Greetings to all. You have stumbled upon our new KAM web blog and we are happy you are here. We hope that you will take the opportunity to visit us and let us know how you are doing and what you think of our website, the museum or anything else that might be of interest.
While we welcome constructive criticism, please maintain a respectful posture with regard to us and others who are posting here.
We understand that our museum is a work in progress and make no claims that we have fully arrived. However, if you come back often you will notice the constant and steady improvement: new exhibits, renovation, restoration and the like.
Again, we welcome all who have an interest in communicating via this blog, hope you will visit the museum and look forward to the dialogue this forum will present.
All the best, KAM Staff and Board
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Our community enjoys an unrivaled aviation heritage. We’re fortunate to have KAM preserving and advancing that legacy. This blog will be a great way for people to come together and celebrate this passion for flight. And to talk about how we can really give it wings.
Our family all enjoyed the KAM last Sunday! From making and flying paper airplanes, and flying Flight Sim on the big screen, to viewing the planes and explaining how the tanker refueled planes inflight to the 5 year olds (not sure they have it figured out yet, I’ll have to show them pictures)
Thanks! The Tanis’s from Hays, KS
Since November is Aviation History Month so we thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite kid-friendly aviation museums we’ve visited around the country. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, so if you know of other good aviation museums for kids, please stop by and let us know at http://www.fivehens.com/the-skys-the-limit/. Thanks.
I just wanted to say “Thank you” for everything with my son’s 7th birthday party! It turned out very well and all of the kids and adults had a wonderful time! The volunteer that was at the museum on Saturday was wonderful. He helped with everything and was absolutely wonderful with the kids. He took time to take all of us on a guided tour and was extremely informative. I had my doubts he could keep 25 kids quite and under control but he did! He definitely made the party GREAT!!!!!
We had such a great time at Kansas Aviation Museum this past Saturday for my son’s 5th birthday party. He was wanting an “airplane birthday” and I thought this would be a great place to have it. Fun was had by the kids and adults!! The room we used for the party was very spacious and had everything we needed! Thanks so much!
Great museum! I was one of the early volunteers back in the 1991 timeframe when Marty Benham worked in the office. I spent a cold damp winter (1990-1991?) working in a little interior room to sort, update and insert changes into a ROOMFULL of T.O.s for the B-52. That was back before the roof was patched.
As the Training Officer for an air-ambulance service here in Fairbanks AK, I have made over twenty trips back to FlightSafety over the last few years to use their KingAir simulator and always brought my aircrews out to the museum. We even got to tour the Kalita 747 when it was there on the ramp.
Keep up the good work. Oh, the description on the B-52 page says it was powered by TF33s. Not so. Only the B-52H had TF33s. B-52s from the very beginning up to the B-52G were all powered by the ubiquitous P&W J-57.
Former B-52 Gunner.
I am the grandson of Richard Samuel Bowlby the designer and builder of the Sunbeam, which was flown by Bobbi Trout and Elinor Smith at Metropolitan Airport in California (LAX) in 1929. Anyone who might know or have photo’s of the aircraft, other than on Bobbi Trouts site, or may possibly knew of or know these men in Whichita or Belleville Kansas who were involved with banks or financial institutions that funding may have been supplied for the project please let me know. H.J. Hoffman, G.O. Eggelston. John Busch.
My father’s God parents were Walter and Olive Beech – my father was Richard Lee Bowlby.
Thank you if you can help me.
This is really cool !
Great to see the Museum is doing well !!
Trying to be brief and it’s late – pardon my spelling, and to start my story;
The last time I was at the Museum / old Municipal airport was one day in the early 90’s.
My brother was stationed/working at either McConnell (now retired USAF) or at Boeing (also retired) and his family had been living in Wichita since 84.
I made many trips between my home in SW MO in that period (including the S. Wichita/Andover Tornado rescue and recovery) and became very familiar with the area. I had also worked for a short time on a summer job at McC on the B1 base construction and, have also toured Boeing on it’s 75th (and still have and wear caps), and the gigantic wonderful airshows of the past, and been to the incredible space museum just north of you twice (pretty good for a country boy from SW MO). You certainly have a grand aviation history and a deserved pride of such!
Anyway one afternoon my Brother and I drove from the Base or from Boeing (I forget the date) to the old Municipal Airport Building to see another of the projects my GrandFather had overseen or built hisself. I was very much impressed on seeing such a wonderful, artistic and a beautiful building.
We arrived to find this beautiful building and we admired it for some time before realizing that there were people there, we thought it was abandonded and derrelict. There were several cars and the ‘old timers’ at the site when we arrived at the front doors. We told them about our Gpa and they gave us a ‘FREE’ tour (}:; (old emoticon for happy dudes)
It was an absolutley wounderful afternoon! Nothing was in ‘Museum’ condition but several displays were ‘in the works’ and several old Buffs were on the end of the strip. We had a great time discussing the history of the place and just standing in such an historical place that my GrandFather and my Father had a part in history.
Keep good care of it.
Great Thanks:
M. W.
To Whom it may concern:
I always have known that my GrandFather was a Construction SuperIntendent (CS) on the Wichita Municipal Airport in the early depression days.
I have a recent discovery of it’s past.
The Original construction photos from the Architect;
Blaser Vollmer Constr Co. – Glen H. Thomas Architect. Oct. 7 1930
8×10 photos of its early construction. From the dirt up to – the start of brickwork – your web story, of the depression, should expain why there are no finished works pics. It is amazing and impressive the scale of human effort and of the result.
If you are interested please contact me by responding to the museum curators at this site.
Thanks;
M. W.
Thank you all for your efforts to preserve such a wounderful part of history .