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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 9 aircraft and 2 helicopters on display.  We also have one piston and three jet engines (J57, TF-30 and A-4) on display. At times, like the Open Cockpit Days, we display a Convair 880 simulator and other items we are restoring. Please stop by and join us for a visit, tour, or one of our Open Cockpit Days.

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. 

Closed for the Season

The Prairie Aviation Museum and Airpark
will be closed for the winter season.
We will reopen in April. 
Check back in mid-March for 2023 dates and times.

Special Donation

NAM-POWs Final Reunion
May 2023

NAM-POWs will be celebrating their 50th year of freedom from the prisons of Vietnam. 

Jack Ensch, a Lifetime Member of Prairie Aviation Museum, will be participating in the event.  Jack was a POW from August 25, 1972 – March 29, 1973.  

Click on this logo for detailed information.

How is Prairie Aviation Museum associated
with the movie Devotion, to be released November 23rd, 2022?
Prairie Aviation Museum has one section dedicated to Devotion, a true story.   The main character, Jesse Leroy Brown, was a graduate of Eureka High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  Since the museum is closed until April 1st 2022, we hope you enjoy the movie and visit us in the Spring of 2023.  Here are a few pictures from our dedicated wall display.
 
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!
Get your picture sitting in the engine intake of the F-14 Tomcat.
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 OCDs.

Put on his flight jacket and get a picture.

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.

2023 Schedule

January 2023 Schedule – Closed
February 2023 Schedule – Closed
March 2023 Schedule – Closed
April 2023 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
May 2023 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  May 20: 10 – 3
June 2023 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  June 17: 10 – 3
July 2023 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  July 15: 10 – 3
August 2023 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  August 19: 10 – 3
September 2023 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Open Cockpit Day –  September 16: 10 – 3
October 2023 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
November 2023 Schedule – Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 – 3
Closed
November 20,2023 – April 1, 2024