Air Force Museum adds hours to showcase historical craft

Students from the Yellow Springs Community Learning Center gathered around the Apollo 15 command module in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in July, shortly before the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing July 20. CHUCK HAMLIN / STAFF

Students from the Yellow Springs Community Learning Center gathered around the Apollo 15 command module in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in July, shortly before the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing July 20. CHUCK HAMLIN / STAFF

Want to learn more about the the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and its collection of historically significant aircraft? Mark the first Thursday of each month on your calendar.

Starting in January 2020, on these select evenings from 5 to 8 p.m., the museum will offer the public an opportunity to get an up-close look at a different aircraft from its collection each month.

On the evening of Jan. 2 — this Thursday — visitors will be invited to climb aboard the CV-22 Osprey and learn more about it from museum volunteer Bob Recchiuti, who spent time working on the craft during his college years for Boeing Vertol (now Boeing Defense Systems), the museum said.

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Recchiuti was assigned to the dynamics engineering group and performed sub-scale model studies of a tilt rotor in order to determine if any instabilities existed during its transition from helicopter mode to aircraft mode and vice-versa.

The museum will also open the cockpit of the B-1B Lancer Feb. 6 and offer an opportunity to learn more about the bomber from museum volunteer Don Chislaghi, who has over 40 years of engineering experience in the research, development, and acquisition of aeronautical systems.

During his career, Chislaghi served as director of engineering for the B-1B and was responsible for the technical execution of the B-1B conventional mission upgrade program, the museum said.

On March 5, the museum will open the cockpit of the F-100F and invite visitors to learn more about the aircraft from museum volunteer and retired Col. Jack Wilson, a former pilot, flight instructor and aircraft commander.

According to museum Director David Tillotson, adding evening hours each month will provide another opportunity for visitors whose schedule does not allow them to come during regular business hours.

“If you’re a working couple, sometimes the daytime or even on the weekends is a little tough to visit when you’ve got kids’ events and so forth,” Tillotson said in the museum’s announcement. “Adding an option to visit in the evening addresses a challenge that certain age groups have and provides more opportunities for people to come by and see all that we have to offer.”

Other aircraft that will be opened on the first Thursday of each month will be announced on a quarterly basis, the museum said.

For a complete schedule of 2020 Thursday evening opening dates, visit https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/Events/.

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is the world’s largest military aviation museum. The museum features more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts on more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year more than 800,000 visitors from around the world come to the museum.

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