News from Carolinas Aviation Museum

From the Carolinas Aviation Museum

The CAM News. A changing newsletter for a museum on the move

C-130 Coming Soon

One of the C-130's used in the 1980 Iran hostage rescue attempt - Eagle Claw - is now at the North Carolina Air National Guard. At the military's request, it landed recently without fanfare and went straight to the NC-ANG where it was prepared for exhibition at CAM.

The aircraft will soon be coming to the museum where it will be dedicated and officially opened for display. We will announce the date as soon as we know it. And of course, we'll put it on our website. More to come!

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Aluminum Overcast on its way to CAM!

The EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) B-17 (B-17G-VE)Aluminum Overcast - will be coming to Carolinas Aviation Museum on Veterans Day Weekend, November 8 - 11.

This aircraft was delivered to the US Military in 1945, too late to see action. After the war is was sold as military surplus for just $750! Read more about this aircraft's fascinating history.

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) will be selling tickets for rides in the historic aircraft and of course it will be on display here during it's stay. There will be events planned around the B-17 complete with news, radio and TV coverage. We'll let you know as soon as we have more details. Be sure to check our website for more details as they are available.

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We Need Volunteers!

There are lots of activities going on each day at he museum. Some positions exist simply to help our visitors get the most from their visit. These include a Greeter and a person to be on the floor to answer questions. We have education stations similar to "classes" in which our visitors can get hands-on learning experiences. These Education Stations include Airplane Design and Test Lab, and these areas are constantly expanding. And of course our very popular interactive exhibits include the cockpits. Who doesn't want to sit in the cockpit of a Phantom, a Cessna, 727, or other interesting exhibit? We've been adding more interactive stations and our visitors are loving it! Lots of positive feedback from kids from 5 to 95!

Our problem is that most of these exhibits and stations require a docent to monitor, protect, and provide information. For example, in addition to the education stations, we offer:

Phantom*
Raft*
Cessna*
727 Cockpit

With the exception of the 727, all of these exhibits need to be monitored by a docent. Currently to run a complete program for our visitors we need about 7 docents and some days we have only 1 or 2. When that happens, we need to close some of the cockpit exhibits and we rarely have enough volunteers to run our education stations. Of course that's very disappointing for visitors who come to the museum and find an exhibit closed.

Add to that the fact that we will soon be receiving our C-130, we'll eventually be opening Hangar B, and there are several more exhibits in the planning stages. We need volunteers to monitor these displays.

CAM volunteers must have some aviation background as well as demonstrated communication skills. Check out the job description here. Once onboard, there will be training with some evaluations to be sure our docents are all on the same page when talking with our visitors.

If you know of anyone who may be interested, ask them to contact Chris at:

chris@carolinasaviation.org

Phone: 704-997-3778

Chris can give you a rundown of the volunteer position and if you are interested, why not join us.

The 727 cockpit is a popular exhibit that can be open with no docents needed to monitor it.

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Museum Founders Letter

Dear Members

Highlights of the years gone by.

Looking back at July, 1993

We started restoring the F-84G thunder jet, that was donated by Jenks Caldwell of Charlotte Aircraft. Jerry Shore was the project chairman. The aircraft was restored in honor of Dolph Overton, the only Korean War ace from the Carolinas. He flew with the 7th Squadron of the 49th Fighter Bomber Wing. The F-84 was also restored to honor all airmen who flew and fought in the skies over Korea. The F-84G incorporated systems which made it the first fighter able to deliver tactical nuclear weapons. It also introduced the rocket fired pilot ejection seat.

F-84G Thunder Jet that was donated as of July, 1993

Below: F-84G Thunder Jet, after it was restored by volunteers of CHAC members, Fall of 1994

We added to our ever-growing inventory a Dodge fuel truck, a Coleman tow tractor, and two R3350-41 Curtis-Wright aircraft engines that had been on a C-121 Constellation.

Our membership had grown to over 800 members.

Sincerely,

Floyd S. Wilson

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101 Years Ago

From the CAM Library. More ads from the early years of aviation. This one is from 1912!

Zoom in on your computer for some of the fine print.