Carolinas Aviation Museum is looosing its' home

[Cubs2jets]

The museum is well funded and supported by the local community, city and state. I'm sure it will work out in the end...for the better...

?????? I'm not sure where you get your information, but I assure you the city and state do not contribute to the operating budget or funding for a new location. (I guess you could say the city supported the museum by letting it occupy the hangar complex its' in for the last 9 years for $1.00 per month) The museum has had two major corporate sponsors that have kept it afloat for the past 7-8 years.

I'm not saying the museum is history (pun intended), but because operating margins have been so slim and fundraising not as robust as needed, I feel the future of the museum has serious questions.

C2j

[Kudzu]

Hi, I've been busy with non-aviation stuff and just saw this post. As one of the ( former ) charter members ( 1992 ) of the museum from before it WAS a museum, I had a bit more "skin in the game" than most. Not long after getting the Miracle on the Hudson and moving into the fancy hangar, the paid staff stopped the volunteers who had recovered / restored the airplanes ( basically created the museum from scratch with their OWN money ) from doing any such work in the new place due to fears of damaging the pretty floor in the executive hangar / causing disruptions for visitors / and liability = $$ concerns ( what I was told at the time). The ( unpaid ) board of directors changed over this time too, from airplane history lovers / nuts to corporate executive types in an attempt to bring in "movers & shakers" with funding to build a new home ( didn't work ). Following along with the board changes, the unpaid, then minimal pay, then regular job, then all $$ executive VP staff also changed from plane nuts in the beginning, to nothing but Educational degree types whose only concerns were the STEM programs and the funding it brought in ( to pay themselves ). I'm all for a museum having these programs but the tail started wagging the dog, sorry. These professional museum staffers hired consultants for almost every thing including the current signage / display layout as well as the proposal for a new purpose built facility / master plan. They group they hired did a great job and I really do like the display hangar, but the staff completely ignored everything not on display and refused offers from the old volunteers to take care of the aircraft in storage ( crew doors left open by wandering construction workers for weeks on end, bird nests, doors ripped off / STILL broken windows in the old hangar, etc, etc ). Even some the planes in the display hangar had tires go flat due to neglect / never being checked & serviced. If you go to their website and pull up the last IRS tax form they posted ( outdated 2-3 years ) you will see that most years they are just breaking even ( look at the posted expenses and see what YOU think ). From what I heard through the grapevine, the airport / city staff had delayed deciding where ( on other city property ) the museum might move to ( kinda hindering their fundraising efforts, but they always knew the current location was temporary ). They have a really nice master plan for a shiny new facility ( done by the consultants & available on their website - check out the salaries ! WOW ) but unless Bill Gates feels REALLY generous ($30 million to start), I don't think they will ever reopen unless it changes from a for-profit of the paid staff "non-profit", back to an all volunteer based group like it was to start with ( and the airport / city lets it use the old hangar area as an outdoor museum ). I really hope I'm wrong and they have a "secret" funding plan, but I just don't see the current city council dumping millions into an aviation museum even though it is all about STEM ( if it's not a new pro athletics venue, it doesn't matter to anyone "Uptown" ).

Sorry for having to vent, but after putting twenty+ years, ALOT of my own money and almost all the vacation time I ever had into helping to building a nice AVIATION museum with hundreds of other volunteers / veterans / good friends, it hurts to watch it disappear. If you are in the area, please do visit while there is still time to enjoy what is on display and talk to the docents ( volunteers of course ) who love the planes.

I can't say where ( since I've not talked to their new owner myself yet ) but the following mentioned in a post above, have gone to a new and much better home: the A-26 "Rude Invader" from Tom's old place in Florida, the C-47 "Miss Piggy" ( was Saber Air cargo, damaged in gear collapse I think ) and the skeleton P-47 remains ( REALLY not much left ) pulled off Ocean Isle beach.

Hoping for billionaire miracle !


PS I plan on visiting soon to say "goodbye" and will post pictures after I do.

PSS Hickory does have a really nice collection and an excellent group of volunteers taking care of them, hopefully if things don't work out for the planned Taj Mahal in CLT, they will be able to get some of the planes that are on loan ( and prevent anything from being scrapped like at Chanute ).

D-Day 75 years
Hats off for all WWII Veterans, never forget !

[Cubs2jets]

Yep.

C2j

[GarryW]

Kudzu, without going into much detail, this sounds all too familiar. While it takes money to keep a museum afloat, all too often the almighty dollar seems to trump the intent. Sad to hear it isn't just in my experience. Hopefully your "champagne dreams and caviar wishes" come true and the museum's collection is kept intact. Unfortunately, I think this has become the new norm and the days of small, volunteer run aviation museums are going the way of the dodo. It's understandable, but doesn't mean we have to like it.

