NAVAL AIR STATION WILDWOOD A sprawling exhibit of aviation history
T
HE ORIGINAL BADER FIELD Control Tower, used for years to guide pilots and planes to safe land-
ings in Atlantic City, is the latest addition at Naval Air Station Wildwood’s (NASW) Aviation Museum. That’s really exciting, of course. But the
best part? It’s kid friendly! Your child can be an air traffic controller and talk to another would-be pilot sitting in the cock- pit of one of the museum’s planes to request clearance for landing and local weather reports. How great is that? The newest acquisition at the museum
has real-time radar showing aircraft in tran- sit, weather reports, information regarding the history of the tower and the tasks of a typical air traffic controller. The huge hangar, with 92,000 square feet of space, also houses an extensive collection of vin- tage aircraft from the early days of World War II to the conflict in Iraq, special exhibits and interactive displays. Both kids and adults love the two flight
simulators, a Navy trainer and new for 2011, a Coast Guard 727 jet, both painted in authentic colors. Visitors can climb in and take the controls. The hangar also has the Nintendo Wii exhibit and game WWII Aces – children can choose their plane and fly as part of the Royal Air Force (United
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Kingdom), Luftwaffe (German), or the Red Army Air Force (Soviet Union). Interactive exhibits donated by the
Franklin Institute of Philadelphia help teach the science of flight: how planes achieve lift, how aerodynamics affect flight, and what Bernoulli’s Principle entails. Commissioned in April 1943, NASW
served as an active dive-bomber squadron training facility during World War II and was home to the TBM Avenger, Douglas Dauntless, Vought Corsair and Curtis Helldiver. Today, the museum includes the Boeing-Stearman, in addition to the more recent jet powered F-14 Tomcat used in Iraq. Other aircraft include the Vultee BT- 13, A-4 Skyhawk, MiG-15, F-5E Tiger II, Cobra and Huey helicopters. The hangar at the County Airport, as
well as the museum’s centerpiece (a TBM Avenger aircraft), are listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. The building is an example of the Navy’s “stan- dard wood hangar” constructed during the massive military build-up prior to and dur- ing World War II. The all wood, double- wide hangar was one of six dive-bombing training facilities in the United States from mid 1943 to January 1945. The defining architectural feature of the
hangar is the open wood truss construction used to expedite building time as well as
S O U T H E R N N E W J E R S E Y V A C A T I O N E R
conserve steel during the war years. Visi- tors are in awe of the extensive span of the roof system and giant overhead sliding track doors. The hangar itself is one sprawl- ing history exhibit and great care has been given to restore the hangar to its original 1943 condition. The non-profit NASW Foundation was
created in 1997, when work started to res- cue and restore the hangar after years of neglect. The mission of the foundation is to create a memorial to the 42 known air- men who perished while training during World War II, educate the public, and restore Hangar #1. For information, visit
www.usnasw.org or call 609-886-8787. ■
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