Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » Former National Warplane Museum Announces New Direction

For those of you who have been following the situation at the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, formerly known as the National Warplane Museum, surprising changes have been the order of the day. Starting with the sale of their B-17 Flying Fortress “Fuddy Duddy” to Gen. William Lyons in California, followed by the sale of their PBY-6A Catalina to the American Airpower Museum of Long Island, and the posted sales of their R4D-5 and C-45, the museum seems to be taking a direction away from warbirds.

A recent article by the Elmira/Corning Star-Gazette further reinforces this change. The Wings of Eagles Discovery Center is attempting to fill an education gap in Chemung County. The museum/center will partner with local schools and colleges to establish camps and out-of-school programs to bring aviation and high-tech to the youth of the area. The museum will still act as a tourism focus, but in that role alone, it remains underutilized. The addition of education programs would hopefully increase the utiliation of the facility and build a future for the oft fragile museum.

Speaking about the reason for the change, County Executive Tom Santulli said, “There’s a lot of history in that building of flight. But static displays and World War II veterans that used to be the backbone of that museum are going away… There is no future in my opinion. There’s a future but it’s not a growing future. I think the best move they have made so far is when they decided to become an educational institution.”

LINK: Star-Gazette Article

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