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Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum

Coordinates: 41°01′05″N 96°19′12″W / 41.018°N 96.320°W / 41.018; -96.320
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Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird on display
Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum is located in Nebraska
Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum
Location within Nebraska
Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum is located in the United States
Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum
Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum (the United States)
Former name
  • Strategic Aerospace Museum
  • Strategic Air Command Museum
  • Strategic Air & Space Museum
Established1959, 1998
LocationAshland, Nebraska (1998– )
Offutt AFB (1959–1998)
Coordinates41°01′05″N 96°19′12″W / 41.018°N 96.320°W / 41.018; -96.320
TypeAviation museum
FounderCol. A. A. Arnhym[1]
PresidentClayton C. Anderson
Websitesacmuseum.org

The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum is a museum focusing on aircraft and nuclear missiles of the United States Air Force during the Cold War. It is located near Ashland, Nebraska, along Interstate 80 southwest of Omaha. The objective of the museum is to preserve and display historic aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles, and provide educational resources.[2]

History

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Establishment

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Offutt Air Force Base, south of Omaha and adjacent to Bellevue, Nebraska. became the headquarters of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command in 1948, and continues as the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command. The museum, then located at Offutt, began with its first airplane in 1959 as the Strategic Aerospace Museum. General Curtis LeMay's vision of a museum that preserved historic aircraft had become a reality. Over the following years, the outdoor museum's name changed to the Strategic Air Command Museum or SAC Museum. Ownership of the museum transferred from the Air Force to the state of Nebraska in 1970.[1]

Move

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However, by 1995, the United States Air Force Museum determined that the aircraft had deteriorated and was considering moving them to other locations. Three individuals, Robert Daugherty, Walter Scott Jr. and Lee Seemann, contributed $4 million each as part of a capital campaign for a new museum. Other contributions eventually raised the total to $32 million.[3]

On 16 May 1998, the museum moved indoors to a location more accessible to the public, between Omaha and Lincoln, that allowed the aircraft to be protected from the elements to which they had previously been exposed. As part of the moving process, two aircraft (a Douglas C-124 Globemaster II and C-133 Cargomaster) were relocated to the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

The new museum building is a $29.5 million, 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m2) structure that features a glass atrium, two large aircraft display hangars, a traveling exhibit area, a children's interactive gallery, a 200-seat theater, a museum store, an aircraft restoration gallery, and a snack bar. The glass atrium is constructed of 525 glass panels that encase a pedestal-mounted Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. The two aircraft display hangars protect the aircraft collection and exhibits from harsh outdoor elements. The museum participates in an exhibit exchange program with other national museums and displays them in the traveling exhibit area.[2] Three large missiles are displayed vertically outdoors in front of the museum.

In 2001, museum officially became the Strategic Air & Space Museum as part of an increased focus on space, but the name change was unpopular with veterans.[3] On 25 June 2015, the museum announced another name change to the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum.[4]

Collection

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Strategic Air Command shield
on exterior of museum
Lockheed U-2C on display

Aircraft

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The collection includes the Apollo Block 1 command module from the Apollo program's uncrewed February, 1966, AS-201 mission

Rockets and missiles

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Spacecraft

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References

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  1. ^ a b Mezzy, Dick (9 January 1970). "State Takes Control of Air Museum". Lincoln Star. p. 3. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum official website
  3. ^ a b Glissmann, Bob (17 March 2023). "The SAC museum is struggling. Can a famed astronaut save it?". Flatwater Free Press. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  4. ^ "A New Name for the Museum". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. 25 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Avro Hawker Vulcan". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  6. ^ "B-17G "Flying Fortress"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  7. ^ "B-47E "Stratojet"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  8. ^ "EC-135 "Looking Glass"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  9. ^ "AIRCRAFT ON LOAN (by Location)" (PDF). National Museum of the United States Air Force. April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  10. ^ Curtin, Eugene (14 February 2018). "SAC Museum's restoration of Looking Glass aircraft runs into headwinds". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  11. ^ "KC-97G "Stratofreighter"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  12. ^ "B-52 Stratofortress". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  13. ^ "B-29TB "Superfortress"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  14. ^ "B-36J "Peacemaker"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  15. ^ "B-58A "Hustler"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  16. ^ "F-102A "Delta Dagger"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  17. ^ "T-29A "Flying Classroom"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  18. ^ "A-26B "Invader"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  19. ^ "C-47A "Skytrain"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  20. ^ "C-54D "Skymaster"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  21. ^ "C-119G "Flying Boxcar"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  22. ^ "FB-111A "Aardvark"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  23. ^ "HU-16B "Albatross"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  24. ^ "F-117A "Nighthawk"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  25. ^ "T-33A "T-Bird"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  26. ^ "U-2C "Dragon Lady"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  27. ^ "SR-71A "Blackbird"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  28. ^ "B-57E "Intruder"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  29. ^ "XF-85 "Goblin"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  30. ^ "F-101B "Voodoo"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  31. ^ "RF-4C "Phantom II"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  32. ^ "MIG-21F "Fishbed-C"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  33. ^ "Airframe Dossier - Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21F-13 Fishbed-C (NATO), c/n 742105". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  34. ^ "B-25N "Mitchell"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  35. ^ "Airframe Dossier - North American TB-25N Mitchell, s/n 44-28738 USAF, c/n 108-32013, c/r N3441G". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  36. ^ "F-86H "Sabre"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  37. ^ "RB-45C "Tornado"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  38. ^ "T-39A "Sabreliner"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  39. ^ "CH-21B "Work Horse"". Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  40. ^ "F-84F "Thunderstreak"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  41. ^ "F-105 "Thunderchief"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  42. ^ "B-1A "Lancer"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  43. ^ "H-19B "Whirlwind"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  44. ^ a b c d e f g "Missiles & Rockets". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  45. ^ "Apollo Command Space Module (CSM 009)". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  46. ^ "Apollo Boilerplate". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  47. ^ "X-38 Crew Return Vehicle". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  48. ^ "Project Vela Satellite". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
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