[ZRX61]

S I plan on visiting soon to say "goodbye" and will post pictures after I do.

Please post pics of the Huey. It flew with a friends unit. (& check your PM's)

[Cubs2jets]

The Huey is not on display. What was a wonderfully preserved example (that was potentially flyable) has been left to sit outside near the old original hangar for at least 5 years. I think it is photograph-able from a distance.

I'm sure mother nature has taken her revenge for the un-natural acts this helicopter committed while flying. LOL. Sad that this complete artifact has been left to waste.

C2j

[Kudzu]

Yep, It's been neglected out on the old ramp with everything else. The last time I was able to get in at the old hangar with a now former board member ( before they got booted by the "Uptown" executives ) several years ago, I tied down the loose rotor blade and closed the doors that kept being left open by bored construction workers ( most of the old ramp area is being used for supply / equipment storage by a construction company doing work on a terminal expansion project ). After that visit, almost every other time I drove past to look things over, doors to one of the aircraft there were open or flapping in the breeze along with the open hole in the back of the hangar itself ( facing the roadside fence for the convenience of vandals I suppose ). I emailed a ( now former ) board member ( who REALLY tried to turn the place around before being booted out too ) about all this and the PAID staff told him it was fixed. So I drove back over the next weekend and guess what ? All the stuff was in the SAME positions -- open or broke down -- as it had been before ( I compared pictures ). So either they sat on their lazy butts in their executive office and flat out lied or the consultant they hired to fix it did. I guess the 2 minute drive out of their way while coming or going from "work" to check on the stuff they were being PAID too preserve was just too much to ask. That's when they turned down offers from members / volunteers to take care of these problems, the "professional staff" had it under control, so they said -- yeah right. Can you tell I'm still kinda hot about it ?

Sorry for the rant but still sick about a great place being run into the ground,

I'll post some pics of the Huey as soon I dig them up,
Cheers to everyone here !

[Pogo]

Nothing like a good rant when done well, if you ask me. While it's sad and exasperating to hear, I do appreciate getting the 'inside track' on a situation such as this, so thanks for posting.

[Kudzu]

Here's a few pictures older pictures of the Huey and old hangar ( with doors open etc ). At least the C-47 is now gone to greener pastures ! I'll post the new owner once I've contacted them for permission ( soon I hope ).
Cheers,

Well will be once I figure out how to post pictures again !

[Kudzu]

Let's try this !

Hangar-missing_door-broke-windows by john doe, on Flickr

[Kudzu]

Here's the rest !
CH-3_C-47_open-doors by john doe, on Flickr

Huey-6 by john doe, on Flickr

Huey-5 by john doe, on Flickr

Huey-3 by john doe, on Flickr

Huey-2 by john doe, on Flickr

huey-1 by john doe, on Flickr

[6trn4brn]

So sorry to read about all of the politics/money involved Khudzu Looks like ya'll had a very nice start to a great collection.

[APG85]

The museum is well funded and supported by the local community, city and state. I'm sure it will work out in the end...for the better...

?????? I'm not sure where you get your information, but I assure you the city and state do not contribute to the operating budget or funding for a new location.

I got that information from the Air Force Museum when I was involved (a few years ago) with transferring an asset from the Air Force to the Museum. The Air Force Museum did a background check of the CAM to see how financially sound they were prior to approving the transfer...

[Cubs2jets]

Interesting. There are three artifacts from the Air Force at the museum. The F-101 and F-102 are actually on loan to the city of Charlotte who 10+ years ago asked the museum to caretake them. To my knowledge, until the C-130 about 5 years ago the Air Force would NOT transfer any assets to the museum because the museum did not meet minimum standards. Heck, the museum even got a retired general involved and the AF said no.

If the Air Force thought the museum was in such good financial shape, ya would have thought they'd have transferred more assets. Until a couple years ago they would have accepted ANYTHING the Air force was willing to transfer to them. There aren't any.

C2j

[Kudzu]

That would be when we got the EC-130 "Republic 5" on loan and things were going better income vs expenses ( mainly lower salaries and fewer consultants ). There were several "aviation history" board members at that time who were really trying to get the museum funding and a new location but local politics & airport vs city conflicts helped doom their efforts ( all I'm going to say on that topic ). The board / staff changes that happened after this are what changed it from the Carolina's Aviation Museum into the Charlotte STEM center.

I really do hope things work out and a new museum gets built. Mainly because of all the blood. sweat & tears given over 26 years by hundreds of volunteers ( many now passed ) to build the groups collection. If it does shut down or get downsized into just the Airbus STEM center, hopefully everything else will find new, better homes.

Cheers

PS Just saw your post C2j, I think the museum didn't qualify for direct loans until having a full-time paid staff and possibly some issues with the old facility ( maybe Disabilities Act etc ). As we can all see that stuff does not guarantee long term success of a museum !