Page 24 - South Mississippi Living - November, 2019

COASTNOTES READY
FOR TAKEOFF:
Progress at the Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum
story by Lynn Lofton photos by Donn Hupp aAnd courtesy of the Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum
long held dream for an aviation museum in Gulfport is taking shape and plans are for a February opening of
phase one. The Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum on Pass Road is under the auspices of the Brown
Condor Association which honors the legacy of barrier-breaking pilot John C. Robinson.
Housed in a former furniture store owned by the city, the museum has 55,000 square feet at its disposal with 14,000 square feet to be utilized in the first phase.
This new attraction will be interesting to people of all ages and have interactive exhibits. “It will
be historical and a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) museum,” says Francisco Gonzalez of the Brown Condor Association. “There will be a lot of learning to be had here, and especially a lot for kids to do.”
Think flight simulators with pilot seats, control tower computers to simulate take offs and landings, sitting in the cockpit of a Hurricane Hunters plane, the huge outer ring of a turbine that visitors can stand in for photos,
a movie room that has seats from a plane and an attendant’s station, and much more.
Phil Harding, president of the Military Officers Association, was convinced to get involved and has high praise for the museum and
community. “It’s a work in
progress that will continue to grow,” he said. “Everything
has been donated – labor, supplies, materials, artifacts. The spirit of the community is outstanding and will make this museum a success.”
Gonzalez says many individuals and companies have been instrumental in making the museum a reality and all will be named when the facility opens.
Both men are keen on the museum’s tall front windows and proximity to the Gulfport-Biloxi Airport where planes can be seen leaving and approaching. Donated small planes will be hung from the museum’s ceiling along with huge plane photos that were transferred to fabric. A stripped down airplane frame will show how planes are made.
Visitors will enter and buy tickets
at a 1970s American Airlines ticket counter and then proceed down what will look like a runway. A tribute to Robinson, the Gulfport native who was the first African-American pilot
to fight in a foreign country, is near the entrance.
Other points of interest include the Mississippi Aviation Hall of Fame, the Tuskegee Airmen story, and exhibits honoring WW II and all branches of the military.
24 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • November 2019 FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
Naval Volunteers from the USS Fitzgerald and the USS Tripoli move a Continental R-670 seven-cylinder four- cycle radial aircraft engine donated by Mr. Doug Mans eld, Director of the G.I. Military Museum.