War Eagles Air Museum

War Eagles Air Museum sits on the ramp of Doña Ana County International Jetport, a product of private initiative rather than government directive. Founded by engineer, rancher, and oilman John T. MacGuire and his wife Betty, both pilots who began acquiring warbirds in the late 1970s, the museum reflects a collector’s determination to keep operational technology from vanishing into scrap. The 54,000-square-foot facility opened to the public in 1989 and later expanded, giving enough room for both aircraft and historic automobiles. Of particular note to aviation historians is the presence of a Tupolev Tu-2 obtained from China, an uncommon example in North American collections of the Soviet World War II twin-engine bomber that was designed by Andrei Tupolev for high-speed, frontline work and built in large numbers into the early Cold War. Set in the open landscape near the New Mexico–Texas line, the museum provides a quiet setting to study airframes and engineering solutions from multiple eras, preserved far from the coastal corrosion that erodes many surviving examples.