OPEN DAY AT THE NEW WESTERN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT


(Text by Pete Porter, Photos by Margaret Porter)

On March 25, 2007, we spent an enjoyable few hours checking out the new home of the Western Museum of Flight. Previously located at the West end of the Hawthorne Airfield on Prairie Avenue, it has now moved to its new location in the Red Baron Hangar just West of the main Torrance Airport Building.

 Although not fully operational, the museum held a free Open Day on the 25th to announce their arrival in the South Bay. Museum Director Cindy Macha-Skjonsby had arranged for a wide collection of Warbirds and other aircraft to fly down for the event. Although the weather in the South Bay was sunny and clear, she was worried that reports of foggy conditions affecting take off at Van Nuys, Chino, Ramona and Cable Airport might cause a delay in their arrival, a steady stream of aircraft started to line up along the taxiway beside the Red Baron Hangar well before noon and the arrival of most of the interested public.
I was informed that Councilman Paul Nowatka was in attendance, although I was not able to locate him until later at the sign-up table. However, Museum Staff Member, Harland Roades, was able to tell me a bit about what they hoped to achieve once the Museum becomes established. He told me that they are looking for anything that is associated with past and present local and Los Angeles aviation history. He stressed that the museum would always be in a state of change and that today was really only "Day-One" of its evolution. He noted that this whole area is strongly related to aviation and didn’t think that there was any better location for the museum because of all the people living in the area that were associated with this particular business.

The move originally happened because they knew they had to leave the Hawthorne facility even though they didn’t originally know where they were going to end up. Northrop had promised to provide some storage, but they were basically in bad shape. However, a couple of the Torrance Airport maintenance people were walking past the original facility and asked what was going on. After hearing about the sad state of affairs, they said that they would see if there was anything they could do to help, and this is the result. Of course, the museum will have to pay rent and will need to depend on donations from local sponsors as well as future entrance fees and membership. They are looking for community involvement. Apart from working as docents in the museum, they want people to come together, work together, and exchange information with younger members of our community. Harland was happy to tell me that they actually had people contact them, asking how they could volunteer. Torrance High School Juniors are required to do volunteer work in the community as part of their curriculum and Harland said that this is one place they can definitely do that. These youngsters learn a lot just by being able to walk around a three-dimensional exhibit and by talking to folks who have actually worked on them. As Harland said, "Who else is going to have that experience"?

I noticed that, although several items were virtually invisible at the old facility, these same items were now easily seen because of the improved lighting available at the new location. The exhibit features several displays other than aircraft. These include aeronautically themed clothing, survival gear and other items of interest. One item that caught my attention was a leather flight jacket decorated with numerous bomb symbols designating the missions that the owner had taken part in during his time in combat.

 Museum membership is currently set at $25/year, with lifetime membership at $250. I was told that these prices will most likely increase after the Grand Opening scheduled sometime in June. So if you want to join as a member, this is the time to do it. Consequently I made my way over to the Membership Signup table, where I met RSVP members Walt Dixon and Ruth Huizar Doddy, who helped me fill out the required form.

Photo Essay.