Alaska Aviation Museum

Anchorage, Alaska, USA

On June 3rd, 1942, Japanese aircraft attacked Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands opening the Aleutian Islands War, the only land battle on US soil during WW-II. On June 4th, a patrol of Curtis P-40s encountered Japanese aircraft returning from an air strike. Several planes on both sides were shot down and one of the P-40s crash landed on Umnak Island. The pilot, Lt Winfield McIntire, survived and was rescued. The heavily damaged plane was stripped of usable parts and remained in that isolated spot on the Aleutian Chain for over 50 years. In 1998, it was recovered by members of the Anchorage Aviation Museum, where it is currently being restored.

P-40E, 40-598, UNDER RESTORATIONPHOTO COURTESY OF THE ALASKA AVIATION MUSEUM — **P-40E, 40-598, UNDER RESTORATION**
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ALASKA AVIATION MUSEUM

The first time I flew into Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, I was struck by all the seaplane activity on and around the airport. While later visiting the Anchorage Aviation Museum, I learned a lot more about the use of seaplanes in opening up the Alaskan frontier.

The Uber driver dropped me off next to a hangar on a side road. There were several old airplanes posed along a waterfront as well as what looked like the top of a control tower, so I assumed I was in the right place. I finally saw the entrance, but I paused for a few minutes before entering to watch seaplanes coming and going on Lake Hood. The museum has many outdoor displays, everything from a PBY to an F-15. Watching seaplanes come and go while strolling among antique aircraft adds to the experience. What an excellent location for an aviation museum!

I started my tour inside the first of several hangars. Walking around this museum, you continually run into random and interesting displays. Like so many aviation museums, there really isn’t a path that you follow, you just wander. It’s a shame that these museums aren’t a little more organized, but on the other hand, it is kind of fun to just come across an interesting random display.

One example that caught my eye was this display of a Hamilton H-47 fuselage, one of just two in existence. The Hamilton first flew in 1928 and was one of the first all-metal planes built in the US. Similar in appearance to a Ford Tri-motor, but smaller, the Hamilton had a single Pratt &Whitney Hornet 9-cylinder radial engine and carried six passengers. Northwest Airlines, among others, operated this type and by 1929, Hamilton had been absorbed by Boeing. As you can see, the fuselage is not complete and is not restored. The display illustrates the overall approach of this museum; put items on display, even if they aren’t yet restored. I like this approach. Many museums have lots of items in storage, awaiting restoration, and many of these items end up never being shown. When I visit a museum, I always ask about seeing what’s in storage, but that area is usually off limits. When I am able to talk my way in, it can be just as interesting as the actual museum. In the case of the Alaska Aviation Museum, it appears that a lot of what they have is on display, and that makes for an interesting museum.

Browsing around, you can’t miss the unique collection of aircraft skis displayed along the walls throughout the museum. Most are not labeled but they give you a great feel of how aviation developed in the region. Skis are mentioned in various displays and you realize what a large part they played in early flying in Alaska. Very few planes were designed to use with skis and early operators often designed and installed their own. It wasn’t an exact science- plenty of trial and error.

Although now headquartered in Seattle, Alaska Airlines was originally founded in Anchorage in 1932 as McGee Airways. After a number of mergers and name changes, it became Alaska Airlines in 1944. The airline sponsors a very nice display of its company history and the display cases are well done and well maintained.

After viewing more of the indoor displays, I wandered back outside and came upon this Alaska Airlines 737-200, with modifications for landing on snow and gravel runways. The interior of the 737 is open to visitors, a feature I always appreciate. It is interesting to realize that a 737-200 is now an historic aircraft and worthy of being in a museum. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I flew a brand-new 737-200, my first airline captain position.

This 737-200 QC, or Combi, was purchased by Alaska Airlines in 1981. As a Combi, it could be configured to carry various configurations of passengers and cargo, quite useful in the remote areas of the far north. N740AS served Alaskan communities until 2007, flying over 68,000 hours.

One of the main displays in the museum is not directly aviation related; the Battle of the Aleutian Islands mentioned earlier. There are maps and artifacts and a lot of information about the campaign. During the battle, the islands of Kiska and Attu were captured and occupied by the Japanese. They held the islands until May, 1943. when Attu was recaptured. The battle of Attu was the only ground battle on American soil during WW-II. Kiska was recaptured three months later, ending the Japanese occupation.

**BATTLE OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS DISPLAY**

One of the great pleasures of an air museum is standing in front of an old plane and thinking about the places it has been and the people who have flown it. Some planes bring specific people to mind. If you visit the Air and Space museum in DC and stand in front of the Winnie Mae, you are reminded of Wiley Post or you feel the presence of Chuck Yeager while looking at the Bell X-1. Major museums, like the Smithsonian, tend to have unique and well known planes, but these are rare. Planes in smaller museums, such as the Alaska Aviation Museum, are more likely connected to an era or maybe a location, more than to a person. Although there are pilots and entrepreneurs featured in this museum, the overall impression is of many aviation pioneers opening up this very rugged and challenging area.

