Air Force Museum Foundation logo and wordmark.

HISTORY

Air Force Museum Foundation logo.
History spelled in big, bold blue letters against a white background.
Air Force Museum Foundation logo.
Scaled view of the National Museum of the US Air Force.

In 1960

In 1960 local leaders who supported the Museum’s mission formed the Air Force Museum Foundation to help raise funds for facilities. These leaders were attorney James F. Barnhart, bank president C. Frank Scarborough, and radio journalist John H. Fraim.

Recognizing the need to move the Museum, this time to a very large space on nearby Wright Field, the Foundation established a board of trustees with local industrialist Eugene F. Kettering as its first board chair. Together, the Foundation and its board began raising the $6 million needed for a new Museum at Wright Field. Flying would cease there in 1965 due to space constraints, and the old airfield – today’s Museum campus – was ideal for a large, modern facility. 

Ambitious planning began in 1963. The firm of famed architect Eero Saarinen produced a breathtakingly futuristic design for the new Museum. Ultimately, a more practical and cost-effective shape, the hangar arrangement we know today, prevailed.

People, vehicles, and an aircraft in black and white.

On June 3, 1970, ground was broken at the site, and on September 3, 1971, President Richard Nixon formally dedicated the new Museum facility. In 1975, the Foundation funded construction of an addition to house a new Museum entrance, an improved café, and a larger gift shop. The facility was completed in 1976 and opened to the public in April. 

In the early 1980s, the Museum approached the Foundation about funding a second building. Groundbreaking took place in October 1985, and ribbon-cutting for the second building, housing the Korea and Southeast Asia War galleries, took place in April 1988.

Air Force Museum Foundation's old IMAX Theatre.
During the 1990s, the Foundation focused on enhancing the visitor experience and undertook the construction of an IMAX theatre. The theatre was presented to the USAF and opened to the public in May 1991. The Museum Café, built in 1976 and by then showing its age, underwent a nearly one-million-dollar renovation in 1996.
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force's third building under construction.
During the 2000s , the Foundation set forth roughly $24 million for two large-scale capital improvement projects. The first, which opened in 2003, was the Museum’s third building, The Eugene W. Kettering Cold War Gallery, named for the Foundation’s first board chair. The Missile and Space Gallery (now simply the Missile Gallery) opened in 2004.
A structure under construction.

In 2013, the IMAX theatre was converted to a 400-seat digital theatre during an $800,000 upgrade. On June 8, 2016, the Museum opened the 224,000-square-foot fourth building, a $40.8 million project funded by the Foundation. The fourth building houses the Space (separated and expanded from the Missile Gallery) and Global Reach galleries, as well as the Presidential, and Research and Development galleries, and three STEM Learning Nodes. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019, the Foundation presented D-Day: Freedom from Above, an exhibit enhanced by interactive augmented reality.

Starting in 2021, the Foundation began to fund special exhibits to attract visitors who might not otherwise visit the Museum. Previous special exhibits include Survival: The Exhibition, Discover Steampunk, and Dinosaurs in Motion. In 2022, the Foundation’s Events team introduced adults-only After Dark events to attract new audiences with special themes and the opportunity to enjoy the Museum’s galleries and exhibits in a relaxed atmosphere.

An aerial view of the National Museum of the US Air Force.

As we look to the future, the Air Force Museum Foundation remains steadfast in our mission to inspire, educate, and honor the legacy of aviation. 

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The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc.

1100 Spaatz St.
PO Box 33624
Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433

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Phone: 937.258.1218

“By publication of this donation link, the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. is not soliciting donations from residents of any state where it is not currently registered to solicit funds, where required.”

The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., raises funds and awareness in support of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. is a Section 501 (c)(3) non­profit organization. It is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components, and it has no government status. The use of the Roundel image in the Foundation’s logo is with the permission of the United States Air Force; endorsement by the Department of Defense or the United States Air Force in fundraising activities of the Foundation is not intended nor implied pursuant to DoDI 5535.12.

History