DAYTON, Ohio — The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force recently added a PT-17 to its collection following a ceremonial transfer at Joint Base Andrews that coincided with the 75th anniversary of the integration of the armed forces.
The aircraft is one of only two existing PT-17s that were used as Tuskegee Airmen trainers during World War II, according to museum officials.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black pilots to fly in the U.S. military. In March 1941 the U.S. Army Air Corps announced the formation of the first-ever black combat unit, the 99th Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadron, with the pilots training on Moton Field and Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama. Before closing in 1946, nearly 1,000 Tuskegee Airmen received their primary flight training at Moton Field.
The aircraft was acquired through an exchange with the Collings Foundation’s American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Massachusetts.
Transferring it to the National Museum of the USAF was bittersweet, according to Rob Collings, the executive director of The Collings Foundation.
“It is a little emotional to leave it behind,” said Collings. “The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is such spectacular museum, and this aircraft deserves to be on the national stage. Going through the museum and seeing the crowds that are here, I hope this aircraft will inspire everybody who comes through. It’s in the right location. It needs to be here.”
“This aircraft is a valuable piece of our American aviation and military history,” said David Tillotson, III, the director of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. “Adding this to our collection gives us the ability to tell the broader story of the impact and bravery that Tuskegee Airmen had during World War II, and the precedent they set for future generations.”
The PT-17 is expected to be placed in the museum’s World War II Gallery in the spring of 2024.
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the world’s largest military aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum features more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year thousands of visitors from around the world come to the museum.
For more information: NationalMuseum.af.mil.