places to visit in Lakeland, FL
Florida Air Museum
The Florida Air Museum, as Florida’s “Official Aviation Museum and Education Center,” has a vibrant collection of innovative designs, classics, ultra-lights, antiques, and warbirds. It’s more than just a collection of planes; it’s a testament to flight’s history and joy. Exhibits teach visitors about aviation pioneers such as Howard Hughes, early air racers, Floridians, and others who have affected the industry. The Museum also provides a range of year-round educational opportunities for all ages, including camps, tours, seminars, and speaker events, in collaboration with ACE. The Museum continues to expand and meet the challenge of displaying aviation history via exhibitions, restoration and preservation, teaching and outreach, and sharing a love of flying with visitors of all ages. Founder director Billy Henderson and others envisioned an aviation museum to anchor the property and give a year-round educational and historic presence as early as the 1980s, only a few years into the SUN ‘n FUN Fly-In. The current Florida Air Museum is located on the SUN ‘n FUN site immediately southwest of Lakeland Linder International Airport, thanks to a museum group that interviewed architects, begged property from the City of Lakeland and acquired the current location in 1983. In 1986, a “mini-museum” arose in the corner of Hangar A. The SUN ‘n FUN Aviation Foundation was established in 1988 to supervise the SUN ‘n FUN Air Museum’s development and administration. In 1989, the entire Hangar A was converted into a temporary museum. Marion Robles, a volunteer curator, utilized his connections at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, to secure the loan of many planes and engines, including a Boeing NA-75 (N-25) Stearman and a Lockheed XFV-1 “Vertical Riser” shipboard fighter. Long-time participants of the SUN ‘n FUN Fly-In may recall seeing the “Vertical Riser” standing on its tail near the main office for many years. Visitors may now locate it alongside the Guest Hospitality Center in Southeast Exhibits, having been totally restored by committed volunteers over several years. The City of Lakeland authorized money for the existing museum building’s construction and the leasing of neighboring land in 1991. The structure, which was originally intended as a repair and instructional center, is now the heart of the Florida Air Museum, with current and future growth on all sides. During the SUN ‘n FUN Fly-In in April 1992, the main building was formally opened to the public. The Museum was renamed the Florida Air Museum in 2002. Highlighted exhibits are Howard Hughes, Naval Aircraft, Innovations in Propulsion. These are just some of the things currently on display from collections: Florida Aviation History, The Leading Edge, Howard Hughes, Florida Aviation Hall of Fame, Discovery Zone, Air Show Performers and Pioneers, Innovations in Propulsion, Static Displays, Midcentury Innovations in Aviation. The museum’s collection comprises a number of rare and noteworthy aircraft, as well as a number of homebuilt aircraft. There’s much more to see and do, and the staff is constantly updating and adding to the displays and activities.
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