Wurtsmith Air Museum
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  Location within Michigan | |
Former name | Wurtsmith Division (of the Yankee Air Force) |
|---|---|
| Established | 8 December 1993 |
| Location | Oscoda, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 44°27′31″N 83°21′27″W / 44.4586°N 83.3576°W |
| Type | Aviation museum |
| Founder | James McLaughlin[1] |
| Website | www |
The Wurtsmith Air Museum is an aviation museum located at Oscoda–Wurtsmith Airport in Oscoda, Michigan focused on the history of Wurtsmith Air Force Base and aviation in northeastern Michigan.
Establishment
Following the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force announced the closure of a number of air force bases in Michigan. This led to efforts to found aviation museums at the former bases such as the K. I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum.[2] A group at Wurtsmith Air Force Base partnered with the Yankee Air Force to establish as the Wurtsmith Division on 8 December 1993.[3] It opened in 1997 in three hangars at the base.[1][a]
Independence
By July 2012, the museum had separated from the Yankee Air Force and become the Wurtsmith Air Museum.[5]
The museum received the navigators seat from a B-52 in 2020.[6]
The museum opened three new exhibits in 2023.[7]
Exhibits
Exhibits at the museum cover subjects such as women in aviation, General Paul Wurtsmith, 920th Air Refueling Squadron, the Army Air Service and a Link Trainer.[9]
Collection
- Baker Special[10]
- Cessna L-19A Bird Dog[10]
- Jeffair Barracuda[10]
- Lockheed T-33A[10]
- Lockheed T-33A[10]
- Osprey Osprey II[10]
- Piper L-4 Grasshopper[10]
- Rand KR-2[10]
- Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 – 3/4 scale replica[10]
- Sperry Messenger – 1/2 scale replica[10]
- Waco CG-4[3]