This UC-64A Norseman is a good example. It was built in Montreal during WW-II for the US Army by Noorduyn Aircraft. Very little is known about the history of this particular plane but it probably served as a utility transport during the war. It is the same type that was tragically lost over the English Channel in 1944 with band leader Glen Miller on board. Designed to be used in the arctic with wheels, floats, or skis, it spent most of its post-war life in Canada and Alaska. It served with Interior Airways during the construction of the DEW Line (Distant Early Warning Line) which was a series of Cold War radar sites in far northern Canada and Alaska. This Norseman doesn’t have any specific history of heroism, but you can just imagine how many pilots have flown it in many difficult situations. It was originally donated to the Pioneer Air Museum in Fairbanks in 1972, where it was damaged by snow and vandals. The UC-64A was given to the Alaska Aviation Museum in 1995 and is awaiting restoration.

I have always found it disappointing that none of the elegant Pan Am clippers of the 1930s survived. Over the years I have had many overnights in Shannon Ireland and I was always eager to visit Foynes Flying Boat Museum in Limerick. It is a great museum, but I was disappointed to find that their Boeing B314 Pan Am Clipper, although interesting and well done, is a replica. Anchorage surprised me, though, because they do have a portion of an original (Baby) Clipper. These smaller Clippers, which held 18-25 passengers, were mainly used by Pan Am in Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Latin America. This particular Baby Clipper was operated in Alaska by Reeves Aleutian Airways. Ted Spencer, who founded the museum, discovered it in 1987, being used as a fishing boat. The substantial portion of the front of the Sikorsky S-43 is still to be restored, but it is already a wonderful display,

The Smithsonian has Wiley Post’s actual Winnie Mae but there is a model and a display in this museum honoring Post and Will Rogers, who died together in a plane crash in Alaska. Post set many flying records between the wars including high altitude records as well as being the first person to fly solo around the world. Will Rogers, who famously said “I never met a man I didn’t like”, was a well-known actor, writer and social commentator. He became friends with Post and, when Post was planning to develop a mail route from the West Coast to Russia, asked to join him to gather material for his commentaries. Flying a modified Lockheed Vega with floats, they were near Point Barrow, Alaska, when they became lost in bad weather and landed in a lagoon to ask directions. On take-off, they had an engine failure and crashed. Both men died instantly. The small, but very interesting display is a simple tribute to these aviation pioneers.

Like many museums of this size, the Anchorage Aviation Museum was clearly created and maintained by people with a passion for aviation and its history. And, like so many others, it’s obvious that people have donated a lot of time and, most likely, a lot of money to leave this legacy for the rest of us to enjoy. That is the purpose of this blog, to give a little coverage to lesser known air museums and, hopefully, to encourage their support.

PLANNING YOUR VISIT

Open Tuesday-Saturday 10-5 and 10-4 on Sunday. Closed Monday. Entrance is $15 for adults and $5 for ages 5-17. Opening times vary with the seasons, so check before you go.

When you visit, be sure to mention this blog!

FLYING IN

If you are arriving by seaplane, aim for Lake Hood Seaplane Base (PALH). You should be able to taxi right up to the museum and tie up. The museum is located on Ted Stevens International (PANC), but on the opposite side of the field from the corporate ramps. It is not too far from the passenger terminal.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

There are obviously a myriad of outdoor activities available in Alaska and what is best will partly depend on what time of year you are there. You can take short or long boat trips, aerial sightseeing trips (including by seaplane) and for a comfortable scenic ride, take the train to Seward or Fairbanks.

MUSEUM WEBSITE

http://www.alaskaairmuseum.org/

FURTHER READING

After visiting the museum, I came across a weekend market in Anchorage. There was a book stall named Aunt Phil’s Trunk that caught my eye. Laurel Downing Bill, writes a series of books about Alaska, named in honor of her Aunt; Phylis Downing Carlson. They contain short stories- and lot of photos of Alaskan history. I bought Vol.3 at random and it has a number of aviation related stories and photos, interesting little clips of history. https://auntphilstrunk.com/

In the last issue I recommended Ernest Gann, my favorite aviation author. Another favorite is Neville Shute, a British writer. Shute was an aeronautical engineer, pilot and author and, like Gann, I would recommend any of his books. My favorite is Slide Rule which is autobiographical. Shute was a very successful writer and some of his best sellers are not aviation related. A number of his books were made into movies with On the Beach, staring Gregory Peck, probably the best known. If you can track down a copy of No Highway in the Sky staring my favorite B-36 pilot, Jimmy Stewart, you will enjoy this quirky aviation movie.

UP NEXT

The Museum of Aerial Firefighting in Greybull, Wyoming

MUSEUMS ARE WHERE YOU FIND THEM

This segment is dedicated to finding interesting aviation artifacts that are in public view- but not in an aviation museum. If you see one send a photo!

Many airports have some sort of display of their history- sometimes they even have a museum. A good example is the small, but interesting, museum in the terminal of Dare County Airport (KMQI) in Manteo, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Built during WWII, the airport was first home to a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) coastal patrol squadron and later in the war, it became a Navy training base. Tucked into a couple of rooms in the terminal is this great little museum with many displays of history of the airport. They also have a number of scale models of planes that were based there. This is the kind of place that is a great find for anyone interested in aviation history. You just have to look! The web site has a nice video about the history of the airport.

https://www.darenc.com/departments/airport/museum

**The main display room of the Dare County Regional Airport Museum**

PHOTO GALLERY

ALASKA AVIATION MUSEUM

Tony BrunoJuly 4, 2019