Sullenberger Aviation Museum facts for kids
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| Former name | Carolinas Aviation Museum |
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| Established | 1992 |
| Location | Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States |
| Type | Aviation museum |
| Visitors | 50,000+ |
| Founder | Floyd Swinton Wilson |
The Sullenberger Aviation Museum is an exciting place to learn about airplanes and flying! It used to be called the Carolinas Aviation Museum. You can find it right at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. This museum is special because it's one of the few aviation museums located at a busy airport. Charlotte is a major hub for American Airlines, meaning lots of planes come and go!
The most famous airplane here is the Airbus A320 from US Airways Flight 1549. This plane made an amazing emergency landing on the Hudson River.
Contents
About the Museum
The museum was started in 1992 by Floyd and Lois Peithman Wilson. It has a huge collection of over 50 airplanes that don't fly anymore. You can also see many smaller items that tell the story of flying in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Many of the planes are military aircraft from the Cold War era. These include cool jet aircraft from the 1950s and 1960s. Some planes came from the old Florence Air & Missile Museum. Others came from military bases like Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
The museum doesn't have its own flying planes. But because it's at a big airport, it sometimes hosts historic aircraft for special events. These have included famous planes like the B-17, B-24, and B-29.
New Home for the Museum
Until 2010, the museum was in the airport's first hangar, built in 1932. Then, it moved to a new building at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. This new spot allowed most of the aircraft to be kept inside in a climate-controlled area. This helps protect the planes and makes them more comfortable to see.
In 2012, the museum became a Smithsonian affiliate. This means it's connected to the famous Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.!
In 2019, the museum closed to the public. All the planes were moved to a temporary storage spot. This was to get ready for an even newer facility! The museum is planning to reopen in 2024. In 2021, they announced plans for a new main gallery and welcome center. This will be right next to the original 1932 hangar.
A New Name and Future
On January 14, 2022, the museum announced it would be renamed for Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger. He was the pilot of the "Miracle on the Hudson" flight. The museum will have a special exhibit about this famous event.
The museum also received big donations to help build its new home. It broke ground on the new facility in September 2022. A new logo was revealed in October 2023.
Collections and Aircraft
The museum has several important collections:
- Items from Major Dolph D. Overton III USAF.
- History of Piedmont Airlines.
- Artifacts about the Preddy Brothers from World War II.
- The Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger collection. This includes letters and items given to Captain Sullenberger after the amazing emergency landing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 in 2009.
Aircraft You Can See
The museum's collection includes many different types of aircraft:
- Airbus A320-214 c/n 1044 N106US – This is the famous "Miracle on the Hudson" aircraft.
- Beechcraft T-34 Mentor – A training plane.
- Bell AH-1 Cobra – A military attack helicopter.
- Bell UH-1 Iroquois – A well-known military helicopter.
- Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter Serial 53-0335 – Only the cockpit is on display.
- Boeing N2S Kaydet BuNo 15923 – A training biplane used by the United States Navy.
- Boeing Vertol CH-46D Sea Knight BuNo 153389 – A transport helicopter, famous for its role in the Vietnam War.
- Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger 53-1788 – A supersonic interceptor jet.
- Douglas DC-3 N44V – A classic passenger plane, in Piedmont Airlines colors.
- Douglas A-26C Invader Serial 44-35752 – A light bomber.
- Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak BuNo 37972 – A research aircraft designed to study high-speed flight.
- Douglas A4D-1 Skyhawk BuNo 142226 – A compact attack aircraft.
- Douglas DC-7B N836D – A large passenger airliner.
- Grumman OV-1D Mohawk Serial 62-5890 and 62-5874 – A battlefield surveillance aircraft.
- Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat BuNo 161166 – A famous fighter jet.
- LTV A-7E Corsair II BuNo 159971 – An attack aircraft used in Desert Storm.
- Lockheed EC-130E Hercules 62–1857 – A large military transport plane.
- Lockheed TV-1/P-80 (#1) Shooting Star BuNo 33866 – An early jet fighter.
- McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II BuNo 161397 – A unique jet that can take off and land vertically.
- McDonnell Douglas F-4S Phantom II BuNo 155872 – A powerful fighter-bomber.
- McDonnell Douglas F-101B Voodoo Serial 56-0243 – A supersonic interceptor.
- North American T-28B Trojan BuNo 138258 – A military trainer aircraft.
- North American T-2A Buckeye BuNo 148239 – A jet trainer.
- North American F-86L Sabre Serial 52-4159 – A famous fighter jet.
- Republic F-84G Thunderjet Serial 53-3253 – An early jet fighter-bomber.
- Savoia-Marchetti S.56 Serial 07 – A rare Italian flying boat.
- Sikorsky HH-3 USAF Jolly Green Giant – A large rescue helicopter.
- Sikorsky S-51 Dragon Fly – An early helicopter.
- Sikorsky CH-53A Sea Stallion – A heavy-lift transport helicopter.
- Sopwith Camel – A replica of a famous World War I biplane.
- Wright brothers 1902 Wright Glider (Reproduction) – A reproduction of an early glider.
- Wright brothers 1903 Wright Flyer (Reproduction) – A reproduction of the first successful airplane.
- Waco CG-15 – A military glider used for transport.
US Airways Heritage Collection
The museum also has a large collection of items from different airlines. These airlines later merged to form US Airways. This collection includes artifacts from:
- Allegheny Airlines
- America West
- Mohawk Airlines
- Piedmont Airlines
- Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA)
The "Miracle on the Hudson" Plane
On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport. It was headed for Charlotte. Soon after takeoff, the plane hit many birds. This forced the pilots to land the plane in the Hudson River. Amazingly, everyone on board survived! This event became known as the "Miracle on the Hudson."
_after_crashing_into_the_Hudson_River_(crop_2).jpg)
In 2011, the museum received the entire plane. It was transported by road from New Jersey to the museum in Charlotte. The journey took 7 days and covered 788 miles! The fuselage (the main body of the plane) was so big that the truck carrying it was 190 feet long.
Almost everything from the flight is still inside the plane. This includes the landing gear pins, the fire axe, and even Coke cans in the drink carts!
The plane was put back together and displayed from 2011 to 2019. It looked just like it did when it was pulled from the Hudson River. You can still see the dents from the birds and the tugboat that pulled it. The museum chose to preserve it as it was, rather than restore it.
Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Skiles even gave their uniforms to the museum. These are part of the Flight 1549 exhibit. The aircraft is currently in storage while the museum builds its new facility. It will be a major part of the new museum when it opens in 2024.
See also
In Spanish: Museo Carolinas Aviation para niños
- List of aerospace museums
- Myrtle Beach Air Force Base
