Hickory Aviation Museum Hickory, NC — AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUMS

In November 2020, the Blue Angels performed their final show of the season along Pensacola Beach. This was also the final show that the Blues performed in the legacy F/A-18 Hornet, their demonstration aircraft since 1986. Beginning in 2021, the Blues are flying the newer F/A-18 Super Hornet. Eight days after that final 2020 show, Blue Angels pilot, CDR Frank Weisser, flew Blue Angel number 5 to Hickory North Carolina, performing a mini air show when he arrived. After landing, the Hornet took its place at the forefront of the Hickory Aviation Museum.

The planes that the Blue Angels fly have no special modifications, they are just standard fleet aircraft. Airframes come from the fleet for assignment to the Blue Angels, and later return to normal fleet operations. The F/A-18A in the Hickory museum, BuNo 162411 had an interesting reunion when it arrived at the museum. In 2012, the Navy pulled F/A-18, BuNo 163144, out of the boneyard in Arizona to replace the damaged rear section of another Hornet. Hickory was offered the front section to put on display and the rear section went to Jacksonville, FL to be added to the damaged aircraft- 162411- which eventually became Blue Angel number 5! The front section of 163144 is currently being mounted on a trailer as a portable display.

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Editors note: In October of 2023, the Hickory Aviation Museum broke ground for a completely new facility. The full press release about the groundbreaking is at the end of this blog.

The Hickory Aviation Museum was founded in 2007, and the first plane in the museum was an FJ-3 Fury, the Navy version of the North American F-86 Sabre. Today, the museum is a great collection of over 20 aircraft ranging from WW-II to modern day, with an emphasis on 1960s-1970s military aircraft. The planes all sit on the ramp in front of a small indoor area of exhibits. There is a plan in the works for a new, purpose built, building in the near future. More about that later.

As you exit the exhibit building onto the ramp, you are first greeted by the Blue Angels F-18, but also an amazing view of many other planes, all in a small space. I randomly began at this Vought A-7 Corsair II.

We have seen several A-7s recently, including at the New Jersey Air Victory Museum in the last issue. Although this is a Navy A-7A (BuNo 154345), the write up in front of it, as well as on the museum website, had some interesting information about the Air Force version, the A-7D. The Air Force acquired the A-7 based on an Army request for sub-sonic close air support (the Army has been forbidden from flying fixed-wing combat aircraft since the founding of the Air Force in 1947). The main difference from the Navy version was that the Air Force specified a more powerful engine, the Allison TF-41. This engine was derived from the Rolls-Royce Spey and produced 15,000 pounds of thrust as opposed to the Pratt and Whitney TF-30 with 12,200 pounds thrust for the A-7B. The later Navy A-7E was also equipped with the TF-41.

The A-7, like several of the planes on display, has steps for viewing inside the cockpit.

Representing the early days of the jet age is this unique Curtis XF-15C-1 Stingeree. First flown in 1945, the XF-15 was a mixed propulsion aircraft with an R-2800 radial engine in front and a J-36 turbojet in back. The Navy was originally reluctant to order pure jets for carrier use, due to the slow spool-up times of early jet engines, a big problem during a bolter. Three examples of the XF-15 were built: one crashed, one was scrapped, and only this example remains today.

By 1946, jet engines were improving and the Navy dropped the concept of mixed-propulsion carrier aircraft. This was another little bit of aviation history I learned about at Hickory, and one-of-a-kind aircraft like this really make a museum special.

The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, one of the storied Century Series aircraft, was first flown in 1955 and over 800 were built between 1955 and 1964. Like many military aircraft, the F-105, best known as the Thud, had teething problems during its early life. By the time the Vietnam war was in full swing, however, the F-105 had become the dominant Air Force attack aircraft. By the late 1960s the F-105 was being replaced by newer aircraft, especially the F-4, but variants of the F-105, the EF-105F and the F-105G continued on until the end of the Vietnam War. Known as Wild Weasels, these aircraft were used in a defense suppression role.

The F-105 in the museum, tail number 54-0107, is a B model and is the second oldest surviving Thunderchief. This plane spent some years in Alaska for cold weather testing and then set a speed record on its way to Eglin AFB in Florida. Here is a short video about that record setting flight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkFHjDKpr1w

Last summer, the museum completed a three-year restoration of this aircraft.

First flown in 1959, the Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter was a light fighter developed at the same time as the T-38 trainer. The type saw limited service in Vietnam, as the Air Force chose to combat MIG aircraft with heavier planes, like the F-105 and F-4. The type was quite successful, however, with the air forces of numerous other countries, as an inexpensive fighter aircraft. Over 2,000 F-5s were built between 1959 and 1987. The F-5 did find a role in the US military, however, and was used extensively by the US Air Force and Navy as an aggressor force aircraft, and the Navy still uses the type in this role. Its small size and agility make it an ideal candidate to mimic an enemy MIG-21 during aggressor contests, such as the Navy’s Top Gun school.

