Texas Air & Space Museum facts for kids

The Texas Air & Space Museum is an aviation museum located near Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Amarillo, Texas. The museum displays civilian and military aircraft, as well as a wide range of air and space artifacts.

History

In 1989, a group of aviation enthusiasts in Amarillo formed an air and space museum at private Tradewind Airport in southeast Amarillo. In 1997, the museum moved from Tradewind Airport to the Amarillo International Airport (later Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport) and into old buildings that, for most of the years from 1929 through 1972, served as Amarillo's commercial air terminal, first as English Field, then as English Airport, and finally as Amarillo Air Terminal. When the ongoing maintenance costs of English Field's old terminal building and hangars became too great for the museum and city to bear, English Field Air & Space Museum relinquished 13 of its 14 aircraft to other museums, moved its artifacts into storage, and in 2007, closed its doors.

In February 2010, the museum changed its name to Texas Air & Space Museum, acquired indoor and outdoor exhibit space at the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport, and reopened its doors. On opening day February 15, 2011, Texas Air & Space Museum had a significant number of indoor air and space historical displays and three aircraft—a North American P-51D Mustang, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver on floats, and a de Havilland DHC-4 C-7 Caribou.

In July 2011, the museum acquired the locally built and flown Speed Johnson F8F Beercat Reno racer, (registered as Speed Johnson F4F Bearcat) And, in September 2011, the museum acquired a NASA Gulfstream II Shuttle Training Aircraft that was known by NASA as '946' and was flown 49 times by the airport's namesake—Rick Husband, commander of STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia that on February 1, 2003, disintegrated upon re-entry, killing all crew members.

Exhibits

Indoor exhibits on the east wall of room 101

The Speed Johnson F8F Beercat and the North American P-51D Mustang

1974 Grumman G-1159 NASA Shuttle Training Aircraft flown 49 times by Amarillo favorite son and airport namesake Astronaut Rick Husband, commander of the STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia

1945 Douglas DC-3 N34 US Navy R4D-6 1945-1956, CAA/FAA DC-3C-R 1958-present, lent to Texas Air & Space Museum February 13, 2014 when it was flown from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Amarillo, Texas, listed on the nation's National Register of Historic Places

Outdoor aircraft park

• de Havilland Canada C-7A Caribou
• Grumman C-11A Shuttle Training Aircraft

Aircraft indoors

• Bell OH-13S Sioux 63-9085
• Douglas DC-3 N34
• Speed F4F Bearcat

Indoor exhibits

• Aviators of the past – covers local aviators who made aviation history throughout the area, state, nation, and world
• Airports of the past – describes neighboring airports that hosted airmen and aircraft of the early days of aviation
• Amarillo Army Airfield – documents the comings and goings of aircraft and aviators of the war years
• Harold English and English Field Airport – celebrates the dominant aviator and airfield of the area's early aviation
• Military Aviation – highlights aircraft and aviators of the war years while emphasizing service at nearby Amarillo Army Air Field later called Amarillo Air Force Base
• Model aircraft – displays models of civil and military aircraft: All models are hand made by World War II veteran, former B-17 tail gunner, and expert model creator, Jack Rude.

Space exploration

This section of the museum houses dedications to the space program and covers the period from the Mercury flights to the Space Shuttle.