CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, the premiere aviation museum of the Southeast announces a new exhibit space.
It is showcased in the Smithsonian affiliate, the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, located on the campus of Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Exciting news just announced: It’s a work in progress decades in the making that is sure to delight and draw aviation enthusiasts from far and wide—and it’s happening right here in the Queen City—in the backyard of CLT.
Coming soon, Aviation City is a themed area housed in a 1936 vintage hangar, now renovated with a new look and purpose. The hangar was originally constructed as part of the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. It is now the centerpiece of the third and final themed exhibit at Sullenberger. Aviation City highlights the relationship between aviation history at Charlotte Douglas and the region’s economic development.
The historic hangar and its airplanes are all about breathing new life into the stories and artifacts of the past, as it shapes and inspires the next generation of aviators and innovators in Charlotte and beyond, according to Sullenberger Aviation Museum president Stephen Saucier.
Here, you can see airplanes being moved and placed in the museum—getting ready for their close-up with visitors for the grand opening coming late spring.
One of the stars of the exhibit is this vintage Piedmont Airlines Douglas DC-3
It has patiently sat on a closed runway at CLT, after being displaced from the former Carolinas Aviation Museum and waiting for her new space to open up. Other notable aircraft include a Stearman biplane, an F-84 Thunderjet, a Bellanca Cruisair, and a Lockheed Shooting Star.
