
- Fairchild F-27F 33
- Fairchild RC-26B
See also
- List of aviation museums
