Prompted by centenary commemorations for historic milestones of the First World War in recent years, many museums chose to revamp some of their exhibits celebrating the sacrifices involved in that conflict; the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF) in Dayton, Ohio, was no exception. In addition to the special WWI-related events and exhibits which the NMUSAF held between 2014 and 2018 (with an emphasis on US Army Air Service contributions over the Western Front and aircrew training in the United States) the museum also chose to refurbish several of its WWI-era aircraft, albeit after the main Great War celebrations had concluded. These aircraft included the NMUSAF's Curtiss JN-4D Jenny, Thomas-Morse S-4 Scout and a reproduction Avro 504K. The museum's restoration workshop has only so much capacity, and could not focus exclusively on these projects, so it is only recently that they have finally finished the bulk of what they set out to do.
Most readers will know that, for the past half century, the legendary Planes of Fame Air Museum has based the majority of their collection at Chino Airport in San Bernardino County, California. Less well known, perhaps, is their facility in Arizona, which they opened in 1995 at Valle Airport, just south of the Grand Canyon. The museum maintains some three dozen or so airframes here, and one of these, Douglas A-26C Invader 44-35323, is presently under restoration to fly having sat on static display for more than two decades.
After a multi-year effort, Planes of Fame Air Museum recently announced plans to expand their presence into California’s Central Coast region, selecting a site for a new facility which they will construct at Santa Maria Airport, roughly 200 miles northwest of their longtime home in Chino.
Opening this week, the Harford Road coworking community has an art gallery and community meeting space. Co-owner Gene Ward wants it to go beyond workspace, and be a community center.