Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum

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Former name	The Lowry Heritage Museum (1984-1994)
Established	1 December 1994 (1994-12-01)
Location	7711 E. Academy Blvd Denver, Colorado, USA Lowry Campus (formerly Lowry AFB)
Type	Aerospace museum
Collections	Lowry AFB history Colorado aerospace history
Public transit access	Regional Transportation District
Nearest parking	On site (no charge)

The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum (WOTR) is located on the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, United States. The museum preserves the history of Lowry AFB's operations from 1938 to 1994 in its collections, archives, and research library. Features of the museum's collection include the USAF's B-1A Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress bombers and many other military and general aviation aircraft.

History

From 1937 to 1994 Lowry Air Force Base, located on the eastern edge of Denver, was primarily a technical training center. It graduated more than 1.1 million enlisted members and officers in skills ranging from armament to photography, aiding the country's war efforts in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War. From the 1980s Lowry Air Force Base remained one of Colorado's largest employers, with approximately 10,000 military and civilian men and women, providing an economic impact approaching $1 billion annually.

In 1994, the United States Air Force transferred Hangar 1 to a group of volunteers, who established Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum. The Museum includes more than 182,000 square feet of hangar space and 50 iconic aircraft dating from 1939 to 1990.

In 1997, the Colorado State Legislature passed House Bill 1269 that made Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum Colorado's official air and space museum, and the site of the Colorado Aviation Historical Society's Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.

Exploration of Flight

Exploration of Flight is a 15-acre campus located at Centennial Airport that serves as the second location of Wings Over the Rockies. While the Air and Space Museum focuses on the history and heritage of aviation, Exploration of Flight is home to future-focused aviation and space galleries and exhibits.

Aircraft exhibits

Military

B-1A Lancer

F-100D Super Sabre, with High Wire Mods, formerly with 354th TFW

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger

Republic F-105D 60-0508 Thunderchief, formerly with 49th TFW

Civilian

Adam M309 twin engine. May 2007, current on display inside

The McDonnell Apollo Boilerplate BP-1101A Capsule was used by NASA to test touchdown for the Apollo program

• Adam M-309 (No. N309A)
• Aviat Special (No. N15JB)
• Ball-Bartoe Jetwing
• Christen Eagle II (No. N6LA)
• HL-20 Personnel Launch System on loan
• Learjet 24 (No. N241JA)
• McDonnell Apollo Boilerplate BP-1101A (No. 101), on loan from Smithsonian
• Murray Model T homebuilt helicopter, 1st to register in Colo. (No. N7222)
• Piper J3C-65 Cub (No. N42427)
• Rand Robinson KR-1 (No. N60BV)
• Schweizer SGS 1-24 Brigadoon, on loan from National Soaring Museum (No. N91888)
• Sky Star Aircraft Corp Kitfox
• Aerosport Woody Pusher (No. N393EA)

Other aircraft and related exhibits

Casis - Science in Space

Westinghouse J46-WE-8 cutaway engine

• Space Station Freedom command module mockup built by Martin Marietta with CASIS' Science in Space Exhibit of the ISS
• U.S. NASA Astronauts with Colorado connections.
• Aircraft engine collection on display, both propeller and jet engines
• Nuclear weapons collection on display
• The Aviator Uniform Collection Exhibit Room.
• The Cold War Exhibit.
• The History of Avionics Exhibit Room.
• The Colorado Air National Guard Heritage Exhibit Room with Buckley Field and Buckley Air Force Base exhibits.
• The Colorado Aviation Historical Society's Heritage Hall featuring the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.
• Rocky Mountain Airways Flight 217 Memorial
• Former United Airlines DC-10 And Boeing 727-200 Cockpits, with open flight engineer post.
• Lucasfilm X-Wing Starfighter: a 3/4 scale replica built to promote the re-release of the first three Star Wars films in 1997.
• MaxFlight: a 360° full-motion flight simulator.

Education and Services

• Wings Aerospace Academy is a tuition-free enrichment program that offers hands-on programs from the Museum and online core courses provided by Elevate Academy, a certified, multi-school district charter school. The focus of Wings Aerospace Academy is to offer hands-on aerospace-themed STEM experiences for students grades 6-11, with 12th grade planned to be added in the fall of 2019.
• Teacher Flight Program – A unique aerospace program that encourages STEM teachers from across Colorado to become Teacher Envoys. It provides interested teachers with a free, 20 minute flight on a vintage 1940s Shearman biplane, and also provides other perks for their school, such as free entry tickets for all their students. The main goal of this program is to excite teachers and get them to inspire their students into undertaking an educational or professional career in the field of aviation and aerospace.
• Summer Camp Programs – Four summer camps twice each summer offer insight into the aviation and aerospace industry. Camps include The Red Planet, Wings of All Types, The Good Old Days, and Rocket Science 101.
• Technical Research Library – A library which contains over 15,000 book titles on aviation and aerospace and 800 titles covering ballooning, aviation and aerospace in English and other foreign languages. There are also extensive documents on Lowry Air Force Base history, including 1000 digital photos of the base. Other things from the library include retrospective airline tables, seat magazines and a collection of rare NASA documents.
• Behind the Wings – A television show produced by Wings Over the Rockies.