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Museum of Mountain Flying

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Coordinates: 46°55′03″N 114°04′41″W / 46.9175°N 114.0780°W / 46.9175; -114.0780
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Museum of Mountain Flying
Museum of Mountain Flying is located in Montana
Museum of Mountain Flying
Location within Montana
Established1993 (1993)
LocationMissoula, Montana
Coordinates46°55′03″N 114°04′41″W / 46.9175°N 114.0780°W / 46.9175; -114.0780
TypeAviation museum
Founder
  • Stan Cohen
  • Dick Komberec
  • Steve Smith
WebsiteMuseum of Mountain Flying

The Museum of Mountain Flying is an aviation museum located at the Missoula Montana Airport in Missoula, Montana focused on the history of Johnson Flying Service.

History

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The museum was founded by Stan Cohen, Dick Komberec and Steve Smith in 1993 following the purchase of 2.8 acres (0.011 km2) of land that was a boneyard of Johnson Flying Service aircraft and buildings.[1][2] A hangar at the airport was borrowed for a temporary museum until a purpose build structure could be built.[3] In the meantime, the museum acquired a C-47 that had been used to drop 12 smokejumpers who were killed in the 1949 Mann Gulch fire.[4][a]

The museum moved into its 18,500 sq ft (1,720 m2) R. Preston Nash Jr. Hangar in August 2002.[5] It opened to the public two months later, 19 October 2002, shortly after receiving a 1925 White bus.[6][7][b] The museum acquired a Travel Air 6000 that had previously been owned by Johnson Flying Service in 2013.[8] The following May a Bell 47G that was built from parts was donated to the museum and a J-3 was added seven months after that.[9][10]

In June 2018, the museum began preparing its C-47 for a flight to France as part of a flyover for the 75th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy.[11] As the airplane was not yet airworthy, the museum purchased another DC-3 in March 2019 for flight training.[12]

In 2021, the museum announced it would open a new location at the Stevensville Airport and that it had acquired a Howard DGA-11.[13]

The museum's C-47 would be named the state plane of Montana in May 2023.[14]

Collection

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Aircraft

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Ground vehicles

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See also

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References

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ A total of 15 smokejumpers were dropped, but the remaining 3 survived.
  2. ^ The bus was an example of the type that had been built for Yellowstone National Park and later purchased by Johnson Flying Service to transport Montana State University students to Hale Field for flight training during World War II.

Notes

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  1. ^ "History". Museum of Mountain Flying. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. ^ Devlin, Sherry (23 January 1994). "Idea for Museum Honoring Pioneer Aviators Takes Off". Missoulan. p. C-4. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  3. ^ Holien, Mick (29 January 1995). "Memories of Flight". Missoulan. p. E-1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. ^ Holien, Mick (9 October 2001). "Mann Gulch Plane to Return". Montana Standard. p. A5. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  5. ^ Syvertson, Donna (6 August 2002). "Museum on Move". Missoulan. p. B1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b Holien, Mick (15 October 2002). "Bus Buy". Missoulan. pp. B1, B3. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  7. ^ Holien, Mick (19 October 2002). "Flying Hall of Fame to Welcome Six". Missoulan. p. B2. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Former Johnson Air Service Travel Air 6000 Lands at Missoula Museum". Missoulan. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  9. ^ Briggeman, Kim (30 May 2014). "Pilot Builds Bell 47 Helicopter for Missoula Aviation Museum". Missoulan. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  10. ^ Briggeman, Kim (6 December 2014). "WWII Training Plane with Long Montana History Headed for Flying Museum". Missoulan. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  11. ^ Briggeman, Kim (3 June 2018). "Flying Museum Prepares to Take Historic Mann Gulch Plane to Normandy in 2019". Missoulan. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  12. ^ Briggeman, Kim (24 May 2019). "Missoula Flying Museum Adds Historic DC-3". Missoulan. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  13. ^ Staples, Laurel (12 May 2022). "Museum of Mountain Flying to Expand to Stevensville". NBC Montana. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  14. ^ Christian, Peter (5 May 2023). "Governor Proclaims 'Miss Montana' the State's Official Plane". KGVO. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Beech JRB-1 Expeditor, c/n 8449, c/r N8037H". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Bell 47G-3B-1, c/n 6664, c/r N6257N". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Bell HH-1H-BF Iroquois, s/n 70-2467 US, c/n 17111, c/r N444NB". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Taylorcraft-Piper J-3C-65, c/r N21BJ". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Douglas C-47A-90-DL, s/n 43-15731 USAAF, c/n 20197, c/r N24320". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Douglas DC-3A-197E, c/n 04123, c/r N33644". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Grumman-General Motors TBM-3 Avenger, s/n 53200 RCN, c/n 3262, c/r C-GLEL". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  22. ^ "FAA Registry [N17Y]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  23. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Taylorcraft-Piper J-3C-65, c/n 7954, c/r N41300". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  24. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Stinson 108-1, c/n 108-1466, c/r N8466K". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  25. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Travel Air S-6000B, c/n 0986, c/r N8865". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
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