Spirit of Flight Center facts for kids
| Established | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Location | Nampa, ID |
| Type | Aviation |
The Spirit of Flight Center (SOF) is a cool place that teaches you about airplanes and flying history! It's run by a group called the Spirit of Flight Foundation. This group is a non-profit, which means they use any money they make to help the museum, not for personal profit.
The museum is in Nampa, ID. It was started by Gordon R. Page. The Spirit of Flight Center shows off many different items related to aviation. You can see things from 1935 to 1975. This includes both military planes and regular planes. One special plane on display is a Messerschmitt Bf 109 F fighter jet from Russia. You can also see a life-size bronze statue of the famous pilot Amelia Earhart.
The Spirit of Flight Center is located at the Nampa Municipal Airport. This is great because pilots can even fly their planes right to the museum! The museum works with another group called Air Assets International. They show planes and items that have been found and fixed up by a program called Warbird Recovery. A TV show called CHASING PLANES was even filmed here, showing off the museum's collection.
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What the Spirit of Flight Center Does
The main goal of the Spirit of Flight Center is to find, fix, keep, and show items from aviation history. They do this to honor all American veterans and pilots. They also want to teach everyone how important flying has been. And they hope to inspire young people like you to learn about planes and aviation, both old and new!
Helping Students Learn
In 2009, the Spirit of Flight Center helped students learn about aviation. They loaned a special Learjet 24D plane to Redstone College in Denver. This plane had set a record! It helped students learn more about planes and get ready for jobs in aviation.
Museum on the Move
In 2019, the Spirit of Flight Center decided to try something new. They started focusing on a program called HISTORY ON THE ROAD. This is like a mobile museum! It means they can take their amazing collection to bigger events. This way, more people can see and learn about aviation history. They are also adding "Living History Flight Experiences." This lets people get a closer look at how planes used to fly.
Finding and Fixing Old Planes
The Spirit of Flight Center has a special program called Warbird Recovery. This program finds and fixes rare and historic military aircraft from all over the world. In 1993, the program started finding parts of old U.S. and Japanese military planes in Russia. These parts were brought back to the U.S. and fixed up. There's even a book called Warbird Recovery that tells all about these exciting stories!
Other Aviation Museums Nearby
If you love planes, here are some other museums in Colorado and Idaho you might like to visit:
- Warhawk Air Museum, Nampa, ID
- CAF Rocky Mountain Wing Museum, Grand Junction, CO
- Colorado Aviation Historical Society Old Lowry AFB Campus, Denver, CO
- Peterson Air and Space Museum Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, CO
- Pueblo Historical Aircraft Society Pueblo Airport, Pueblo, CO
- Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum Pueblo Airport, Pueblo, CO
- Vintage Aero Flying Museum Platte Valley Airpark, Hudson, CO
- Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum Old Lowry AFB Campus, Denver, CO
- The National Museum of World War II Aviation Colorado Springs, CO
