Keeping aviation history alive is at the heart of the Air Classics Museum at the Aurora Municipal Airport, museum officials said.
The facility, located at the airport at 44W546 Route 30 in Sugar Grove, is home to a collection of aircraft, vehicles, uniforms and other aviation memorabilia from the 1930s to the present time, according to museum officials.
The flight line at the museum includes an RF-86 Sabre, a TA 4-J Skyhawk, a F-105 Thunderchief, a T-39 Sabre Liner, a F-4B Phantom II, an A-7 Corsair II and two UH-1 Huey helicopters.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $10 for those 16 years old and older, $7 for those 62 years old and older, $5 for children 5 to 15 years old and free for children 4 years old and younger when accompanied by an adult. Group tours are available Tuesday through Friday by reservation only.
The museum has always had its roots grounded in actual pilots, aviation mechanics and others who have wanted to preserve aviation history.
Dane Milldrum, of Naperville, a volunteer member of the board for the museum who flew in the Marine Corps and later with commercial airlines, said the facility “has been around in different forms for quite a while” and has been at the Aurora Municipal Airport since 1999.
Milldrum said the museum remains popular among families and children as well as former and current aviation professionals for a number of reasons.
“People are drawn to this because a lot of this stuff is eye level. We have two Huey helicopters that were both combat veterans from Vietnam, and one of them we open up so visitors can sit and climb around inside,” he said. “We also have a full-sized cockpit trainer from an Airbus airliner where you can sit in the captain or co-pilot’s seat and kind of look around and see what it’s like. Those are by far the two biggest attractions we have.”
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Milldrum added there are also “a couple hundred models and a building dedicated to the engines that powered a lot of the aircraft we have on display.”
“We have a Microsoft flight simulator if kids want to sit down, It’s a computer program with a stick like an airplane and kids can play on that as well,” he said.
Sean Audy of Shorewood and his son Asher, 10, elected to visit the museum for the first time a couple of months ago and chose to climb into a few exhibits as well as have Asher play with the simulator.
“I wasn’t a pilot or anything but we just always loved airplanes and my family has worked for the airlines their whole lives,” Audy said. “We looked though the helicopter and (Asher) got to play around and sit in one.”
Asher said the simulator was his “favorite part of the museum.”
“I’d like to be a pilot one day. I’ve thought about it before just now,” he said at the simulator. “To me, this is like the coolest video game ever. I’d like to come back.”
Frank Kollins of Beloit, Wisconsin, also stopped in to visit the museum and said he and his wife are both interested in history.
“I actually soloed in a plane before I even drove a car,” Kollins said. “It’s fascinating to see these old relics and realize people were risking their lives every day so we could be talking here like this. I sat in the Huey and that was something that was around in my age group.”
Frank’s wife Carol Fox said seeing the military aircraft is impactful.
“When I look at these planes, all I see is very, very young men and those who have lost their lives doing this,” she said. “We need museums like this because history is important and it’s important that we understand it so hopefully we won’t repeat it.”
Sugar Grove resident Henry Winkler, who was an aviation machinist in the Navy, is the vice president and curator of the museum. He lives just a few minutes drive from the airport and has been connected with it since moving to its present location.
“We see about 3,000 to 4,000 guests a year and most of the people who come are families with kids. They get a kick out of being in the helicopter and simulator,” Winkler said. “We’ve got three buildings of exhibits with the double-wide classroom trailers and a pole barn where engines are on display.”
Exhibits, Winkler said, are “usually always from donations” and echoed the words of Fox about the importance of history.
“Veterans will come in with things to donate, and we also have families that come in and have memorabilia from their parents. They’ll bring in things to the museum,” he said. “This museum needs to continue because of history. Everybody that comes in here, when they leave, they always thank us for preserving and telling history.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.