The Mid-America Air Museum is an

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

and

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

located at the Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport in

Liberal, Kansas Liberal is a city in and the county seat of Seward County, Kansas, United States. As of 2024, the population of the city was 18,743. It is located in southwestern Kansas, along U.S. Route 54 highway, near the Kansas-Oklahoma state line. Lib ...

, United States. The Mid-America Air Museum is the largest aircraft museum in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. It has on display over 100 aircraft (both within the museum's primary building and on the adjacent tarmac), a gift store, and several displays of

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

s and

ephemera Ephemera are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. The word is etymologically derived from the Greek ephēmeros 'lasting only a day'. The word is both plural and singular. On ...

relating to the history of aviation in the region.

History

The museum is on Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport, originally known as Liberal Army Air Field that served as a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

training base during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The museum is located within a

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

that formerly belonged to

Beech Aircraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and Military aircraft, military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacture ...

, where Beech produced Beech Musketeer,

Beechcraft Baron The Beechcraft Baron is a light twin-engined piston aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft was introduced in 1961. A low-wing monoplane developed from the Travel Air, it remains in production. Design and development The ...

, and

Beechcraft Duchess The Beechcraft Model 76 Duchess is an American twin-engined monoplane built by Beechcraft intended partly as a low cost introduction to twin-engine aircraft. Development Developed as Model PD289 (Preliminary Design 289), the prototype was u ...

light airplanes, in the 1960s and 1970s. The museum started with the donation, by the late Colonel Tom Thomas, Jr., of his personal collection: over 50 aircraft (valued at over $3 million) to the City of Liberal. It originally opened as the Mid America Air Group Flying Museum in 1984 in

Ada, Oklahoma Ada is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,481 at the 2020 United States census. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was in ...

with 38 planes.

Collection

The Mid-America Air Museum's collection includes: * Aero Commander 520 ''N711YY / 520-76'' * Aero Commander CallAir A-9B ''N671W'' * Aero Designs Pulsar 582-N ''N62817'' *

Aeronca 7AC Champion The Aeronca Model 7 Champion, commonly known as the "Champ", or "Airknocker",Bellanca Aircraft Corp, " d: "The Champ only $4,995"" ''Flying Annual & Pilots' Guide,'' 1971 ed., pp.36–37 iff-Davis NY is a single-engine light airplane with a ...

''N2735E'' * Aeronca 65C Chief ''N23547'' * Aeronca K Scout ''N19339'' * Aeronca L-3B Grasshopper ''N48433'' * Air & Space 18C Flymobil ''N6128S'' *Armstrong Aeronaut ''N77VA'' * Avid Flyer ''N31BL'' *

Avro 504K The Avro 504 is a single-engine biplane bomber made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during World War I totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that ...

(replica) * Beechcraft F17D Staggerwing ''N139KP'' * Beechcraft 2000A Starship ''N1556S'' * Beechcraft 35 Bonanza ''N80441'' * Beechcraft AT-7C Navigator ''N65314'' * Beechcraft B19 Musketeer Sport ''N1978W'' * Beechcraft T-34B Mentor *

Beechcraft Travel Air The Beechcraft Travel Air is a twin-engine development of the Beechcraft Bonanza. It was designed to fill the gap between the single engine Beechcraft Bonanza, Model 35 Bonanza and the much larger Beechcraft Twin Bonanza, Model 50 Twin Bonanz ...

''N833B'' * Bell AH-1G Cobra ''71-21038'' * Bell AH-1W SuperCobra ''160817'' * Bell OH-13H Sioux ''55-4619'' * Bell UH-1D Iroquois ''66-1204'' * Bellanca 14-13-2 Cruisair Senior ''N74456'' * Breezy RLU-1 ''N1380E'' * Bushby Mustang II ''N32DC'' * Cessna 120 ''N72948'' *

Cessna 140 The Cessna 120, 140, and 140A, are single-engine, two-seat, conventional landing gear (tailwheel), light general aviation aircraft that were first produced in 1946, immediately following the end of World War II. Production ended in 1951, and ...

''N76483'' *

Cessna 175 The Cessna 175 is a light aircraft, light four-seat, single-engine, fixed wing aircraft produced by Cessna between 1958 and 1962. A deluxe model known as the Skylark was introduced in 1959 for the 1960 model year. The aircraft is very similar ...

