Significant and Rare items in the Spirit of Flight Collection

Just a few of the items from our growing collection are listed below. Items on display in the Gallery are rotated out regularly. Some of our aircraft are presently undergoing restoration.

  • Art Chester Swee’ Pea (later renamed Sky Baby)- Air Racer built in 1947. Only one to exist in the world.
  • Boeing P-26 Peashooter- Reproduction of the famous fighter that bridged WWI and WWII designs.
  • Messerschmitt BF-109F- Built in 1942, one of only a few Friedrich (F) models in the world. Recovered in Russia in the early 1990s
  • BD-5J- World’s smallest jet aircraft painted in James Bond “Octopussy” movie scheme.
  • Radioplane Shelduk Target Drone- One of only a few of the 73,000 that were built and still exist.
  • Cassutt IIIM Racer- Dedicated to Gary Hubler, Jay Jones and Ib Hansen. All were Cassutt pilots.
  • Waco EGC-7- Original 1937 bi-plane that flew with Grand Canyon Airways.
  • Globe Swift- 1946 Swift has been restored to exacting standards.
  • Rutan Varieze- Unique canard design is a tribute to Burt Rutan, John Denver and John Chambers.
  • Mark 1 Target Kites- WWII kites built by Spalding were used for surface-to-ground target gunnery practice
  • Berry Motor Car Company Aircraft Tug- Built in 1943, the only known example in the world as the company went bankrupt during WWII.
  • Amelia Earhart Bronze Statue- Full size bronze statue is one of only three that exist in the world. The other two are in Atchinson, Kansas (Amelia’s birth home).
  • GE-1A Jet Engine- A cutaway of the first American jet engine design from 1942, based on the Frank Whittle engine design.
  • Fairchild K-19B Night Photo Camera- WWII aerial camera used on the B-24 Liberator.
    Westinghouse J-30 Turbojet Engine- Built in 1947, this engine was Americas first axial flow jet engine used on the McDonnell FH Phantom jet.
  • Norden Bomb Site- From 1943, this stabilized automatic bomb site was used on many US and British WWII bombers and was considered Top Secret.
  • Mighty Mouse 2.75 Folding Fin Rocket- Primary NATO armament from the 1950s.
  • Curtiss-Wright Electric Propeller- Fully restored propeller from a WWII B-26 Marauder.
  • Thomson Upright Player Piano- 100 year old piano that complements the Spirit of Flight Pub.
  • Congressional Gold Medal- Presented to the Women Airforce Service Pilots in March, 2010.
  • Toby Jug- Made famous from the movie Twelve O’Clock High.
  • Ranger V2 APU Engine- For starting the WWII B-29 Superfortress.
  • Collins R-390A Radio- Built in 1954, one of over 6000 that were built, but few exist. This was considered Top Secret during the Cold War.
  • Mark 44 Torpedo- Air launched torpedo built in the early 1960s.
  • *Cessna L-19 Bird Dog- The Prototype aircraft built in 1949. Now with Vietnam Flying Museum.
  • *Lockheed 12A Electra, Jr.- Built in 1936, and was one of Conoco’s first aircraft. Later owned by Charles Babb, who signed Amelia Earhart’s first pilot’s license. Now in Minnesota.
  • *Mercury BT-120- Built in 1941. The only one to exist in the world. Only three were ever built. Now with WAAAM Museum.
Spirit-of-Flight-Collection