It opened just 14 years ago, but the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum has carved its niche in the growing field of aviation museums.
The museum, which specializes in World War II-era aircraft, is known worldwide for its outstanding restoration work and its collection of Grumman Cats: Wildcat, Hellcat, Tigercat and Bearcat-all prize winners and until recently the only flying quartet of Cats.
The Cats and the museum’s Curtiss P-40N Warhawk-the shark-faced fighter flown by the famed Flying Tigers-inspired the museum’s nickname, Kalamazoo Air Zoo.
Other museum aircraft have been honored at the Experimental Aviation National Convention in Oshkosh, Wis., and other air shows. Honors have included six Grand National Champion awards and three Reserve Grand National Champions.
The museum has about 40 display aircraft, which it alternates through a large showroom on the south side of the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport.
The aircraft display is made more interesting through the use of mannequins dressed in uniforms worn by fliers on World War II combat missions, and other mementoes.
May through September, weather permitting and pilot available, visitors are treated to a flight of the day, during which one of the museum planes gives a flight demonstration.
The museum also offers 30-minute flights on its classic 1929 Ford Trimotor Wednesdays and weekends May through October, weather permitting. The airplane has been called one of the safest ever built. Henry Ford believed that if passengers did not feel comfortable flying, they would never accept flight as a common means of transportation.
Trimotor flight reservations must be made at least a day in advance. Cost for members is $40, for non-members, $50.
A small but interesting museum within the museum is the Guadalcanal Memorial Museum and Monument, which includes artifacts from Guadalcanal Island.
The battle to retake Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands from the Japanese in 1942 and 1943 was one of the bloodiest and longest of World War II. The Wall of Honor in the museum memorializes 20 men who received the Medal of Honor, some posthumously, for their actions on the island.
Other Air Zoo highlights include a training room which allows visitors to enter a Link Trainer mock-up or a DC-3; and Corsair Challenge, a 12-place fighter simulator that is so realistic that air sickness bags are issued. There is an extra $3 charge to ride in the simulator.
The Kalamazoo area has several other attractions.
James Fenimore Cooper especially liked the area now called Cooper’s Glen, site of the Kalamazoo Nature Center, which has 640 acres of trails and botanical gardens, and the 1850s DeLano Farm Homestead.
The nature center is at 700 N. Westnedge Ave., north of Kalamazoo. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
You can visit an Egyptian tomb or a 19th Century log cabin at the Kalamazoo Public Museum, which has more than 30,000 artifacts ranging from Egyptian antiquities to Kalamazoo stoves. At 315 S. Park St., the museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The nearby Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, with more than 2,500 objects on display, emphasizes 20th Century American and German Expressionist art. At 314 S. Park St., the institute is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. It is closed during August.
The Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum (3101 E. Milham Rd., Kalamazoo, Mich. 49002; 616-382-6555) is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday through April. May through September, hours will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except the museum will be open to 8 p.m. Wednesday and will open at noon Sunday.
Admission: Adults, $5; seniors, $4; children 6 to 15, $3. Family and group rates are available.
For more information on the area, contact the Kalamazoo County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 128 North Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, Mich. 49007; 616-381-4003.
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The museum is fully accessible to disabled visitors.
