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Welcome to the Prairie Aviation Museum.  We hope you enjoy the display and exhibits inside the museum and the aircraft in the Airpark.  We have 11 aircraft and 2 helicopters on display.  We also have one piston and three jet engines (J57, TF-30 and A-4) on display.

In 2024, we added two new displays, the Convair 880 simulator and the cockpit of a B-57.

Please stop by and join us for a visit, tour, or one of our Open Cockpit Days.

880 Simulator
B-57 Cockpit

Take a virtual tour of our Airpark.

Includes a history of the planes, pictures, hot spots for details and videos of interest. 

Take a virtual tour of our static displays in the museum.  

Includes a history of the display, pictures, hot spots for details and videos of interest.

Our museum is a not for profit organization.

We do not receive any funds from local, state or federal sources.

Volunteer

You do NOT need to have a background in aviation, just an interest in aviation and space plus a willingness to help others. 

Prairie Aviation Museum Is Now Open.

April 5 – October 26, 2025

Every Saturday and Sunday
(Except Easter Sunday – April 20th)

11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

How is Prairie Aviation Museum associated
with the original Top Gun movie?
With the newly released Top Gun: Maverick, Prairie Aviation Museum has three planes associated with the original Top Gun movie.
We have the only F-14 Tomcat in static display in Illinois. This is the type of plane Tom Cruise flew in the movie.
 
Spoiler Alert:  An F-14 Tomcat appears in the Top Gun Maverick!
How about Jester and Viper?
They flew a modified A4-Skyhawk. Our Board member, David Wilson, flew the A4M-Skyhawk in the Marines. He hosts the A4-Skyhawk during Special Event Days.

How about the MIG-28?
Hollywood took the tactical version of the T-38, the F-5, and called it a MIG-28 in the movie. The aircraft flown in the movie were actually Navy F-5’s used by Top Gun as adversary aircraft. They painted them black, stuck a red star on the side, and started rolling the cameras.
 
Our T-38 is an Air Force version. The T-38 was also used by NASA to train Space Shuttle pilots.

2025 Schedule

January 2025 Schedule – Closed
February 2025 Schedule – Closed
March 2025 Schedule – Closed
April 2025 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Initial Opening: Saturday April 5th, 2025
May 2025 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  May 17: 10 – 3
June 2025 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  June 21: 10 – 3
July 2025 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  July 19: 10 – 3
August 2025 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  August 16: 10 – 3
September 2025 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  September 20: 10 – 3
October 2025 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
November 2025 Schedule – Closed
December 2025 Schedule – Closed
Closed
November 1, 2025 – April 3, 2026 
Reopens April 4, 2026