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History of the
Western North Carolina Air Museum
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The Western Western North Carolina Air Museum, "The First Air Museum in the 'First in Flight' State," was founded in April 1989 by three members of the Western North Carolina aviation community, Dennis Dunlap, Bill Schreier and Ken Stubbs. The Air Museum was established "to preserve the Aviation heritage of North Carolina in general and of Western North Carolina in particular." The Western North Carolina Air Museum was incorporated in the State of North Carolina in August 1989 and was granted a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service.
After the Air Museum was founded, the top priority project was the construction of a hangar in which the Air Museum's aircraft could be displayed.
A Stearman N2S-4, a North American SNJ-5 and a 1931 Heath Parasol were available initially, but no suitable facility was available in which to display them. A Stearman N2S-3 and a Fairchild PT-19 were also part of the Air Museum's initial inventory, but those aircraft have since been sold or are otherwise unavailable for display in the Air Museum. The Oshkosh Champion Stearman N2S-4 was sold in March 1997, and the SNJ-5/AT-6 is no longer here.
On May 11, 1992, a temporary home for the Air Museum's aircraft was opened in hangar 61 at the Hendersonville Airport. Several of the Air Museum's aircraft were on display in the temporary location until the completion of the new Musuem hangar.
Construction of the hangar which is the permanent home of the Western North Carolina Air Museum adjacent to the Hendersonville Airport was completed on schedule in January 1993. The grand opening of the Air Museum took place on Saturday, May 22 of that year. An additional Museum hangar was later constructed, and it was opened to the public early in 2002.
Aircraft currently on display in the Western North Carolina Air Museum's hangar include: 1954 Cessna 170B, 1930 Aeronca C-3, 1930 Curtiss Robin 4C-1A, 1936 Piper J-2, 1941 Piper J-5, 1960's Wittman W-8 Tailwind, 1930's Corbin Junior Ace, 1915 Nieuport 11 (7/8 scale reproduction), 1917 SE-5A (full scale reproduction), 1928 Heath Parasol, 1917 Curtiss Jenny (5/8 scale reproduction), 1977 Parker scratch-built Formula 1 Air Racer "American Special", plus - Barney Oldfield's "Baby Great Lakes", and the "Sportfire" a (3/4 scale) British Spitfire-based homebuilt. Aircraft currently in the process of being restored on the museum floor include a 1931 Taylor Cub E-2.
In addition to the historic aircraft, the Western North Carolina Air Museum will display flight manuals, engines from historic aircraft as well as more modern reciprocating and jet engines, photographs of historic airplanes and pilots, and models of historic airplanes.
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