The F-5 in the museum is a Navy version, BuNo 141540. It is a second-generation F-5E Tiger II, which began production in 1972. In the background of this photo, you can see the red star on the tail of the F-5, from its use as an aggressor aircraft.

While visiting last month’s museum, the Air Victory Museum of New Jersey, I noticed that there were more Navy aircraft on display than those from the Air Force. The same is true here at Hickory. When I asked the staff at each museum why there were more Navy aircraft, they both gave the same answer. It seems that the process of acquiring surplus aircraft is substantially easier with the Navy than the Air Force. And, as we have seen, the Navy might even fly the plane to your museum!

There have been several additions to the Hickory Aviation Museum since my visit. This Grumman FM-2 Wildcat BuNo 16278 recently arrived from the now closed Flying Leatherneck Museum in California. The Hickory staff spent a day in 90 degree heat reassembling the Wildcat, and it is now proudly on display.

Just one day after my visit, this Grumman OV-1D Mohawk was flown in and took its place on display.

Photo courtesy of Hickory Aviation Museum.

Recently added (October 2021) is this A-6E Intruder. Bill Baker described the acquisition-

“We relocated A-6E Intruder BuNo 155629 from the former Quonset Air Museum, QP, Rhode Island. It was the final aircraft left after that museum closed in 2016. (In 2017, we brought the XF15C-1 Stingeree and SH-3H Sea King from there as well). The Intruder had sat on an abandoned runway ever since. Our volunteers went up in two teams to do the disassembly and loading over a span of about 2 weeks. Everything arrived and was unloaded on October 1st. It will take us some time to get it reassembled, prepped and displayed, but it is a very complete aircraft with engines and the cockpit is complete.” Thanks Bill!

The A-6 on the ramp at Quonset. Photo courtesy of Hickory Aviation Museum.

These latest acquisitions of new aircraft show the forward thinking and the vibrancy of this museum.

One of the highlights of the Hickory Museum (and there are many) is this Lockheed P-3C Orion, BuNo 156515. The P-3 first flew in 1959 and is one of just a handful of military types that continued in active-duty service for over 50 years. The last active-duty P-3s deployed with VP-40 from May-December 2019, while several reserve squadrons are still flying P-3s today.

This particular P-3C served with VP-30 at NAS Jacksonville until 2017, when it was flown to Hickory by VP-30 personnel. The museum has kept the plane in its operational condition, including all items in the interior, which is open to visitors- one of my favorite parts of any museum.

From front to back, the Orion looks pretty much as it did during normal operations.

Although the cockpit is somewhat blocked off, you can still get a pretty good look at all the original features.

There is some updated equipment here, but the P-3 cockpit remained basically a 1960s design throughout its service life.

Some interesting and informative displays have been added to the P-3 interior but most areas are like this- with original touches like the aircraft NATOPS manual adding interesting detail.

My good friend, Jim Wadkins, flew the P-3 for over 20 years. On active duty, he flew out of Barber’s Point, in Hawaii. Following that, he flew with VP-66 out of Willow Grove, PA, eventually rising to the rank of captain and serving as VP-66 Commanding Officer. I asked Jim to tell us a little about P-3 operations.

“The P-3 is a very versatile and rugged aircraft. ASW (Anti-submarine Warfare) is its primary mission, but it is also very capable for search and rescue and reconnaissance. I have operated it from 200’ while looking for submarines and missing sailors to FL290, while transiting to and from search areas. A typical ASW mission will involve a three-hour briefing time, a three to four hour flight to the search area, four to five hours on station tracking submarines, three to four hours back home, and then a two-hour de-brief. With VP-66, we often flew from Barbers Point in Hawaii to Willow Grove non-stop, a 13-14 hour flight. On one mission we searched for three sailors missing in a fishing boat off Guam. We spent the entire 15 hour mission between 200 and 1000 feet in search patterns. The P-3 has been a very capable aircraft for a very long time.” Thanks Jim!

You can take an interactive, 3D, tour of this P-3, with details about each area of the plane.

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=4UgzaEpRdwr&utm_source=4

As mentioned earlier, the museum has a smaller exhibit area. Although small, it is nicely organized, well-kept, and very informative.

An interesting display about the Norden bomb sight.

Hailing from North Carolina, George Preddy was the highest scoring P-51 ace in WW-II. Preddy’s younger brother, William, was also a P-51 pilot and both brothers were killed during the war. They are honored and memorialized here.

The North American T-2 Buckeye was the Navy’s basic jet trainer for almost 50 years, from 1959 to 2008. During that time, virtually all Navy and Marine Aviators who went through jet training, as well as all Naval Flight Officers (NFOs), navigators and weapons systems operators, trained in the T-2. With only a few exceptions, pilots who trained in the T-2 were based at NAS Meridian Mississippi. Most Navy and Marine jet pilots of the time made their first carrier landings in the Buckeye.

