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About The Museum
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If you remember the roar of a big radial engine thundering into life, or even
if you only know it from Dad's reminiscences, come hear it again at the Western North
Carolina Air Museum.
See and touch the airplanes that lifted a generation. The Stearman N2S-4, known as the Yellow Peril,
that introduced World War II aviators to flight. The North American SNJ-5 Texan, the classic two-seat
advanced trainer, which turned young fliers into combat pilots. The Piper J2 and J3 Cubs, the staples of
every hometown flying patch. They're all vanishing from the flying scene, but they're all ready to roar
at the Western North Carolina Air Museum.
If you remember when airports didn't have fences, when you could wash the airplanes for a ride, and when
you could walk right up to the flightline and see, touch, & smell the excitement, up close & personal... come
back in time to the Western North Carolina Air Museum.
Set beside an active airport - the second busiest private airstrip in all of North Carolina, we're more than
a place to look at planes. We're a place to relive a moment in time that is rapidly passing away.
You won't find airplanes under glass. You won't fint velvet ropes to keep you away. You won't find guards and
ticket sellers and concessionaires.
You'll only find airplanes and people who love them. Many are pilots. Some even fly our airplanes. And if you're
lucky enough to visit on a day when someone is going up, you might just be able to go along for a ride
in a piece of aviation history.
If you remember when flying was an event instead of a burden, when climbing into an airplane was more
exciting than riding a bus, and when every head turned at the sound of a motor buzzing overhead, then
rediscover that excitement at the Western North Carolina Air Museum.
Here the excitement lives on. It echoes in the fabric wings of the airplanes that brought it to life. It floats
in the scent of avgas on a plane just returning from a flight. And it lives in the people who show you around
and answer questions - most are veterans of that golden age when not everyone knew how to fly, but every kid sure wanted
to learn.
We're home to a unique collection of airplanes celebrating the Golden Age of General Aviation, the decades surrounding
the Second World War, when flying commanded the world's attention and an airplane was in everybody's future. A place
for flying folks to share memories of a disappearing era. And a place to show the young ones a proper airplane, with taut
fabric over wooden spars, a single propeller at the nose, and a little wheel under the tail.
The Western North Carolina Air Museum is a center of living history in the popular Hendersonville - Flat Rock region of
the state. Don't miss this unique opportunity to remember flying the way it used to be.
Bring your kids, your camera, and your leather jacket. You can view the airplanes in an hour or so, or spend the afternoon hanger-flying
with our friendly, informative staff. We can't guarantee fine weather, but our hanger doors are open rain and shine. And we can't guarantee
that we'll be flying on the day you visit, but we do promise to propel your imagination back to the golden
age of general aviation. Come for the airplanes. Stay for the memories. There's plenty of both at the Western North Carolina Air Museum.
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