Description
The Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) Museum is an Air Force Field Museum operating within the guidelines of the USAF Heritage Program. Its mission is to collect, interpret, preserve, and display the material history of the AFFTC, Edwards AFB and its antecedents, and the history of USAF flight testing. There are currently 80 aircraft in the museum’s collection, with 32 on display (29 at Edwards and three at the AFFTC-managed Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale) and the remainder in storage or restoration. Other artifacts in the collection include aircraft propulsion systems, missiles, hardware, life support equipment, technical drawings, test reports, personal memorabilia, photographs, and wind tunnel models.
In an effort to make the museum’s collection more accessible to the general public, the base recently dedicated a major aircraft display adjacent to the Edwards AFB Main Gate. The “Century Circle” consists of the top portion of the old AFFTC air traffic control tower surrounded by the YF-100A, F-101B, TF-102A, F-104A, F-105D and F-106B; all examples of Century Series aircraft tested at Edwards AFB. This display is open to the public during daylight hours throughout the year. Exit California Hwy 14 at Rosamond Blvd and go East 10 miles.
History
The museum first opened in a small, interim facility on Edwards AFB in 1994. In 2000, a private, nonprofit organization, the Flight Test Historical Foundation, funded construction of a new 12,000 sq ft museum facility at Edwards. This facility includes 8500 sq ft of exhibits, a forty-seat theater, research library, gift shop, and administrative offices. Exhibits inside the new museum—opened on July 21, 2000—cover such diverse subjects as the formation of the ancient lakebeds, early homesteading in the area, the first military uses of Edwards, flight testing during WWII, breaking the sound barrier, high-speed flight, and the story of Glen Edwards, the base’s namesake. Other exhibits include aircraft, flight hardware, rocket engine, and model displays. Museum visitors can learn about the past, present, and future of flight testing in the museum’s theater and souvenirs can be purchased in the well-stocked gift shop.
Artifacts Collections
Aircraft, aircraft propulsion systems, missiles, hardware, life support equipment, technical drawings, test reports, personal memorabilia, photographs, and wind tunnel models.
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