The Strategic Air Command & Space Museum's Lockheed U-2 will be a key feature in a new exhibit set to open about the aircraft on June 9th. The exhibit will be opened after a presentation by Frances Gary Powers Jr. (photo by Richard Mallory Allnutt)
The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska besides Offutt Air Force Base will be holding a Living History Day on June 9th, between 10 am to 2 pm. The event will feature the opening of the museum’s new U-2 Exhibit. The guest speaker will be Frances Gary Powers Jr., son of the late U-2 pilot famous for the incident in which his aircraft was shot down over Soviet airspace on May 1st, 1960. This will be your chance to learn the history of this strategic asset while also having an aircraft to crawl through. Reenactors will also be present to give visitors a even more tangible feel for the time.
The U-2 Display exhibit, made possible by Nebraska Humanities, will open immediately following the 10 a.m. presentation by Francis Gary Powers Jr.
Francis Gary Powers (right) with U-2 designer Kelly Johnson in 1966, a few years after Powers was repatriated to the U.S.A.. Powers was a USAF fighter pilot recruited by the CIA in 1956 to fly civilian U-2 missions deep into Russia. Powers and other USAF Reserve pilots resigned their commissions to become civilians. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Living History & Aircraft Tour
The Museum will offer history tours at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm. Visitors will see historic characters throughout the Museum in period appropriate uniform. The WWII Guys will be in reenactment mode with a complete air crew at the C-47 Skytrain to educate guests about the Operation Neptune or D-day, the day Allied landings in Normandy began. The WWII Guys will also offer a photo booth and a class on airborne jumps.
The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum’s magnificent C-47 Skytrain, decked out in D-Day livery. (photo by Richard Mallory Allnutt)
The Museum will feature the ‘Candy Bomber’ as one of its characters, to tell the tale of Gail Halvorsen and his fellow pilots who dropped candy on tiny parachutes to the German children while carrying out their duties to supply the marooned western part of the German capitol during the Berlin Airlift in 1948. The museum will open up its C-54 Skymaster cargo plane, one of the types used during this important aerial supply operation, for public tours.
A U.S. Air Force Douglas C-54 Skymaster making a “Little Vittles” candy drop (note the parachutes below the tail of the C-54) on approach to a Berlin airfield. Aircrews dropped candy to children during the Berlin Airlift. (photo via Wikipedia)
Interactive App Debut
The Museum’s first app will be available beginning June 9th. The app includes audio and visual capabilities describing artifacts within the Museum’s “Courage from Above: Strategic Bombers of WWII” exhibit.
The event, exhibit opening, tours, and lecture are part of Museum general admissions, but free for members. Advanced registration is not required.
Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
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