The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum (WOTR) is located on the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. The museum preserves the history of Lowry AFB's operations from 1938 to 1994 in its collections, archives, and research library. Features of the museum's collection include the USAF's B-1A Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress bombers and many other military and general aviation aircraft.
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History
From 1937 to 1994, Lowry Air Force Base, located on the eastern edge of the city of Denver, served the nation and the surrounding community in many distinguished ways. The air base, primarily a technical training center, graduated more than 1.1 million enlisted members and officers in skills ranging from armament to photography, tremendously strengthening the country's war efforts in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War. In addition, from the 1980's, Lowry Air Force Base remained one of Colorado's largest employers, with approximately 10,000 military and civilian men and women, providing an economic impact approaching $1 billion annually.
In 1994, the United States Air Force transferred Hangar 1 to a group of volunteers, who established Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum. Today, the Museum includes more than 182,000 square feet of hangar space and 50 iconic aircraft dating from 1939 to 1990.
In 1997, the Colorado State Legislature passed House Bill 1269 that made Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum Colorado's official air and space museum, and the site of the Colorado Aviation Historical Society's Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.
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Aircraft Exhibits
- B-1A Lancer: this is one of only four ever manufactured for the U.S. Military.
- B-52 Stratofortress: originally manufactured in 1955, our RB-52B model was delivered to the Lowry Technical Training Center at Lower Air Force Base to be used as a trainer.
- Ball-Bartoe Jetwing: a "low-key, low-cost" research vehicle that explored new low-speed aeronautical designs, short take-off, and landing performances.
- Douglas B-18 Bolo: this anti-submarine aircraft patrolled the United States' eastern coast, the Panama Canal, and Alaska. Most were wiped out during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- EA-6B Prowler: currently on-loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum and came directly from AQ-134 after its deployment to the Persian Gulf was complete.
- F-86H Sabre: this aircraft began its career at George Air Force Base in 1955 and was deployed in several other locations, such as Toul-Rosieres Air Base in France, New York, and Massachusetts.
- F-100 Super Sabre: the museum's F-100D was most active during the late 1950s and early 1960s and was part of the response to several "crises" during the time, including the Lebanon Crisis in 1958, the Berlin Wall conflict in 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
- F-104 Starfighter: this aircraft is a F-104C fighter-bomber and one of just two aircraft in the Wings Over the Rockies collection to have seen combat.
- F-14 Tomcat: the aircraft at Wings Over the Rockies spent most of its time as a training and evaluation aircraft for VF-211, the Fighting Checkmates on board the USS John C. Stennis.
- Lucasfilm X-Wing Starfighter: a 3/4 scale replica built to promote the re-release of the first three Star Wars films in 1997.
- MaxFlight: a 360° full-motion flight simulator.
Wings Aerospace Academy
Wings Aerospace Academy (WAA) focuses on preparing students for experiences and careers in aerospace. WAA is a blended learning format, bringing together online learning provided by Elevate Academy, a certified, multi-district charter school, with hands-on aerospace STEM curricula at Wings Over the Rockies.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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