The original version of the T-2, the A model, had a single Westinghouse J-34 jet engine. The T-2B was powered by two Pratt and Whitney J-60 engines and the final version, the T-2C, was powered by two GE J-85s. Overall, 529 of the type were built.

At the start of the Korean War (June 1950), the front-line Navy fighters, such as the F9F Panther, were all straight wing jets and they were no match for the Soviet MIG-15s. Swept wing fighters such as the F7U Cutlass and the F9F Cougar were still under development, so North American proposed a Navy version of the operational F-86 Sabre: the FJ series of Naval fighters. The FJ-2 Fury, with GE J-47 engines, was only flown by Marine squadrons, while the FJ-3, with a Wright J-65 engine, was flown by the Navy and Marines. Not only did the Fury have a tail hook, but it differed in other ways from the F-86, having folding wings, different armament, a modified wing, and additional fuel capacity.

The FJ-3 Fury, BuNo 141393, in the Hickory Museum was the first plane in the collection, arriving in Hickory in 1991.

Hickory Airport is a busy place and you might see a vintage plane or two landing, like this old Piper Apache

Hickory Aviation Museum is a great place to visit. As mentioned earlier, there is a capital campaign underway to build a larger, indoor facility. Until then, it’s great to see so many planes all in one small area.

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A special thanks to Bill Baker for his assistance in researching this blog and to Buford Barnett for his assistance during my visit.

A few other “thanks” that I should add to all of my blogs. My son Mark and his wife Taylor helped me do the initial design of the blog and website; my son Eric is always helpful with technical questions; my son AJ not only offers technical advice, but is very generous with offering rides to museums in his Baron; and daughter-in-law Angela often has valuable input and suggestions. My brother Mike edits the blog each month with very valuable input. Above all, my wife Sheri provides support and encouragement and often accompanies me on museum visits. A huge thanks to everyone.

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Hickory breaks ground on new aviation museum and workforce innovation center

OCTOBER 26, 2023

Leaders from the City of Hickory, Hickory Aviation Museum, and Catawba Valley Community College gathered at Hickory Regional Airport this morning to officially break ground on the construction of a new facility where aviation and education will come together.

The City of Hickory is partnering with the Sabre Society of North Carolina/Hickory Aviation Museum and Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) to construct a building to house the museum's vintage military aircraft, preserve aviation history, and provide STEM education and workforce development opportunities.

The expanded Hickory Aviation Museum will feature a hangar to preserve and display aircraft and will also serve as the site of CVCC's Workforce Innovation Center, a regional educational campus with flexible use space providing high-tech equipment, classrooms, and virtual simulators for training.

Hickory Mayor Hank Guess opened the groundbreaking ceremony by welcoming attendees. The roar of two North American T-28 Trojan warbirds briefly interrupted the ceremony as they blazed over the skies of Hickory to signal the launch of this transformative project.

“We are here to witness the fusion of aviation and education in a way that has never been seen before, as we embark on the journey of constructing an innovative facility that will be a cornerstone for our community's future. Set atop the highest point in Hickory, this new facility will become a destination for education and experience, offering beautiful views of the Catawba Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance,” Guess said. “It will be a place where dreams take flight, where young minds are nurtured, and where people of all ages can embark on a journey of lifelong learning.”

CVCC President Dr. Garrett Hinshaw commented on the impact this new facility and partnership will have on the region. "This whole community is about partnership, and we prove it time and time again, that we can do anything when we work together. When Kregg Kirby heard about this project, we got together and got started talking about the opportunities up here. Things started clicking. From that one conversation, we stand here today to celebrate this groundbreaking ceremony that marks the beginning of a journey that will shape the future of our communities, our children, and generations to come in this region. Education is the cornerstone of progress, the key to unlocking the potential of our next generation, and a testament to our commitment and passion for assuring that everyone has opportunities to be successful. Together, we embark on a journey that will impact countless lives and leave an incredible mark on our region. Let us be inspired by the possibilities that exist here today and work tirelessly to ensure that this educational facility and museum becomes a beacon of the future of this region and shows how successful we can be.”

Retired U.S. Navy Commander Frank Weisser, a two-time Blue Angels solo pilot who delivered the Hickory Aviation Museum’s Blue Angel in 2020 and now serves on the museum’s board of directors, then shared his passion for aviation and excitement for the new museum. “I spent 10 years of my career flying with the Blue Angels. I saw the impact of these air shows in every city we went to. Just like a Blue Angel performance, the museum brings aviation to life. The jet that I brought is an incredible machine. No question about it. But what's more incredible than the machines are the stories of the men and women who flew them and the men and women who maintained them. And if you go into these museums, you see these stories come alive,” Weisser said. “Two brothers had both the dream and the vision, and the willpower, 35 years later, to make this thing happen. I spent five minutes with Kregg and Kyle Kirby, and I felt this incredible energy, this excitement that comes from these stories because it takes it to the next level.”

