Air Museum set to 'take off'
Salina, Kan., (March 29, 2010) - It took nearly 7,000 construction
workers close to four months to build it in 1942. More than 5,000
men and their families said good bye to it in 1965. And in 2005,
more than 15,000 people were there when one man took 67 hours to circle
the globe and come
back to it.
History
has been made over and over again on the flightline of the Salina
Municipal Airport and now there is a way to ensure it will be there for
generations to come thanks to the Wings Over Salina Air Museum.
The
Salina Airport Authority, with the help of the Greater Salina Community
Foundation, has established two funds to raise the money needed to
build and maintain the museum. The Authority started a
provisional fund with $500 to raise money for planning and
construction. Money donated to that fund will go to building the
museum structure and monuments to commemorate items of significance in
local aviation. An endowment fund to support operations is
seeded with $10,000.
"The
Foundation is a public charity," explained Betsy Wearing,
president and executive director of the Greater Salina Community
Foundation. "All gifts that come to the Foundation are tax
deductible to the highest extent possible. Donors also have the
confidence that their gifts to a fund within the Foundation for the
museum will be restricted only for the museum."
Right
now, the biggest push is for Smoky Hill Army Airfield and Schilling Air
Force Base related materials. The military had a huge presence in
Salina in the 1940s through the 1960s, and a near devastating effect on
the town when the base closed. The men and women who called
Salina home during the building blocks of its history have since
scattered to all edges of the country. Those historic items are
proving to be the most difficult to find.
Plans
are in works to gather oral histories and memorabilia from the men and
women who spent time on any of the bases in the Salina area.
Along
with a significant military aviation history, Salina is the boyhood
home of former NASA astronaut Steven Hawley. The town made
aviation history twice in the mid 2000s. In 2005, Steve Fossett
flew the first solo nonstop airplane flight around the world, starting
and ending in Salina. Then in 2006, he set the absolute distance
over a closed circuit record, landing in Salina. Major aviation
manufacturers have employed thousands of local residents since the late
60s. Unmanned aerial systems being developed at K-State at
Salina are quickly changing the course of history and the future of
aviation.
Items
related to these nonmilitary related pieces of history are also being
highly sought after by the Airport Authority. Photos, uniforms,
signs, paperwork and newspapers are just a few of the items that are
planned to be housed in the museum.
Currently,
the south lobby of the M.J. Kennedy Air Terminal Building will play
host to many of the items that will find a permanent home in the Wings
Over Salina Air Museum.
People
wishing to donate funds to the museum need to call the Greater Salina
Community Foundation at 785.823.1800. Those who wish to donate
historical items or have their names added to the list to be contacted
for oral histories should call Melissa at the Airport at 785.827.3914.
