You might expect to see wildcats or bearcats at the zoo, and that’s exactly what Sue Parish, co-founder of the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, thought of when she came up with a much simpler and iconic name for the Portage, Michigan, collection of historic aircraft: Air Zoo.
When the Air Zoo opened in 1979, five of the first airplanes she and her husband, Pete Parish, owned and brought into the collection had animal-inspired names. Since then, the collection of planes, jets and spacecraft has grown to over 100 aircraft housed in 200,000 square feet of exhibit space next to the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport.
“The Air Zoo is really an experience like none other,” Air Zoo President Troy Thrash said. “It’s a fun way to be educated, to be inspired and really engage with the history of aviation and space.”
About 80,000 aviation, military and space artifacts are on display for kids and adults to explore.
“At the end of the day, they’re big hunks of metal and rubber and it really is the stories of the innovators, the builders, designers, the pilots that really bring them to life here, and that’s something we want to do for our guests every day,” said Thrash.
The Air Zoo brings aviation stories to life through its extensive restoration program, where the public can watch and sometimes participate in the work being done on aircraft.
“As an aviation museum, we have a sense of obligation to preserve the artifacts for the future,” said Greg Ward, 64, the aircraft restoration manager at the Air Zoo.
A group of volunteer restorers, including middle school students, World War II veterans and service clubs, has been working for the past 11 years on an FM-2 Wildcat that crashed into Lake Michigan during a training mission on Dec. 28, 1944. It was recovered 68 years later on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 2012, by A and T Recovery before being trucked to the Air Zoo months later.
“On the Wildcat, over 1,500 people had put in over 52,000 hours of work on it, people working side by side on it,” Thrash said. “It’s a community project.”
The restoration of the Wildcat is expected to be finished by mid-July and then it heads to the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Massachusetts. The restorers are preparing to send off the Wildcat and turn their attention to a new project to rebuild.
“They all care about history. They all care about preserving the artifacts,” Ward said. “When they get up in the morning, they’re excited to eat breakfast, get dressed, jump in their car and come over to the Air Zoo not just to restore history, but to be with their friends. It’s a big family."
More on the Air Zoo at airzoo.org.
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