''N7205M'' * Cessna 195A ''N9864A'' * Cessna C-145 Airmaster ''NC19462'' * Cessna C-165 Airmaster ''NC32450'' * Cessna 337A Super Skymaster ''N6274F'' * Cessna UC-78 Bobcat ''N711UU'' * Cessna XT-37 ''54-0718'' * Culver Model V ''N3116K'' * Curtis Wright CW-1 Junior ''N10973'' * Douglas A-4C Skyhawk ''149635'' * ERCO 415-G Ercoupe ''N94886'' * Fairchild PT-19A Cornell ''N49942'' and ''N91095'' * Fairchild PT-23A Cornell ''N63739'' * Flight Level Six Zero Der Kricket DK-1 ''N601CS'' * Fly Baby 1A * Funk B-75-L ''N24174'' * General Motors TBM-3E Avenger ''N6831C'' * Globe GC-1B Swift ''N78159'' *

Grumman F-14A Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for t ...

''160903'' * Grumman S2F-1 Tracker ''N5470C / 133179'' * HAL Gnat ''E1222'' * Hughes OH-6A Cayuse ''66-7865'' * Interstate L-6 Cadet ''N37214'' * Lakeland Flyers Inc 2/3 Scale P-51 Mustang ''N951JH'' *

Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, two p ...

''49-0710'' *

Lockheed F-104C Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic Interceptor aircraft, interceptor. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fighter aircraft for the United States Air ...

''56-0933'' * LTV A-7D Corsair II ''73-1009'' * Luscombe 8A Silvaire ''N1172B'' * Luscombe T8F Observer ''N1580B'' * MacFam Cavalier SA102.5 ''N12RG'' * McCulloch J-2 ''N4374G'' *

McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twinjet, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic aircraft, supersonic jet interceptor aircraft, interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by ...

''66-7746'' *Miller S-1 Fly Rod ''N22RM'' * Monnett Moni ''N124KB'' * Mooney M-18C Mite ''N4140'' * North American F-86H Sabre ''53-1501'' * North American TB-25N Mitchell ''N9462Z / 44-30535'' * North American YOV-10A Bronco ''152880'' * Northrop Q-19 Target Drone * Northrop T-38A Talon ''60-0583'' * Pereira X-28A Osprey ''158786'' *Phoenix 6C Hang Glider * Piasecki HUP-3 Retriever ''147628'' *Pietenpol B4-A Air Camper ''N2NK'' * Piper J3C-65 Cub ''NC26815'' * Piper J-4F Cub Coupe ''NC30426'' * Piper PA-22-135 Tri-Pacer ''N1129C'' * Piper PA-23 Apache ''N1015P'' * Piper PA-23-250 Aztec ''N4581P'' * Piper PA-24-250 Comanche ''N110LF'' * Pober Pixie ''N8509Z'' * Porterfield CP-65 Collegiate ''N32431'' * Rand Robinson KR-1 ''N982GS'' and ''N31SB'' * Rearwin 175 Skyranger ''N32402'' * Rearwin 7000 Sportster ''NC18768'' * Rearwin 8135T Cloudstar ''N37753'' * Republic F-105G Thunderchief ''63-8266'' * Riley D-16 Twin Navion ''N3797G'' * Rotec Rally 3 Big Lifter * RotorWay Scorpion 133 *

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the ...

a replica ''N3922D'' *

Rutan Quickie The Rutan Model 54 Quickie is a lightweight single-seat taildragger aircraft of composite construction, configured with tandem wings. The Quickie was primarily designed by Burt Rutan as a low-powered, highly efficient kit-plane. Its tandem w ...

''N1176L'' *

Rutan VariEze The Rutan VariEze is a glass-reinforced plastic, composite, canard (aeronautics), canard aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. It is a high-performance homebuilt aircraft, hundreds of which have been constructed. The design later evolved into the ...

''N859'' * Ryan ST-3KR ''N46741'' * Shober Willie II ''N113BT'' * Staib LB-5 * Steen Skybolt ''N120VL'' * Stinson 10A Voyager ''N34690'' *

Stinson L-5 Sentinel The Stinson L-5 Sentinel is a World War II-era liaison aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), U.S. Army Ground Forces, U.S. Marine Corps and the British Royal Air Force. It was produced by the Stinson Division of the Vulte ...

''N66334 / 76-2942'' * Stinson V77 Reliant ''N9362H'' * Taylorcraft L-2M Grasshopper ''N49174'' * Thorp T-18 ''N35GW'' * Viking Dragonfly ''N202RG'' * Vought F-8H Crusader ''148693'' * Vought F4U-5N Corsair ''N100CV / 124447'' * Vultee SNV-2 Valiant ''N67316''

References

External links

Kansas Travel-Mid-America Air Museum
- photos and candid review

{{authority control Aerospace museums in Kansas Museums in Seward County, Kansas Museums established in 1988

History

Collection

See also

References

External links