With last week’s announcement about the partnership between the Tillamook Air Museum and the Vintage Aviation Museum, you may be wondering: Who exactly is VAM?
𝙒𝙚’𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪!
𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝘼𝙫𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙪𝙢: 𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙒𝙚?
The Vintage Aviation Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of warbirds, vintage aircraft, and the history that surrounds them. Our mission, however, has always been about much more than the aircraft themselves.
Every aircraft has a story. Behind these aircraft are the men and women who designed them, built them, flew them, maintained them, and supported the missions they were designed to accomplish. Those people, and their experiences, sacrifices, accomplishments, and memories, are an essential part of the history we are committed to preserving.
For well over a decade, the Vintage Aviation Museum has worked to acquire and preserve aircraft, artifacts, and, perhaps most importantly, the stories and personal histories connected to them. Over the years, we have been fortunate to meet and develop friendships with many of the people who lived this history firsthand.
Preserving history means more than simply placing historic aircraft and exhibits in a museum setting. It means bringing that history to life. We believe some of the most memorable learning happens through interaction, exploration, and experience. That means creating dynamic, experiential exhibits that push boundaries, make you think twice, encourage curiosity, and, just as importantly, allow you to have fun.
𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚: 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
We want visitors to do more than see history. We want them to connect with it, think about it in new ways, and leave with memories that stay with them long after their visit.
Today, that mission has expanded in a significant way with the Vintage Aviation Museum’s involvement with historic Hangar B at the Tillamook Air Museum, one of the world’s last surviving wooden World War II blimp hangars.
Hangar B represents an extension of everything the Vintage Aviation Museum has been committed to since its inception. It is not simply a building that houses a museum. Hangar B is a museum unto itself, with its own remarkable story and an important place in American aviation and military history.
As we begin this new chapter, the Vintage Aviation Museum looks forward to building on the success of the Tillamook Air Museum and continuing the great work that has already been done. We have tremendous respect for the museum, its history, its collection, and the people who have helped make it what it is today. Our goal is to build on that strong foundation while creating new opportunities to bring aviation and aviation history to life for visitors of all ages.
The Vintage Aviation Museum is ultimately about preserving the past so that it can inspire the future.
We preserve the aircraft.
We preserve the artifacts.
We preserve the buildings.
All the while, we preserve the stories of the people who made aviation what it is today.
And now, through our work in Tillamook and historic Hangar B, we have the opportunity to bring those stories to life on a scale that can reach generations to come. For more information, go to https://www.vintageaviationmuseum.org/