“This museum makes Hickory an aviation destination,” he added. “It has the potential to inspire young men and women not to spend their lives tied to the ground, literally or figuratively. It might inspire them to have a career in aviation, but it also might just make them think they can do things they didn't think were possible before, because aviation has this incredible propensity to propel people at supersonic speeds to a level of imagination that they didn't think was possible.”

Weisser concluded by saying, “In the fall of 2020, we were getting rid of our F-18 Charlies and moving to the Super Hornet on the Blue Angels. And I had this privilege of taking airplanes all over the country. Of all the cities we delivered those airplanes to, there was one where when I landed, I didn't know a single person, but I felt like I was home. That was in Hickory. So, when you combine this museum, this structure, this facility, the energy of this event, and the warmth of this town, I personally think you have an unbeatable combination here. It's not just showcasing aviation. It's inspiring the future and allowing Hickory to be a part of that.”

The ceremony also included additional remarks from North Carolina Senator Dean Proctor, David E. Looper & Company President Roger Young, and CommScope founder and Hickory Aviation Museum benefactor Frank Drendel.

Community leaders then took turns shoveling dirt for the ceremonious groundbreaking.

This innovative $24 million project will be funded by an $18.7 million allocation from the State of North Carolina and by public and private donations to the Sabre Society of North Carolina, the non-profit organization for the Hickory Aviation Museum. The museum continues to pursue additional funding to support the restoration and display of its vintage aircraft collection.

Visit www.elevatehky.com for more information about this project and how to support the Hickory Aviation Museum by making a tax-deductible contribution.

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To learn about what to do in the local area, museum hours and costs, as well as books to read and other interesting odds and ends, keep reading! At the end you will find a photo gallery of the entire museum.

PLANNING YOUR VISIT

Monday: Closed

Tuesday-Friday: 10am-3pm

Saturday: 10am-4pm

Sunday: 1pm-4pm

There is no entrance charge, but donations are gratefully accepted.

FLYING IN

The museum is located on Hickory Regional Airport (KHKY). There are two paved runways of 6400’ (6/24) and 4400’ (1/19). There are ILS, RNAV, and VOR approaches and the airport runs a full service FBO. You can park on the ramp in front of the terminal building, right next to the museum.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

Located in Western North Carolina, Hickory is known as the furniture capitol of the world. Although the large furniture manufacturing operations are no longer here, there are still many small furniture and woodcraft businesses, including the Hickory Furniture Mart https://www.hickoryfurniture.com/ The town of Hickory puts out a nice destination guide-https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/hickorync/HickoryMetro_DestinationGuide_2021_2022_Digital_compressed_37e40d5c-8da2-4a22-b55d-b7525d84bdee.pdf

WHERE TO EAT

Located in the terminal, right next to the museum, is the Crosswind Café. Not only do they have excellent diner style meals, but the museum displays continue throughout the terminal and the restaurant.

The town of Hickory has an area of restored shops with arts and craft, antiques, and a number of restaurants, including Olde Hickory Station, which is in a restored railroad depot.

SUGGESTED READING

For Father’s Day I was given Whatever It Took by Henry Langrehr (Thanks AJ & Angela!). Langrehr was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne and his first combat jump was on the night of June 5th, 1944, part of the opening salvo of the D-day invasion. It is a masterful first-person account of the days and weeks following the invasion and the fierce, sometimes hand to hand, combat that took place in every village and at every bridge. Langrehr was eventually wounded, captured, placed into forced labor, and escaped. The account is very well written and includes an interesting overview of political, social, and military events of the time. The first-hand account of the author’s experiences are an often intense and very forthright description of day to day fighting in Normandy. This is an excellent book and rather remarkable for the fact that it was published in 2020, when the author was 95 years old.

MUSEUM WEBSITE

http://www.hickoryaviationmuseum.org/

UP NEXT

Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Springs, CA

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!

On a recent trip to Nevada to visit my brother Mike we flew in his home-built Vans RV-8 to Palm Springs (see next month’s blog). On the way back, we took a detour to fly over the Kingman, AZ airport (KIGM).

Kingman is one of several desert airports in Arizona and Southern California that are short term and long term storage facilities for aircraft. Following WW-II, thousands of planes were stored, and then scrapped, in Kingman. If you are driving by, or flying by, one of these airports, there are always interesting sights to see.

These airports have businesses located around them that specialize in aircraft rebuilding as well as dismantling and salvage. I always find them intriguing to walk around, they are very much museums, of a sort.

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PHOTO GALLERY

click photos to enlarge