Messages

If you're attending, don't forget to send me photos of what you're bringing to info@hickoryaviationmuseum.com.  Thanks! 

I look forward to welcoming everyone to the Museum again this year on Saturday May 21, weather permitting.  There is no rain date.  We have added three aircraft since last year, including an FM-2 Wildcat WWII Fighter plane that saw action in the Pacific Theater, and then spent 45 years at the bottom of Lake Michigan before being located, raised and restored.  I also hope to have our F/A-18 jet cockpit open for everyone to sit in and get some photos. 

We had 35 cars last year and that's about the max to get everyone parked near a plane without cars blocking other cars.  I ask people arrive by 9:30am, I will be there earlier.  The museum opens at 10am and the less car movements, the better.  I ask that folks stay until 2pm, but understand that is not possible with other commitments, but please do not move any cars without myself or museum volunteers controlling the movement. 

The Flight Line Cafe at the airport terminal where we are located, has a great lunch menu with good prices, and there are plenty of tables in the terminal, plus three picnic tables outside and of course by your cars or the shade of our planes. 

If anyone is coming on Friday, I-40 Exit 125 has a cluster of hotels with lots of parking:  Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Courtyard, Crowne Plaza, Fairfield Inn and Suites, and Best Western.  There is a Carrabas in the parking lot, Outback up the access road and many food choices within a 3-4 minute drive.  For those more adventurous, there is a Red Roof Inn across the highway at the same exit! 

From this exit, we are 7 miles away, I-40W, Hwy 321N, left at 4th light onto 9th Ave, follow for 1.5 miles to the airport on the left.  Trailer parking immediately on left in the large parking lot.  Drive down to far end of parking lot, around the terminal and wait at open gate until a Museum volunteer brings you in.  It's very tight entering, so very slow!  GPS address for Museum is 3101 9th Drive NW, Hickory. 

Please RSVP to this thread or drop me an email at info@hickoryaviationmuseum.com for questions and include a photo of what you're bringing as I will advertise the event on the Museum's social media pages and website.  I want to have Carolina's SAAC folks and their friends locked in, so RSVP as early as possible.  I'm getting requests to attend from non Shelby owners and want to fill the field first with our cars. I will be inviting the Carolinas Cobra and Southeast Sunbeam Tiger folks as well for a great variety. 

Room for trailers?  Haven't seen any advertising, is the Americarna show a thing of the past now? 

Anyone attending?  I'm coming up from Charlotte for it, a friend runs the museum and invited me.  I was a SAAC MD member in 1996-98 while stationed at Pax.   

Sold for $9k.  Thought those pieces would fetch more, sure wanted them but would have had to have auctioned a kidney to pay for them......

Been too darn hot to do anything, so I finished scanning all of my decent 1967 GT350/500 35mm photos I've taken going back to 1982, but mostly taken in from 1995 to present, including SAAC conventions, shows, etc.  I posted them on the 1967 Shelby Research Group page on Facebook for now.  I did not take many photos of Shelby ID tags, so it's up to people to ID their cars and provide their number and information.  Was able to provide a pretty decent photo of a 68 GT500 on track at SAAC 22 to an owner.   

Our oldest running club function returns! Started out as Cobras at Blockers in the late 1990's.

9Am to Noon, back as a cars & coffee format.
Cobras, Shelby's, Fords, Vipers, Ferrari's

At Denny Blocker's home on the mountain, spectacular location!

Was temporarily living in York in 1998 and brought 1609 over to Cobras at Blockers. 

I got this video sent to the museum Instagram page, what a fantastic production Craig Hanus did on the event, plus his YouTube page is pretty good with other content.  It's about 11:30 long, and has a few pop up ads, just "skip ad" when prompted.  Thanks to all who came out, I think it was a successful gathering and as always, there were lessons learned to improve on how to do this better.  We are a "not for profit" museum, and the donation box was pretty full so thanks to everyone for dropping a few bucks in the box, plus having your cars there brought out the public who also helped fill the box.  100% of the donations go right back into the museum restorations and acquisitions of aircraft.  Thanks again. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs9QfhMBYJs

Going to be a hot one tomorrow, sunscreen!  Plenty of shade under the plane wings and the terminal is air-conditioned with plenty of places to sit and cool off.  Upon arrival, those with trailers park on the left as soon as you enter airport grounds, please park and allow room for others as I have no clue how many cars are coming on trailers.  After unloading, continue down the parking lot and then turn left at the end of the terminal building and enter thru the gate underneath the P-3C Orion.  Museum volunteers and/or SAAC folks will help guide you through to park.  Park by your favorite aircraft and please park two or more cars between the aircraft, and there will be plenty of room for all.  No clue as to how many that might be, thinking maybe 20 cars or more?  The cafe will be open for lunch, or bring your own.  I will have coffee and donuts in the public room next to the cafe in the morning.  I've asked for cars to be in place between 9:30-10am.  At approximately 12:30-12:45 (hopefully) our newest acquisition OV-1 D Mohawk will be arriving at the airport to join our museum, will be very cool to see land and taxi near our planes and park for the day.   

It's going to be a big day, and I appreciate everyone who is able to bring their cars.   I think the residents of Hickory who are planning on coming out are going to love seeing them.  The OV-1D Mohawk will definitely be flying in around 12:30ish and I know people want to come out and see this fly in.  We are a small not for profit 501C museum that does not charge admission and so events like this and potential donations from the public go a long way in financing our projects as we continue to grow and preserve aviation history.  Thanks again. 

  I got the Shelby out yesterday. It has been almost two years since I last started it. Planning to make the drive to Hickory. Looks to be about 84 miles for me.

Give it a good once over!  What year? 

Anyone who'd like to send me a car photo to use before our gathering, please do so.  The ones I've received have been posted and I think we're going to get a great turnout of spectators to come out to see the cars and aircraft.  I've arranged for our nearly finished complete F/A-18 cockpit to on site for everyone to sit in for photos, and I will relate a great story of this front fuselage and it's connection to our F/A-18 Blue Angels Hornet.  Also subject to appear, one of our volunteers has this beautiful PT-17 Stearman and as an added bonus, I've been told that scheduled to arrive on the day, is our newest aircraft, flying in from Charlotte is an OV-1D Mohawk that is now part of our museum.  Finally, after being closed for Covid for 15 months, the P-3C Orion aircraft is going to reopen for tours as well.   Hopefully the weather won't suck and ruin everything! 

Sounds good.  I've received a few photos of cars that are coming, hopefully everyone can send photos of their cars so I can use on our social media to attract the locals.  Been a positive reception so far since I announced the event. 

Be sure and send me a photo of your car if you're attending so I can use as I do updates for the Museum on social media.  So far, maybe a 10-12 cars.  Fingers crossed for a nice weather day.  The parking lot as you enter the airport is pretty big, plenty of room for trailer parking. 

Don't know anything about this guy, just happened to see this post yesterday on FB for his service of restoring/manufacturing license plate frames.  https://www.facebook.com/oldschoolplateframes/