CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Sullenberger Aviation Museum will open its third and final thematic area called Aviation City May 31, 2025.
Housed in the museum’s 1936 Historic Hangar, Aviation City surveys the economic and cultural development of Charlotte and the Carolinas’ past, present, and future within the context of aviation and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (KCLT), according to museum officials.
Aviation City’s aircraft collection includes a Piedmont Airlines DC-3, a Stearman biplane, an F-84 Thunderjet, a Bellanca 14-9 Crusair, and a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, which will feature two immersive simulators, including one wheelchair-accessible simulator that can be accessed via a platform and wheelchair lift.
The exhibit also includes a timeline of aviation in Charlotte spanning more than 100 years, starting with KCLT’s development during the golden age of aviation, its evolution to an international travel hub, and the role it has played in fueling the local and regional economy, museum officials said.
“You cannot speak to the growth of Charlotte without first acknowledging the profound impact of Charlotte Douglas International Airport,” said Sullenberger Aviation Museum President Stephen Saucier. “Aviation has been one of the cornerstones of Charlotte’s economic and social development, and it is a distinct honor as a museum to be able to breathe new life into the stories and artifacts of the past — like this storied hangar — to help continue to shape and inspire the innovators of tomorrow in Charlotte and beyond.”
Other components of Aviation City include:
- A live flight tracker of planes arriving and departing KCLT
- Live air traffic control feed from Charlotte’s Runway 18L, the runway parallel to the museum’s outdoor plaza viewing platform
- Biographies chronicling several of Charlotte’s most influential aviation pioneers, including Tuskegee Airman Fred Brewer, former KCLT Aviation Director Jerry Orr, Sgt. Buddy Estis, Vice President of American Airlines’ KCLT hub Terri Pope, and American Airlines’ senior most purser Carol Fair
- Static displays and exhibits featuring some of Charlotte’s lesser-known aviation stories, including Charlotte’s role in the South’s first all-Black air show, the region’s connection to the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) and Tuskegee Airmen, the 1954 Dogwood Room restaurant sit-in, and the beginnings of Piedmont Airlines, among others
- The addition of an Eastern Air Lines DC-7, OV-1D Mohawk, KC-97 cockpit, and a M551 Sheridan tank to the museum’s outdoor plaza
“Museums are special places that connect our past, present, and future, and Aviation City will truly be a living, breathing manifestation of that synergy,” said Katie Swaringen, the museum’s Vice President of Collections. “To be able to listen to a live ATC feed of the runway next door while at the same time learning about how that very runway came to be or hearing the roar of an American Airlines Airbus A320 take off while looking directly at its Piedmont Airlines predecessor from nearly a century ago is something that cannot be explained, only explored.”
In addition to the opening of Aviation City, this summer the museum will also launch its first-ever AeroQuest summer camps for rising 4th through 8th graders. Designed for the next generation of aviation leaders, campers will learn about the science behind flight and be introduced to the careers and people “who keep aviation moving each day,” museum officials said. More information, including dates and pricing, can be found here.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4:30 p.m., except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
For more information: SullenbergerAviation.org
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