New Gallery Opens At Hill Aerospace Museum

by Nicholas A. Veronico

The Hill Aerospace Museum, located outside Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new L.S. Skaggs Gallery on April 29, 2024, and opened the gallery to the public on May 2, 2024. The Skaggs Gallery is a 91,000-square-foot addition to the museum, which now encompasses 240,000-square feet of enclosed display space. The additional gallery has enabled the museum to bring the majority of its 79 aircraft under cover. The cost of the expansion project exceeded $20 million, with $15 million coming from a Utah State Legislature grant and the balance from generous private donations through the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah.

Visitors enter the aircraft displays through the Hadley Gallery, where they are greeted by a 1903 Wright Flyer replica, a Burgess-Wright Model F Flyer, and a Curtiss JN-4D Jenny that was owned, restored, and flown for many years by Jim Nissen of Livermore, California. Beyond the Hadley Gallery is the Lindquist Stewart Gallery, where most of the Cold War, Vietnam War, and Rotary Wing aircraft are displayed. The newly opened L.S. Skaggs Gallery, located just below the Hadley Gallery, is now home to some of the aircraft of the Cold War, Vietnam War, and Post Vietnam eras.

World War II Collection

The original sections of the museum house an impressive collection of World War II aircraft, including a P-38J, P-40E, P-47D, P-51D, A-26 Invader, C-45H, C-47B, and C-54G transports, and bombers from a B-17G, B-24D, B-25N, and B-29. The P-38J, serial number 42-67638, and the B-24D, serial number 41-23908, were both recovered from crash sites in Alaska and rebuilt to display standards in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The P-51D on display was assembled from a number of different Mustang components and is painted as serial number 44-13371, the aircraft flown by Col. Chesley Peterson with the 8th Air Force’s 4^th Fighter Group. Peterson named the original aircraft after his wife Audrey Boyes Peterson.

The museum’s B-17G, serial number 44-83663, was built too late to see service in World War II and was stored immediately following World War II. In 1951, it was transferred to the Brazilian Air Force (Forca Aérea Brasileira-FAB), where it flew search and rescue patrols. In 1968, the plane was gifted to the U.S. Air Force Museum, and subsequently operated by David C. Tallichet’s Yesterday’s Air Force. The bomber was returned to the Air Force in 1983, dismantled, and flown by C-5 Galaxy to Hill AFB, where it was reassembled, restored in the markings of Short Bier, flown by the 493^rd Bomb Group, and put on display in 1986.

The museum is also putting the finishing touches on a World War II nose art panel display that will be on the catwalk above the gallery overlooking the B-17, B-25, and B-29.

Cold War/Vietnam War Aircraft

First generation jets from the late 1940s and ’50s are represented by a Republic F-84F Thunderstreak (51-1640) and F-84G Thunderjet (52-3242), and an F-86F (52-4978) restored in the colors of Utah Air National Guard pilot and Korean War Ace Capt. Clifford D. Jolley, who attained seven aerial victories during the Korean War. These aircraft are now displayed in the L.S. Skaggs Gallery.

A full collection of Century Series jets is on display in the Lindquist Stewart Gallery including F-100A (52-5777), F-101B Voodoo (57-0252), F-102A (57-0833), F-104A (56-0753), F-105D (59-1743) and F-105G Wild Weasel (62-4440), plus the former QF-106A drone (58-0774). There’s also a nice selection of F-4s, from an F-4C (63-7424) to a RF-4C (66-0469) to an F-4D (66-8711). The museum’s Douglas A-1E Skyraider (52-0247), also located in the Lindquist Stewart Gallery, is painted to resemble the aircraft flown by Maj. Bernard F. Fisher from his rescue mission in Vietnam on March 10, 1966, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.  Additionally, representing adversary aircraft, the collection displays an ex-Polish Air Force LiM-5 (MiG-17F, Fresco-C) and MiG-21F, Allied code name Fishbed-C.

As for spyplanes, the museum has an RB-57A Canberra (52-1492) that saw service in the late 1950s overflying Warsaw Pact countries.  The new L.S. Skaggs Gallery house two additional spyplanes in the Lockheed U-2 (56-6716) and the only two-seat SR-71C ever built (61-7981). By January 1968, both two-seat SR-71Bs had been lost in crashes, necessitating the need for another training aircraft. The SR-71C, seen in this new section of the Hill Museum, was built from the aft end of a YF-12A and the front end of an SR-71A built for static testing. It flew 556.4 hours as a trainer, and was removed from service and stored in April 1976. The Blackbird arrived at the museum in 1990.

Continuing with their collection that remains in the original section of the museum is the collection of Rotary wing aircraft.  These examples include a CH-3E Jolly Green Giant (65-12790), H-21C (56-2142), H-43B (62-4561), and MH-53M (68-10369).

Modern Combat Aircraft

In December 2022, the Hill Aerospace Museum took delivery of F-22, 91-4002, a pre-production test aircraft that first flew on June 29, 1998. Following retirement from flying duties, this specific Raptor was used as a ground instructional airframe by the 325^th Fighter Wing at Tyndall AFB, Florida. The aircraft can now be seen in the L.S. Skaggs Gallery alongside an F-15A (77-0090), a trio of F-16As (Desert Storm veteran 79-0388, test aircraft 79-0402, and ex-USAF Thunderbirds 81-0678), and an F-117A (82-0799) known as Midnight Rider. An MQ-1B Predator drone (03-33116) rounds out the collection.

Now that the majority of the museum’s aircraft are displayed inside, only the largest of the collection remain outdoors, including the B-1B (83-0070) 7 Wishes, B-52G (58-0191) Bearin’ Arms, and C-124C (53-0050). The Hill Aerospace Museum is on Facebook and is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit their website at: www.aerospaceutah.org.

Angela Decker

Angela Decker, from McPherson, Kansas, discovered her passion for aviation after earning a Master’s in Military History from Norwich University in 2011. Since 2012, she has volunteered with vintage aviation groups, excelling as a social media content creator and coordinator. Angela has coordinated aviation and WWII events, appeared as Rosie the Riveter, and is restoring a Stearman aircraft. She is the Operations Logistics Coordinator at CAF Airbase Georgia and an accountant with a degree in Economics from the University of Georgia. Her son, Caden, shares her love for aviation and history and is studying Digital Media Arts.

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