Poplar Grove Wings & Wheels

Poplar Grove Wings & Wheels sits on the grounds of Poplar Grove Airport, a general aviation field whose identity is closely tied to the preservation of 20th-century flight. Formally known as the Poplar Grove Vintage Wings and Wheels Museum, it occupies historic hangar structures that concentrate on powered aviation’s formative decades, with artifacts and exhibits centered on aircraft, aircrews, and the everyday technology that kept them operational. For military history enthusiasts, the value lies less in monumental hardware and more in context: how civilian and military aviation shared engines, airframes, tools, and maintenance culture, and how that technical ecosystem evolved through two world wars and the Cold War era. The museum’s placement within an active airfield underscores continuity between the aircraft of today and the designs that trained pilots, moved matériel, and informed wartime engineering. Attention to original buildings, period equipment, and the craft skills needed to keep aging machines airworthy offers a tangible look at preservation as a living discipline rather than a static display.