The Kansas Aviation Museum is a museum located in Wichita, Kansas, United States, near 31st South and George Washington Blvd. The building, designed by Glen H. Thomas, was the former Wichita Municipal Airport terminal from 1935 to 1954. In February of 2024, the Wichita City Council approved an honorary over-naming of George Washington Blvd. as "Air Capital Blvd", recognizing the impact that Wichita makes in aviation.
In 1927, the city purchased 640 acres of prairie, the site of airshows dating back to 1924. In June 1930 ceremony, L.W. Clapp broke ground as construction of the administrative building commenced. However, the Great Depression delayed progress until Works Progress Administration funds became available in 1934. On 31 March 1935, the building was dedicated. In 1941, the United States Army Air Corps leased the airport, added the upper control tower, and commenced operations by March 1942. Wings were added to both sides of the terminal as the army's procurement division supervised delivery of BoeingKaydets and B-29s. By 1944, a take off or landing was occurring every 90 seconds. At the end of WWII, the airport returned to civilian use.[5][6][7][8]
In 1951, the airport was acquired by the US Air Force for B-47 use, and renamed Wichita Air Force Base. Civilian use continued until 1954, when the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport opened, and the base was renamed McConnell.[7]
The Air Force continued to use the building (called Building One) until about 1984 when they shut the doors and abandoned it marking it off as surplus. It sat empty and partially gutted for at least six years until the Kansas Aviation Museum was formed in 1990 and began work.[9]
The Kansas Aviation Museum is one of only a few museums that allow visitors to enter its exhibition aircraft. The museum operates a once yearly "Play on a Plane Day".[10]
