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Home > Fact Sheets > Museum Expansion Plans
MUSEUM EXPANSION PLANS
Posted 8/1/2012
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DAYTON, Ohio -- Staff members assemble the Thor missile in the Missile & Space Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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In recent years, the National Museum of the United States Air Force® has continued to add historically significant aircraft to its collection and further develop the storyline contained in its galleries. Foreseeing continued growth, museum officials and the Air Force Museum Foundation, a philanthropic, non-profit organization created in 1960 to assist the museum when federal funds are not available, recognized a need for added facilities and created a multi-phase, long-term facility expansion plan.
In 2003 the first phase of the expansion became reality with the opening of the 200,000 square-foot Eugene W. Kettering Cold War Gallery. In 2004 the museum opened the Missile and Space Gallery to exhibit its world-class collection of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and satellite boosters, along with elements of its space collection.
The next phase calls for a new Space Gallery devoted exclusively to portraying the Air Force's past, present and future in space, a Presidential Aircraft Gallery to house the museum's one-of-a-kind presidential aircraft fleet, and a Global Reach Gallery highlighting the Air Force's airlift and humanitarian missions. In 2011 the museum developed a 50-year plan for the its future expansion needs, including a consolidated campus with relocation of the Collection Management, Research, Exhibits and Restoration facilities, an education center and event space, additional entrance and parking, donor recognition areas and more visitor amenities. Taken as a whole, this vision confirms that exciting times are unfolding at the Air Force's national museum.
Phases
Eugene W. Kettering Cold War Gallery
Named in honor of the first head of the Air Force Museum Foundation's Board of Trustees, this 200,000 square-foot third building opened in 2003. The Cold War Gallery features historical and modern aircraft such as an RB-47, the massive B-36, a B-1, an F-117 stealth fighter, an A-10 and the world's only permanent public exhibit of a B-2 stealth bomber. The $22.2 million building is the centerpiece of the museum's expansion.
Missile and Space Gallery
Resembling a missile silo in architectural design, the Missile and Space Gallery currently houses the museum's ICBMs and will eventually feature the satellite booster collection. The $3.4 million gallery stands 140 feet high and contains more than 12,500 square feet. Construction began in December 2002 and finished a year later in December 2003. Featuring an elevated viewing platform, the gallery combines with the Cold War Gallery to tell the story of the U.S. Air Force's contributions in Soviet containment and strategic deterrence during the Cold War. The gallery temporarily houses elements of the museum's space collection until a separate Space Gallery is constructed in coming years.
Implementation of the third phase of the expansion plan is underway and includes a 224,000 square-foot building dedicated to three important elements in the history of the Air Force. The new facility will include a Space Gallery, the Presidential Aircraft Gallery and the Global Reach Gallery.
Space Gallery
The Air Force has been involved in every aspect of space activities from the beginning. A separate dedicated Space Gallery will tell the remarkable story of Air Force activities in space. The centerpiece of the gallery will be the NASA Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT), a high-fidelity representation of a Space Shuttle Orbiter crew station was used primarily for on-orbit crew training and engineering evaluations. The gallery also will include a Titan IV space launch vehicle, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft, and many recently retired NASA artifacts such as a nose cap assembly, landing gear strut and a variety of astronaut equipment. In addition, a range of satellites and related items will showcase the Air Force's vast reconnaissance, early warning, communications and other space-based capabilities. Other new exhibits will be developed to showcase Air Force technologies with many unique characteristics in design, propulsion, payload capacity, human factors, communication, range, speed and operating environment.
Presidential Aircraft Gallery
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the repository for Air Force aircraft that have been retired from the presidential aircraft fleet. Currently, the museum's presidential aircraft are on display in an auxiliary hangar a mile from the main museum complex on a controlled-access portion of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Visitors must be transported by bus to this facility. Subsequent to the 9/11 disaster, security considerations preclude many visitors from being able to experience the collection. The new gallery will permit the museum to bring the presidential aircraft to the main facility, allowing all visitors the opportunity to view this historic collection of nine presidential aircraft, among them the Douglas VC-54 used by Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, the Douglas VC-118 used by President Truman, the Lockheed VC-121E used by President Eisenhower and the Boeing VC-137C used by President Kennedy.
Global Reach Gallery
An important element of Air Force history will be told in the Global Reach Gallery. Providing airlift remains a major mission of the U.S. Air Force and it forms a critical part of the Air Force's ability to maintain global reach. To tell this vital story, the National Museum of the United States Air Force has acquired the most famous individual airlifter in USAF history: the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter known world-round as the Hanoi Taxi. Not only was this remarkable aircraft the first C-141 to carry American prisoners of war out of North Vietnam, but it served a long career maintaining global reach for the Air Force and the nation. Currently displayed outdoors, this precious aircraft will be housed inside the Global Reach Gallery once it is completed. In addition, the museum will soon receive a gigantic Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, which will join the Hanoi Taxi inside the new building. Together, these aircraft will illustrate the importance of airlift in the history of American air power.
Point of Contact
National Museum of the United States Air Force, Public Affairs Division, 1100 Spaatz St., Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 45433-7102; (937) 255-4704.
Revised August 2012
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