Sywell Aviation Museum (SAM) is a voluntary, non-profit-making organisation which aims to preserve the history of Sywell Aerodrome and Northamptonshire’s rich aviation heritage from the early days of aviation to the Second World War and beyond.
SAM began life in 1998 and the Museum building was opened in 2001 by the legendary aviator Alex Henshaw MBE who was also our honorary president. Alex flew from Sywell regularly during the Second World War, airtesting Vickers Wellingtons from the aerodrome so we were honoured that he agreed to launch our small Museum.
The Museum originally consisted of three Nissen huts, dismantled at thew now-closed RAF Bentwaters and erected on site at Sywell. The buildings themselves are artefacts having been used as bomb fuzing sheds at Bentwaters by the USAAF during WW2.
The Museum has expanded in 2010 and 2011 by the addition of two new Nissen huts, formerly POW Camp Huts from Snape Farm, Derbyshire. The first hut (opened during Easter 2011) was named The Paul Morgan Hall and houses the Museum’s cockpit collection and a complete WW2 Link Trainer. The second hall (opened in Easter 2012) includes an expanded USAAF Hall and a new POW/Luftwaffe exhibition.
The Museum’s first complete airframe, a Hawker Hunter, was acquired in summer 2012, and work is ongoing to restore this exciting new exhibit.
The Malta Aviation Museum Foundation, a voluntary, non-profit making organisation, was set up on the 1st November 1994 joining together various associations with the objective to create a display of unique exhibits related to Malta’s rich aviation history.
Since its inception, the Foundation has worked very hard to acquire, restore and preserve a number of aircraft, artefacts and documentation which are of cultural, historical and educational value.
The Museum is established in three hangars in the former RAF Ta’Qali Aerodrome and is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion project featuring the construction of a larger hangar and a two storey multi purpose museum block.
During WWII Monroe was the site of the Selman Field Army-Air Force Navigation School (opened in 1942) — which was the largest such facility in the US, offering the nation’s only complete navigation course during WWII.
The school graduated more than 15,000 navigators, over 1,500 of whom lost their lives in combat.
In 1986, those who trained there and their descendants held the first Selman Field reunion, agreeing to work with the City of Monroe to establish a repository of artifacts and memorabilia of the field.
The Museum opened in 2000, at the corner of Kansas Lane and Central Ave., in one of the last surviving buildings used by the Selman Field School. Since then, the Museum’s scope quickly grew to encompass more of the rich aviation and military history of NELA, including General Claire Lee Chennault.
General Chennault and the Flying Tigers were highly instrumental in World War II, as they volunteered to assist the Chinese military who were being overrun by the Japanese. General Chennault grew up in Gilbert, Louisiana and after the war made his home here in Monroe.
The Hangar houses an amazing collection of airworthy Spitfires, probably the greatest concentration of Spitfire activity in the world, plus several others undergoing restoration by the Spitfire Company (Biggin Hill) Ltd. In addition the collection also includes an airworthy Hawker Hurricane Mk I, Europe’s oldest flying Harvard and a 1944 ex-USAAF Piper L4 Grasshopper.
Historic Flight Foundation was established in 2003 as “John T. Sessions Historic Aircraft Foundation” with the intention to collect, restore, and share significant aircraft from the period between the solo Atlantic crossing of Charles Lindbergh and the first test flight of the Boeing 707. Throughout the intervening years, Historic Flight has acquired at least two aircraft annually and engaged the best restoration resources available to return the collection to original splendor.
The National Aviation Hall of Fame was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, the home of the Wright Brothers and the “birthplace of aviation.” The five founders of this organization were James W. Jacobs, Gregory C. Karas, John A. Lombard, Larry E. O’Neil, and Gerald E. Weller.
On July 14, 1964 the National Aviation Hall of Fame was chartered nationally by an act of the U. S. 88th Congress, public law 88-372 signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The organization continues today as a public foundation reporting annually to Congress. The primary support for this foundation comes from private, tax-deductible membership dues and contributions from individuals and organizations.
The Southern Heritage Air Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating people about the history of aviation and its impact on society, with a primary focus on the local region. Our Museum offers the public a portal into the world of aviation through the preservation and exhibition of aircraft and other artifacts which exemplify the contributions of individuals and organizations to aviation in its many aspects. We are also dedicated to supporting the brave men and women who have served our country through our sister Foundation the Warrior Bonfire Project.
Sri Lanka’s only national museum dedicated to the field of aviation as well as the history of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
