New Aircraft Adventure Series at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum
ASHLAND, NE – (January 3, 2019) The Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum offers a new lecture series that includes an opportunity to view inside historic aircraft. The Aircraft Adventure series is focused on the museum’s collection, highlighting historic events from World War II through the Cold War.
The curator led speaker series will include the opportunity to view artifacts that are not on display and learn about historic events from a subject matter expert. Each event begins at 10 a.m. with a presentation near each featured aircraft. Aircraft tours will end at 2 p.m.
The series begins February 9, 2019 with a presentation on the C-54 Skymaster’s role in World War II and later the Berlin Airlift with an opportunity to get inside the aircraft. The event begins at 10 a.m. with a presentation focused on Captain Norm Stevens and his experiences with the C-54 Skymaster aircraft during World War II and later the Berlin Airlift. Captain Stevens (5/23/1923 – 6/7/2016) was a Nebraska resident with a 10-year United States Air Force career. He flew the C-54 military transport around the world. He evacuated prisoner-of-war nurses from the Philippines in the latter days of World War II, hauled food and fuel into besieged Berlin during the airlift of 1948-49 and ferried wounded troops from Korea to Japan during the Korean War.
The museum’s curator will display unique artifacts from the museum’s collection for each event. The February 9 Aircraft Adventure will include 1940s flight gear, an illustration from the Columbus Evening Dispatch to Gen. LeMay about his work with the Berlin Airlift, and technical drawings and manuals of the C-54 Skymaster.
The C-54 aircraft will be opened for public viewing immediately following the 10 a.m. February 9 presentation. The aircraft are not usually open to the public and the Aircraft Adventure series provides a rare opportunity to get inside the aircraft and visit with museum volunteers about the aircraft and its missions.
The remaining Aircraft Adventure Saturday series includes:
- March 16, 2019 a presentation on Aircraft Ditching and Survival, focusing on Nebraska native Captain Lee Seemann and the B-17 Flying Fortress during World War II.
- June 8, 2019 a presentation about the Normandy Invasion of WWII “D-Day”, from the perspective of paratrooper Ed Mauser and the C-47 Skytrain.
- July 13, 2019 a presentation on the museum’s Avro Vulcan and the Falkland Islands War.
- August 10, 2017 guests will get to tour the museum’s archives with a presentation topic focused on Nebraska in the Cold War and how that shaped civil defense today.
- September 14, 2019 a presentation on early aerial refueling and the role of Lincoln, Neb. featuring the KC-97 Stratofreighter.
- December 14. 2019 a presentation on the supersonic nuclear bomber, the technology and innovation of the FB-111 Aardvark.
These events are available to the public as part of general admission and are free for members.