Kalamazoo Air Zoo 2019

Early Saturday morning – 02/02/19. My aviation buddies Allan and Dan met at 4:30 am to start our trip to visit the air museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It’s about a 4 hour ride so we thought we’d get an early start so we could have maximum time looking at the exhibits.

Easy and uneventful drive had us arrive just after the opening. We were fortunate to get there early as February at the museum is open cockpit Saturday. This weekend the two airplanes on the schedule are the Republic P-47 and the Douglas AH1 Skyraider. We were second in line at the P-47 to just one guy who was already seated in the cockpit. Each of us had our opportunity to sit in the cockpit of the WWII fighter and I was able to get some great pictures and video. We were told the AH1 Skyraider was open so we went into the next hangar to wait in line to get in that cockpit also. We were a bit disappointed when we were told the Skyraider would not be available as they could not locate the steps required to get into the cockpit. We were hoping to get into that airplane, but no loss the P-47 was worth the trip.

I returned to the first hangar to view the Curtiss XP55 Ascender the museum has on display. Very interesting article. There were three manufactured, two were destroyed in crashes, making the Air Zoo piece the only remaining example of this aircraft type in the world. It’s pretty amazing standing in front of an airplane that’s the only remaining example. The XP55 was a very forward thinking airplane. Forward canard to control pitch, with the engine located in the rear and a pusher prop and twin vertical stabilizers. I have read articles about the airplane stating the airplane had stability problems. Nonetheless it was great seeing this unique airplane.

I continued walking through the second building taking pictures for my Instagram channel and my YouTube channel. I recently purchased a super long selfie stick to get pictures above the normal clutter of the museum. I encourage you to check out my photos on the above sites under Everything Airplanes. In another section of the second building be sure to check the extensive collection of space exhibits. There are some very interesting pieces there. One in particular is the capsule that Hamm the chimp was sent up in during the early stages of the Mercury program. The boilerplate Gemini capsule called El Kabong is also on display there. Very good space exhibits here.

We took a break for lunch just a little bit before noon. Typical museum dining fare of hamburgers and fries. We finished and then travelled to the east hangar. If you do visit the Air Zoo be sure to make it to this part of the museum. There are some great airplanes on display there. Among the planes on display are a Lockheed F104, a Grumman Cougar, a McDonnell F4 Phantom, a Mig 15 and Mig 21. Be sure not to miss the beautiful Grumman Mallard in the back. This airplane is absolutely beautiful. There are a few very nice cutaway engine displays as well as a few cockpit displays that you can sit in. The engine highlight in the east hangar is the F1 engine hanging from the ceiling. The F1 engine is what was used on the Saturn V rockets. It’s pretty amazing to see how big this engine is and to actually be able to walk under it. Great display. The restoration facility is currently restoring a Douglas Dauntlass that will be shipped to the Pearl Harbor museum when complete, as well as a Grumman Wildcat that crashed in Lake Michigan during carrier training for WWII pilots. Very interesting displays.

Back in the main hangar I spent some time looking at and photographing the SR71B on display. This is the only trainer version of the SR71 built. I was able to get some great pictures of the Blackbird. They have beautiful examples of P-47, Hellcat, Wildcat, F8 Crusader, F14 Tomcat, and A4 Skyhawk and P-63 Aircobra, and B25 Mitchell. There are also a number of classic biplanes.

We ended up in the museum store just prior to leaving. The museum store has been getting smaller year after year. There were several tee shirts available for the museum as well as the SR71B. However, there wasn’t any merchandise for the Curtiss XP55 Ascender. I’m going to have to make that a priority for my Everything Airplanes store designs.

Additional Museum Information

Official Website : https://www.airzoo.org/

You can plan your visit or take a virtual tour and much more on the Kalamazoo website!

Summary

It was another uneventful ride back to Milwaukee. I was a great day hanging out with my aviation buddies and seeing the great planes on display at the Air Zoo. Thanks again for visiting Everything Airplanes.com. I’m hoping to have several new designs available by the end of February.

I still intend to write about the Grassroots fly in from last Fall. Lots of planes, but the weather prevented a lot of flying.

You can find out more about the Kalamazoo Air Zoo at their website AIRZOO.ORG.

Your comments and feedback are appreciated. I hope you return often.

Blessings