Warbird Information Exchange

For those of us who keep track of this sort of thing, the new for this museum is the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

One more takes on the "National Museum of...." prefix. Bunch of nothing as far as I am concerned. Doesn't matter to me. I still call the so called "NMUSAF" the Air Force Museum and I always will.

Same here

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

Frankly I think this whole "National Museum Of...." trend has diluted the title to the point of meaninglessness. I can see it for actual national collections like Dayton, Pensacola, and the Smithsonian..but for the rest it just seems silly. Reminds me of this little museum we stumbled across in Chattanooga a few years ago..talk about an overblown title (I didn't have a wide enough lens to quite get the entire thing in the picture!) Still, it would have been cool to check out..unfortunately we didn't have time.

SN

I presume, though can't confirm it from the museum's web site which is already pretending that the museum has been called the Nationa Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force since it opened in 1996 (see http://mightyeighth.org/about-us/), that this means it has been granted National Museum status by Congress which, as we have discussed in a few past threads, is a bit of a big deal from a museum's perspective although exactly what tangible benefits it has are still unclear to me.

August

Wonder if they give any credit to the late Roger Freeman, who coined the term "Mighty Eighth"?
I believe he was on good terms with the organization, so I'm sure he wouldn't mind, but still it seems a bit odd that an organization would take its name from a rather obscure (to the general public, not aviation history fans) book.
The way the name is (over?) used today, you'd think it was called that "back in the day".

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

I agree fully. And your example museum shot is a good example to support your point, they even ran out of room on the awning for the name!
When the D-Day museum in New Orleans changed their name to the "National Museum of WW2" or whatever their name is now, I haven't stopped rolling my eyes since...

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

It all has to do with funding and the ability to get better more notable exhibit pieces. Also foundations and other grant making agencies many times prefer to see this accreditation attached to an entity that is seeking donations. Long story short, if putting the word National in the title allows them to do more restoration and preservation work, then go for it.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

The Air Force Museum will always be the Air Force Museum to me too.

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

Hi Steve,
I visited that museum back in 2006 and took a bunch of photos - I can PM them if you like.

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

I see your point, Chris..and agree that anything that keeps a museum afloat or allows expansion is a good thing, particularly in today's economy. But as I said in my initial response, I worry that the more facilities that become "National," the less meaning the title has (which defeats the purpose of adding it.)

SN

^This. I have no problem with those three being "National Museum of", but when everyone and their mother starts copying it, it starts to bother me. IMHO, if you are a "National Museum" then you better be a public, government owned museum.


See, my problem is that's all I ever knew it as - I wasn't around for "the Air Force Museum."

While we're on the subject, I had a question: What's the difference between the "The Mighty 8th AF Museum" and the "Eighth Air Force Museum"?

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Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant

Warbird Philosophy Webmaster

One of them has a collection of very interesting airplanes that are rotting away (literally speaking) and have been for years with no serious course of action to stop it. The other museum has most of their stuff indoors and even the outdoors stuff is very well maintained.

Sorry for the dumb question, but which is which?

EDIT: Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and guess that the "Mighty" museum is the ones with the planes inside. Also found this previous thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31554

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Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant

Warbird Philosophy Webmaster

The Mighty 8th AF Museum is the one in Georgia, now the National Museum of the 8th Air Force or whatever they're calling it.

The 8th AF Museum is in Bossier City, LA at Barksdale AFB. The airplanes there are an embarrassment.