The Combat Air Museum in Topeka attracts over 15,000 visitors a year, and it’s no wonder. In addition to the amazing aircraft and aviation artifacts found there, many of its volunteers are military veterans and some have even flown the planes, now on static display.
“We can share a lot of history with them,” says Gene Howerter, the museum’s president and CEO. “There are people like me who were born in 1940 and can still talk about World War II when our family members were involved. People really do like to hear our stories, and believe me, we have a lot of stories. There's a tremendous educational aspect to be taken away from a museum like this.”
One of the biggest attractions is the computerized flight simulator. Visitors of all ages can sit in the cockpit seat and use the instruments to get the feel of flying everything from a Cessna propeller aircraft to some of the more modern jets. The simulator is in a completely dark room and gives “pilots” a totally immersive experience.
“The flight simulator is one of the best things that’s ever happened to this museum,” says Gene. “Everybody loves it.”
Adds Dave Murray, the museum’s CFO, “You get all the jet noise or the propeller noise as you're flying along, and of course as you increase your speed, the noise increases simultaneously.”
This simulator is also part of the Young Aviators educational classes held in June and July. There are two sessions of up to 20 children each aged 9 to14.
“There's never a dull moment,” says Kevin Drewelow, the museum and education director. “We go over the fundamentals of flight and some basic instrument work so the kids have a better understanding of what they're looking at while on the simulator. We also start teaching them the phonetic alphabet which is critical to communication on aircraft radios. We make little hand-launched gliders as well.”
The students also get to tour the museum and the Kansas Army National Guard property next door. The Black Hawk helicopters are a big draw. “We then go to my old Air National Guard unit with the KC-135s refueling aircraft tankers of the 190th and take a tour of the airport’s control tower. The kids are always fascinated by that.” One young girl, after a tour of the control tower, decided that she wanted to become an air traffic controller.
“We've had a couple of other kids who have gone on to bigger and better things,” says Kevin. “One is in his third year at the Air Force Academy and another is heavily involved in the Civil Air Patrol in Lawrence and intends to go on to become a commercial pilot.”
The students also visit the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority Fire Department. “When the kids get to grab a fire hose on the truck and squirt it, that's one of the highlights of the trip.”
Children who visit the Combat Air Museum often have someone in the family who had served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan, he explains. “It's a great opportunity to hear about family members’ previous experiences, see some of the aircraft they were involved with, and how they helped make a difference.”
The museum also holds Scout Aviation Merit Badge classes. “It's a very intensive course,” says Kevin. “We make sure they get through all the basic requirements and then the group usually has dinner here and sleeps overnight in our big cargo helicopter in the hangar.”
A number of years ago, the museum partnered with the Kansas Commission on Aerospace Education and the Kansas National Guard Museum to hold an annual Girls in Aviation Day, which usually attracts about 300 girls and their family members.
Girl Scouts and other young girls come out and meet women who fix, fly and support military, civilian, and law enforcement aviation. “Young girls get to see women who are working in aviation and leave here knowing that they can do anything boys can do in a flying machine,” he says.
As part of its focus on education, the museum also hosts a large number of school tours throughout the year.
“Topeka is not a large city and for this museum to have existed for 47 years in a town of this size is really remarkable,” says Dave.
The Combat Air Museum is located at the Topeka Regional Airport at Forbes Field. It’s a great place to spend Father’s Day with the kids, and to also visit and take classes to learn about aviation.