Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum facts for kids

The Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum is a cool place in Horsham, Pennsylvania. It's all about saving and sharing the amazing history of airplanes and flying in the Delaware Valley area. This includes the history of places like NAS Willow Grove and people like Harold F. Pitcairn. The museum is run by a group called the Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association (DVHAA), which is a non-profit organization. It first opened its doors in 2004. Inside, you can see old airplanes that have been fixed up, special flight helmets, pilot gear, air to air missiles, and even Martin-Baker ejection seats. You can also see military service medals.

History of the Museum

The story of the museum began with Lieutenant Commander David Ascher. In May 1946, he became an officer in charge of aircraft maintenance. He found a Curtiss TP-40N Warhawk plane from a local high school. He put it on display at NAS Willow Grove. Later, he also managed to get an Arado Ar 196 plane for display. In 1947, several planes captured from enemy forces were brought to the base. They were moved from Patuxent River to be shown there.

Most of these planes were later sent to other big museums. These included the National Air and Space Museum and the National Naval Aviation Museum. But the Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association decided to start a new museum. They began building the new museum in May 2002. The museum officially opened to the public in 2004.

In 2011, the museum started planning to make itself bigger. However, this plan was put on hold. They found some old chemicals left over from when the area was a military base. This discovery caused a delay in their expansion plans.

Awesome Aircraft on Display

You can see many different airplanes at the museum. Some are inside the building, and others are outside on the ground. Here are some of the cool aircraft you might find there: