Southern Museum of Flight facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Southern Museum of Flight

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Established	1966 (1966)
Location	4343 73rd Street North Birmingham, Alabama 35206
Founder	Mary Alice Beatty

The Southern Museum of Flight is a civilian aviation museum Birmingham, Alabama USA. The facility features nearly 100 aircraft, as well as engines, models, artifacts, photographs, and paintings. In addition, the Southern Museum of Flight is home to the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame, which presents Alabama Aviation History through collective biography.

Overview

Notable aircraft on display include a Wright Flyer, Curtis Pusher, Fokker D-VII, Alexander Eaglerock, F-4 Phantom, F-86 Sabre, AH-1 Cobra, Soviet-built MiGs, Mi-24 Hind, A-12 Blackbird spy plane, the "Lake Murray" B-25, and an array of experimental aircraft. The Lake Murray B-25C Mitchell bomber crashed in South Carolina during a 1943 training exercise. The right engine was torn off during the crash but the crew was able to escape unharmed before she sank to a depth of 150 feet (46m). The aircraft became a dive site for local technical divers until she was raised from the depths of the lake in September 2005. Dr. Bob Seigler who spearheaded the project, John Hodge and Dr. Bill Vartorella, formed the Lake Murray B-25 Rescue Project to salvage the aircraft from the bottom of Lake Murray. After recovery the remains of the aircraft were moved to the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama for conservation and museum display. A video crew, including maritime video experts from Nautilus Productions, documented the recovery for the Mega Movers series on the History Channel.

Featured on display is a diorama exhibit honoring Alabama's famed Tuskegee Airmen, as well as the Korean War Jets Exhibit and Vietnam War Helicopters Exhibit.

The museum plans to reopen at the Grand River Technology Park in 2021 or 2022.

Selected aircraft on display

Lockheed A-12

MiG 15

• Barsanti, B. J. Interview with James T. Griffin (20 Jan 2013).
• Stevenson, E. W. "The History of the Southern Museum of Flight", SMF Trustee Manual, 15 May 2004.