Hickory Aviation Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 19 May 2007 |
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| Location | Hickory, North Carolina, United States |
| Type | Aviation museum |
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The Hickory Aviation Museum is an exciting place to learn about airplanes! It's located at the Hickory Regional Airport in Hickory, North Carolina. The museum has a main building that used to be the airport terminal. This building is full of cool artifacts and exhibits. There's also a big hangar where you can see real aircraft up close. Plus, more planes are displayed outside on what was once the airport's parking area for aircraft.
Contents
The Museum's Story
How It All Started
The idea for the museum began with a group called the Sabre Society. This group formed in 1991. Their first big project was to fix up a North American FJ-3 Fury airplane. This plane was on display at a ballpark in Taylorsville, North Carolina.
From 1993 to 2004, the Sabre Society also hosted exciting airshows at the airport. The museum itself officially opened to the public on May 19, 2007. It was started by four people: Kyle Kirby, Kregg Kirby, Jim Trexler, and Phil Hazel.
Growing the Collection
The museum has been adding more amazing aircraft to its collection. In 2021, the museum received an F4F Wildcat plane. This aircraft was loaned to them by the National Naval Aviation Museum.
In January 2024, the museum received another plane, a NU-1B, also on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum. This continued in July 2024, when an AV-8B Harrier II arrived.
A New Home for the Museum
Big plans for a new building at Hickory Regional Airport were announced in 2022. This new facility is designed to hold the museum's aircraft. It also serves as a training center for Catawba Valley Community College.
The new building cost about $22 million to build. Most of the money, $15 million, came from the state budget. The museum raised the remaining $7 million. A special rule for this plan is that the museum would move out of the commercial terminal if regular flights ever return to Hickory Regional Airport. The museum officially started building its new home on October 26, 2023. By July 2025, the museum had already started moving its aircraft into the new 53,000 square foot building.
Aircraft Collection
The Hickory Aviation Museum has many different types of aircraft in its collection. You can see planes and helicopters that were used for various purposes, from training to combat.
- Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentor
- Bell AH-1W SuperCobra
- Curtiss XF15C-1
- de Havilland Vampire
- Douglas A-4L Skyhawk
- Grumman A-6E Intruder
- Eastern FM-2 Wildcat
- Grumman F-9 Cougar
- Grumman F-14A Tomcat – cockpit
- Grumman F-14D Tomcat
- Grumman OV-1D Mohawk
- Hispano HA-200 Saeta
- Lockheed P-3C Orion
- Lockheed T-33A
- LTV A-7A Corsair II
- McDonnell F-101 Voodoo
- McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II
- McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II
- McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet
- North American FJ-3M Fury
- North American T-2 Buckeye
- Northrop F-5E Tiger II
- Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler
- Republic F-105B Thunderchief
- Sikorsky SH-3H Sea King
See also
- Carolinas Aviation Museum
- North Carolina Aviation Museum
- List of aerospace museums
