Winners Claim Museum of Aviation Foundation July 12 Raffle Prizes

The three top winners of the Museum of Aviation Foundation Raffle held July 12 came by the Museum of Aviation Tuesday July 15 to collect their winnings. The first place winners were Steve and Kristy Sylvester from Warner Robins, Georgia who chose to take the $30,000 cash. Senior Airman Randall Evans, a 116th Air Control Wing member and his wife Lia who live in Warner Robins, won the second place drawing for $3,000 and the third place $1,000 prize went to Chris Brown from Kathleen, Georgia.

Photo: Museum of Aviation Foundation Raffle Winners pose in front of the Museum of Aviation and raffle vehicles. At right is Kristy and Steve Sylvester from Warner Robins who won the top drawing and chose to take $30,000 cash. June Lowe, Museum of Aviation Foundation Executive Vice President, far left, poses with (l-r) Chris Brown, the $1,000 winner from Kathleen and Senior Airman Randall Evans, his wife Lia and daughter Emma who won the second prize of $3,000.

Reservists Renew Bond with Desert Storm AC-130A Gunship

It's been more than 23 years since Maj. Gen. Richard S. "Beef" Haddad and his copilot, Col. Randall Bright, flew No. 55-0014 on a combat mission over the "Highway of Death."

On June 12, they boarded the AC-130A gunship again - this time at the Museum of Aviation where the aircraft is on display for the public to see.

"It was an exciting time for me and the other members of my crew," said Haddad, vice commander of Air Force Reserve Command at Robins AFB, commenting on his mission in February 1991.

"That experience helped me go to war in the future as we went to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom," he said. "It helped in terms of realizing the risks, and what it was like to be a crew member going into that kind of environment."

To read more, CLICK HERE.

Photo: Maj. Gen. Richard S. “Beef” Haddad, left, and Col. Randall Bright get reacquainted with the cockpit of No. 55-0014, the AC-130A gunship they flew in combat in February 1991.

Georgia Kids Invited to Museum of Aviation August 16 for Georgia Kids Stem Day

Second-through fifth grade students are invited to attend Georgia Kids STEM Day on Saturday, August 16 at the Museum of Aviation.   The day full of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm is being put on by the National STEM Academy at the Museum.  The cost is $30 per student and includes lunch and activity supplies.

The event will be held in the Century of Flight Hangar and will include special time with STEM Career Mentors. Several types of engineers, as well as medical and other STEM professionals will be at the museum to share their STEM career and tools of the trade. Students rotate through four STEM workshops which will include Electronics, Robotics, Rocketry and 3D Dissections. Sponsors for this special event are Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and the Peyton Anderson Foundation. Pre-registration is required and students may attend as individuals or as a group. To register or for more information please contact Valerie Myers at (478) 222-7580 or vgill@museumofaviation.org.

Photo: Georgia Kids STEM Day will be held at the Museum of Aviation on Saturday August 16. STEM Career Mentors will be on hand to talk to second-fifth graders.

Museum of Aviation Welcomes Visitors to Its D-Day Exhibit

The Museum of Aviation is inviting visitors to come to the Museum to walk through its D-Day exhibit which opened to the public in 2008. The interactive exhibit tells the story of the 507th parachute infantry regiment, the 61st and 442nd Troop Carrier Groups that ferried them to Normandy and the 325th Glider Regiment that fought alongside them.

The exhibit includes a recreation of the planning room used by General Eisenhower and leaders of the allied forces, an actual C-47 aircraft fuselage with its skin cutaway to see paratroopers ready to drop into France, a room full of artifacts from D-Day and a small theater which shows two films: a documentary on the 507th and an award winning special 20-minute dramatic film created for the Museum of Aviation called “Papa Said – We Should Never Forget.”

13WMAZ interviewed Jim Micko of Bonaire. Micko reenacts the parachute jump in France for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. To view, CLICK HERE.

MUST SEE VIDEOS
GPB presents: World War II fighter pilot Robert L. Scott WATCH ONLINE		Papa said, "We Should Never Forget." WATCH ONLINE		D-Day: Down to Earth - Return of the 507th WATCH ONLINE
Tuskegee Airmen: A Proud Heritage WATCH ONLINE		SR-71 Blackbird Lift onto Pedestals WATCH ONLINE		Museum of Aviation Walk Around WATCH ONLINE

This month - in 1985 - the backbone of America’s long-range bomber force – the B-1B “Lancer” bomber came into the U.S. Air Force inventory. The first B-1B was delivered to the 96th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas on July 7, 1985. The Museum of Aviation’s B-1B Lancer, serial number 83-0069, was the sixth B-1 produced and was delivered to Dyess on March 13, 1986. It was retired from active duty and flown to Robins Air Force Base in September 2002 to be retired at the Museum of Aviation. On November 20, 2006 the 146-feet-long 34-feet high aircraft was towed from Robins Air Force Base down Georgia Highway 247 to its final resting place in front of the Museum’s Eagle Building. The trip took approximately 3 hours.

B-1s are still in the active U.S. Air Force inventory assigned to Bomb Wings at Dyess AFB, Texas and Ellsworth AFB, S.D. The B-1B is a highly versatile, multi-mission weapon system that can deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time. It was used in combat in support of operations against Iraq in 1998 and later in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) B-1s dropped nearly 40 percent of the total tonnage during the first six months.

On June 3, 1995, two Dyess AFB B-1Bs completed a historic 36 hour, 13 minute around-the-world mission. The record-setting mission brought the total number of world records established by the B-1B to 61.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION