Southern Museum of Flight

Southern Museum of Flight

Established	1966
Location	4343 73rd Street North Birmingham, Alabama 35206
Director	Dr. Brian J. Barsanti
Website	www.southernmuseumofflight.org

The Southern Museum of Flight is a civilian aviation museum Birmingham, Alabama USA. The facility features nearly 100 aircraft, as well as engines, models, artifacts, photographs, and paintings. In addition, the Southern Museum of Flight is home to the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame, which presents Alabama Aviation History through collective biography.

Notable aircraft on display include a Wright Flyer, Curtis Pusher, Fokker D-VII, Alexander Eaglerock, F-4 Phantom, F-86 Sabre, AH-1 Cobra, Soviet-built MiGs, Mi-24 Hind, A-12 Blackbird spy plane, the “Lake Murray” B-25, and an array of experimental aircraft. The Lake Murray B-25C Mitchell^[1] bomber crashed in South Carolina during a 1943 training exercise. The right engine was torn off during the crash but the crew was able to escape unharmed before she sank to a depth of 150 feet (46m). The aircraft became a dive site for local technical divers until she was raised from the depths of the lake in September 2005.^[2] Dr. Bob Seigler who spearheaded the project, John Hodge and Dr. Bill Vartorella, formed the Lake Murray B-25 Rescue Project to salvage the aircraft from the bottom of Lake Murray.^[3] After recovery the remains of the aircraft were moved to the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama for conservation and museum display.^[4] A video crew, including maritime video experts Nautilus Productions Rick Allen (2nd camera & underwater camera) and Ric Hase (sound), documented the recovery for the Mega Movers series on the History Channel.^[5]

Featured on display is a diorama exhibit honoring Alabama’s famed Tuskegee Airmen, as well as the Korean War Jets Exhibit and Vietnam War Helicopters Exhibit.

Notable/Select Aircraft on Display

Aero Commander 680 Aeronca K 1937 Aeronca Sedan on floats A-12 Oxcart single seat variant of SR-71 Blackbird B-26 Douglas Invader (Air Force) B-25C Mitchell BD-4 BD-5B BT-13B Valiant Beagle B.206 Beechcraft Starship 1912 Curtiss Pusher replica Cessna 337B Skymaster Cumulus Glider DA-2 The first Delta Air Lines airplane F4 Phantom jet fighter F-4 Phantom II Cockpit Simulator F-14 Tomcat (Navy) F-84F Thunderstreak F-86 Sabre (Navy) Fokker D.VII Glasaire II F-T

Heath Super Parasol 1927 Huff Daland crop duster MiG-15 Fagot (Air Force) OH-6 Loach Helicopter (Army National Guard) PL-4A Pazmany PT-19 Fairchild Cornell Piel-Emeraude Piper Cherokee PA 28-140 Rotec Rally ultralight Republic Seabee Sonerai II-LT Sport Fury Starduster biplane Stinson 10A Stinson SR-5 T-6G Texan TG-4A (Civil L-K 10A) T-33A Shooting Star (Air Force) Vari-Viggen invented by Burt Rutan Wright Flyer replica

References

1. "Podcast: Southern Museum of Flight". AL.com. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
2. "Lake Murray's Mitchell". Air & Space Magazine, Smithsonian.
3. "B-25 Mitchell Bomber Salvaged from Lake Murray". Lake Murray's B-25.
4. "Lake Murray B-25 Exhibit". Southern Museum of Flight.
5. "Rick Allen (XIX)". IMDB.

• Barsanti, B. J. Interview with James T. Griffin (20 Jan 2013).
• Stevenson, E. W. "The History of the Southern Museum of Flight", SMF Trustee Manual, 15 May 2004.

External links

• Southern Museum of Flight website
• Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame website
• Lake Murray's B-25
• Lake Murray's Mitchell
• Podcast: Southern Museum of Flight
• B-25 Recovery and Preservation Project Rubicon Foundation

Coordinates: 33°33′49″N 86°44′17″W / 33.56348°N 86.73806°W