The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska recently announced that it is starting a new interactive program labeled the Aircraft Adventure Series which will take place on a Saturday every few weeks this year. The Aircraft Adventure Series will focus on aircraft or individual artifacts in the museum’s collection not usually on open display. Each event will begin with a curator-led presentation relating the history of the subject artifact while also placing it in context with a Nebraskan whose military service had a strong association with the item. After the lecture, visitors will have the opportunity to get up close and personal to these historical items, or actually board the aircraft involved. Reservations are not required, and the events are included with the price of general admission (free for museum members).
The Saturday Aircraft Adventure Series is Currently Scheduled to Include the following:
- February 9 – The C-54 Skymaster, focusing on Nebraskan Captain Norm Stevens and his experiences during WWII and the Berlin Airlift.
- March 16 – Aircraft Ditching and Survival – focusing on Nebraskan Captain Lee Seemann and the B-17 Flying Fortress during World War II.
- June 8 – The Normandy Invasion of WWII – “D-Day” from the perspective of paratrooper Ed Mauser and the C-47 Skytrain.
- July 13 – The Avro Vulcan and the Falkland Islands War.
- August 10 – Tour the museum’s archives with a presentation topic focused on Nebraska in the Cold War and how that shaped civil defense today.
- September 14 – Early aerial refueling and the role of Lincoln, Nebraska – featuring the KC-97 Stratofreighter.
- December 14 – Supersonic nuclear bomber – the technology and innovation of the FB-111 Aardvark.
The recent press release from the SAC & Aerospace Museum details the first of these upcoming events as follows…
February 9, 2019 at 10 AM
Learn about the C-54 Skymaster’s role in World War II and later the Berlin Airlift. The presentation is focused on Captain Norm Stevens and his experiences with the C-54 Skymaster aircraft during World War II and the Berlin Airlift.
Captain Stevens (5/23/1923 – 6/7/2016) was a Nebraska resident with a 10-year United States Air Force career. He flew the C-54 military transport around the world. He evacuated prisoner-of-war nurses from the Philippines in the latter days of World War II, hauled food and fuel into besieged Berlin during the airlift of 1948-49 and ferried wounded troops from Korea to Japan during the Korean War.
Artifacts on Display
Unique artifacts on display for this event include 1940s flight gear, an illustration appearing in the Columbus Evening Dispatch about General LeMay and his work with the Berlin Airlift, and technical drawings and manuals of the C-54 Skymaster.
Get Inside the C-54
The C-54 aircraft will be opened for public viewing immediately following the 10 AM presentation. This is a rare opportunity to walk inside of the aircraft and visit with museum volunteers about the aircraft and its missions.
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