Michigan Flight Museum facts for kids

The Michigan Flight Museum, once known as the Yankee Air Museum, is an exciting aviation museum located at Willow Run Airport in Van Buren Township, Michigan. This museum is special because it has a small group of airplanes that can still fly! It also has many other cool aircraft on display outdoors for everyone to see.

History of the Museum

The Yankee Air Force Education Center.

The Yankee Air Force Inc. started in 1981 with some important goals:

• To save a part of Michigan's amazing aviation history.
• To get and fix up one of the original hangars from the USAAF.
• To find a B-24 Liberator bomber built right at the Ford Willow Run plant, where the museum is now.

The Big Fire of 2004

The side entrance of the Yankee Air Force Museum.

On October 9, 2004, a big fire sadly burned down the Yankee Air Museum's hangar. But brave museum volunteers managed to save three important planes: a B-17, a B-25, and a C-47. Another plane, a Stinson, was safe in a different hangar.

Sadly, everything else inside the burned hangar was lost. This included a special prototype plane, a Waco CG-4A Glider, a former Thunderbirds Republic F-105, and many other valuable items like tools and the museum's library.

Finding a New Home

Right after the fire, plans began to rebuild. The museum's fundraising group worked hard to create a new, modern aviation museum. In April 2007, they broke ground for the new building. The museum also changed how it was run in 2008, becoming a director-led organization.

In 2009, the museum bought a building to be its new home. Then, in summer 2010, they opened the David and Andrea Robertson Education Center. This center was in an old schoolhouse from 1938 that had been moved. It used to be an officers' club during World War II!

The museum officially reopened to the public on October 10, 2010. This was exactly six years after the fire. This allowed the museum to leave its old Hangar Two, which was no longer safe to use. In July 2011, the museum became a Smithsonian Affiliate, which is a special partnership with the famous Smithsonian museums.

Saving the Bomber Plant

In April 2013, the Yankee Air Museum announced an exciting plan. They wanted to save a large part of the old General Motors Willow Run plant. This factory was super important during World War II because it built thousands of B-24 bombers!

The museum started a campaign called SaveTheBomberPlant.org to raise money. Their goal was to buy and save a 175,000-square-foot (16,300 m²) section of the historic factory. This would allow them to move all their operations into this famous building.

By May 2014, the museum had raised over $7 million. This was enough money to move forward with buying a part of the plant. The rest of the huge factory was sold to another company for a new research center. Much of the old factory was torn down, but the museum successfully saved its important section.

In October 2014, the museum changed its name to the National Museum of Aviation and Technology at Historic Willow Run. Later, in May 2024, it changed its name again to the Michigan Flight Museum.

The museum also needed a new home for its flying planes. They chose a spot on the east side of the airport for the Roush Aeronautics Center.

Amazing Aircraft Collection

The museum's main building for collections and exhibits is huge, covering 47,000 square feet (4,400 m²). It has many cool displays about aviation and history. You can also find restoration projects, a gift shop, and a movie theater. This building is also where the museum staff and volunteers work. Outside, there's a special area called the air park where more planes are displayed.

From 2007 to August 2011, the planes that could fly were kept at the Township Airport in Grosse Ile, Michigan.

Planes That Can Still Fly

Rosie's Reply, a B-25 Mitchell, is one of only two B-25C/D Mitchell aircraft still flying today.

The Michigan Flight Museum is proud to have several aircraft that are still airworthy, meaning they can take to the skies!

• Boeing PB-1G Flying Fortress 77255 Yankee Lady – This B-17G is painted with its original USAAF serial number. It was temporarily grounded in April 2023.
• North American B-25D Mitchell 43-3634 Rosie's Reply (formerly Yankee Warrior) – This plane flew 8 combat missions over Italy during the war.
• Douglas TC-47D Skytrain 44-76716 "Hairless Joe"
• WACO Classic Aircraft YMF-5C F5C-049
• Bell UH-1 Iroquois "Greyhound" 66-01126
• Ford 4-AT-B Trimotor 42

Planes on Display

The museum also has a large collection of aircraft that are on static display. These planes are amazing to see up close!

Gliders

The museum also has a collection of gliders, which are aircraft that fly without an engine!