The National Model Aviation Museum, located on the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, is pleased to announce that it has been granted full civilian museum certification by the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF).
The certification is the culmination of more than a year long process that concluded this spring with an onsite inspection by Ms. Sarah Sessions, Museum Certification Manager, NMUSAF.
The NMUSAF, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the world’s largest military aviation museum featuring more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles, and thousands of artifacts on more than 17 acres of indoor exhibit space. The NMUSAF also oversees thousands of items on loan to civilian museums, cities, municipalities and veterans’ organizations throughout the world.
In receiving the certification, the museum now joins this list of institutions qualified to receive Air Force Museum artifacts on loan from the NMUSAF.
In her report on the museum, Ms. Sessions commented, “The staff has done an excellent job of creating a visually inviting and exciting space while always keeping the preservation and security of the collections a priority” and “Overall collection management at the (museum) is among the best I have observed in a museum of its size and scope.”
The next step in this process will be for the museum to work with the NMUSAF Collections Management Division to identify items that match the museum’s mission and would be available for loan. Museum Director Michael Smith noted that this could include such items as wind-tunnel models and small unmanned aircraft.
The National Model Aviation Museum is dedicated to preserving the history of flying model aviation. From model aircraft that pre-date the Wright brothers to modern aerobatic models, the museum traces the developmental history of Free Flight, Control Line, and Radio Controlled aircraft.
For more information on the National Model Aviation Museum, including our location, hours and admission fees visit: www.modelaircraft.org/museum