Carson, NV — On his first airplane ride, Doug Thorngren thought he could glimpse the Earth’s curvature.
He was 8 years old, living in Iowa 54 years ago when a pilot flew to town in a J3 Cub. When someone asked who wanted a ride, his hand was the first one in the air.
“When I grew up, there were no fences around airports,” said Thorngren, a pilot and the director of operations for Cactus Air Force Wings and Wheels Museum, which is scheduled to be built at the Carson City Airport. “We’d walk around, smell the fumes. It was exciting.”
Of his first ride, he said, “I got in. We were not 2,000 feet high, but I thought I could see the curvature of the Earth. I knew I wanted to fly.”
Thorngren started flying at age 18.
Rick Clemens, president of Cactus Air Force whose collection of military aircraft and vehicles is the core of the museum, started flying at 21. The owner of a Carson City aircraft bearing manufacturer, Clemens started the Cactus Air Force for his collection in the 1970s, naming it after the Allied air power at Henderson Field on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal in World War II, which was called Cactus Air Force.
Others on the Cactus team — mechanics and pilots — share the same interest in flying and aircraft as Thorngren and Clemens. The museum they envision will help preserve and restore a collection of about 40 aircraft and 25 vehicles, and introduce younger generations to the world of aviation.
Closer to breaking ground
The Carson City Airport Authority approved the 12,000-square-foot museum in May for construction on airport property. Cactus Air Force plans to run the museum as a privately owned nonprofit operation.
New Carson aviation museum aims to educate public, kids