Mid-America Air Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mid-America Air Museum

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Established	1988; 37 years ago (1988)
Location	2000 W 2nd Street Liberal, KS United States
Type	Aviation museum
Visitors	12,000 / year
Founder	Tom A. Thomas Jr.

An external picture of the Mid-America Air Museum

The Mid-America Air Museum is an exciting place to explore airplanes and learn about flying! It's located at the Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport in Liberal, Kansas, United States. This museum is the largest aircraft museum in Kansas. You can see more than 100 airplanes, both inside the main building and outside on the airport's paved area called the tarmac. The museum also has a gift shop and cool displays of old photos and items that tell the story of aviation in the region.

History of the Museum

The museum is built on the grounds of the Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport. This airport was once known as Liberal Army Air Field. During World War II, it was a very important place. It served as a training base for pilots learning to fly the B-24 Liberator, a large bomber plane.

The museum itself is inside a big building called a hangar. This hangar used to belong to a company called Beech Aircraft. In the 1960s and 1970s, Beech Aircraft made smaller airplanes here, like the Beech Musketeer, Beechcraft Baron, and Beechcraft Duchess.

The museum got its start thanks to Colonel Tom Thomas, Jr. He generously donated his personal collection of over 50 airplanes to the City of Liberal. These planes were worth more than $3 million! The museum first opened its doors in 1984 in Ada, Oklahoma. Back then, it was called the Mid America Air Group Flying Museum and had 38 planes.

Amazing Aircraft Collection

The Mid-America Air Museum has a huge collection of different aircraft. Here are some of the cool planes you can see:

More Places to Explore

If you enjoyed learning about the Mid-America Air Museum, you might also be interested in these related places and topics:

• Liberal Army Air Field
• Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport
• Cosmosphere in Hutchinson
• Combat Air Museum in Topeka
• Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita
• Kansas World War II army airfields
• List of aerospace museums
• List of museums in Kansas