Museum plans open house
Military helicopter rides, a car vs. plane race and kids activities will be on tap in honor of Armed Forces Day.
A Vietnam-era T-28 Trojan with its own Purple Heart and a C-45 that went from flying generals around a war zone to delivering hurricane relief supplies to Houston are among the many exhibits at the Museum of Flight.
And its roster will be expanding dramatically for the open house that the nonprofit based at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport in Rome is planning for June 2, Armed Forces Day.
“We’re super-excited,” said Development Director Holly Kelly. “I know there will be a lot going on that day, but everyone should come out here first.”
The event — with kids activities, tours, demonstrations and guest speakers — is free. Kelly said they’re also pre-selling rides on two military
helicopters, at $95 on the Huey and $590 on the Cobra.
“Seats are limited on those,” she noted. “We’ll
also have civilian helicopter rides available.”
Food, hats, T-shirts and other souvenirs also will be on sale to help offset
the cost of keeping the fleet of vintage planes in airworthy condition.
A highlight of the day will be the Thrust vs.
Torque demonstration in which a Corvette races an airplane.
Tony Sommer, an Australian Air Force veteran who serves as the museum’s maintenance coordinator, said kids usually root for the car.
“We have smoke set up on the Corvette and it goes belching down the runway. It really makes a good show,” he said.
Sommer made the replica Purple Heart for one of the T-28s, which is mottled with patches covering the bullet holes it sustained in Viet Nam. Originally built as trainer planes, the Trojans were called into service for airto-ground support.
“When they were used for training, the paint scheme had bright orange on the nose, the wing tips and the tail — which meant ‘Stay the heck away,’” he said with a laugh.
During tours there could be a chance to sit in the cockpit, or to step inside the C-45 used to ferry generals around in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The Museum of Flight used the renovated cargo plane last year on relief flights to areas hit
by Hurricane Harvey.
The museum, staffed mainly by volunteers, is generally open six days a week, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, or to become a member, visit their website at mofts.org.