National Museum of WW2 Aviation

The National Museum of WW2 Aviation occupies a working corner of Colorado Springs Airport, where preservation and operations intersect. Originating from the restoration firm WestPac Restorations, the institution grew out of practical, hands-on aircraft work rather than a traditional curatorial model, and that lineage still shapes its character. Since opening to the public in 2012, it has focused on charting the United States’ involvement in the Second World War through airpower, combining historically grounded exhibits with functioning technology such as a fully operational Link Trainer and other period-inspired simulators. Congressional recognition in 2018 as a national museum underscored its role in safeguarding mid-20th-century aviation heritage. Purpose-built hangars and the Kaija Raven Shook Aeronautical Pavilion, completed in 2019, provide controlled environments for airframes and related artifacts that would otherwise be vulnerable to time and climate. Set on the active airfield, with other military institutions nearby in Colorado Springs, the museum offers a close look at the engineering, training methods, and logistical systems that underpinned Allied air operations, all framed by the realities of restoration, maintenance, and long-term conservation.