Last updated: 6/23/2014
4000 West Perimeter Road
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315
This Museum is managed by an all volunteer staff. We are usually here on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm
However hours are limited so please CALL FIRST to make sure volunteers are attending: (754) 300-9259
Sunday, Tuesday, Saturday
11:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Free. Donations Accepted.
Serving as one among 257 air stations during World War II, and as one of a few specialty schools for training on the TBM/TBF Avenger aircraft, the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale (NASFL) made a big impact in the South Florida region, and the United States as a whole. The NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum (also known as the Link Trainer Building #8), stands as the only reminder of a naval complex of more than 200 buildings.
National Register of Historic Places.
The only Military Museum in Broward County.
The only building remaining from NAS Fort Lauderdale in WWII.
Instrumental in preserving the memory of Flight 19, one of the great aviation mysteries. In addition, 19 year old future US President George H.W. Bush lived and trained here as a pilot during World War II. On the National Register of Historic Places.
Educating. Preserving. Honoring the Heroes: our mission is to develop and maintain a national and internationally recognized naval aviation museum that educates young and old alike, to preserve history by honoring the memory of Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale and the men & women who defended freedom during World War II.
This Museum began with the vision of one man, who was a sailor in World War II. Nothing in the history of the City of Fort Lauderdale had greater impact in its growth and prosperity than its Naval Air Station, which was established in 1942. After the war, returning veterans created a population explosion in the area that dwarfed the 1920's land boom. This naval base provided an important catalyst for the growth and economic expansion of South Florida. Recognizing this fact, the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association can be traced to one man: Allan McElhiney who devoted much of his life to preserve a part of its history. When the war ended, the base closed its doors and the buildings were all but forgotten. Progress was about to eradicate the past to make way for a new Airport, but thanks to the long fight of a visionary man who saw the significance of safeguarding a bygone era, a Naval Museum was established.
The NASFL Museum is also known as the Link Trainer Building #8. On May 20, 1998, prior to moving from its former address at 4050 SW 14th Avenue, this building was added to the U.S National Register of Historic Places, thanks to the efforts of Allan McElhiney and a small group of aviation and history enthusiasts, who in 1979 had formed the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association. For many years they worked tirelessly and eventually they succeeded: the building was thus saved from demolition. Broward County Commissioner Lori Nance Parrish, was able to obtain a $200,000 grant from the U.S Transportation Department in 1999, and the building was moved to its present location at 4000 W. Perimeter Road. To accomplish the move at the end of 1999 and through the first days of the millennium, a crew had to cut the 300 ton building from the old foundation, jack it up hydraulically, and place it on a grid of steel beams supported by multiple tires. Before that, asbestos was removed from the building's walls and the frame was reinforced to code.
The Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum collects and preserves personal stories and other documents from America’s World War II Veterans, with the purpose of building a lasting legacy of preserving history for generations to come. This History Project collects unpublished written memoirs of personal wartime experiences. We welcome diaries, collections of letters, and photographs that tell the veteran’s story. Maps, drawings, and other documents are also welcome. We don't have to keep your originals. This project was started in 2010, with the introduction of NASFL Museum founder Allan McElhiney, who was a sailor in World War II. This Gallery of Veterans is not in chronological order, rather it follows a date of completion by NASFL Museum curators. We are working on many other World War II Biographies, so make sure you check back! If you are interested in sharing your Veteran's story, or your family's military history, please download the MEMOIR KIT from our website.
The Link Trainer, also known as the Blue Box and Pilot Trainer was a flight simulator produced between the early 1930's based on technology pioneered in 1929 by Edwin Albert Link. These simulators became famous during World War II, when they were used as a key pilot training aid by almost every combatant nation. More than 500,000 U.S pilots were trained on Link simulators, many of them at the NAS Fort Lauderdale. The Link Flight Trainer has been designated as an Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The Link Company is now a part of L-3 Communications and continues to make aerospace simulators.
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