Another Memorial Site on the grounds of the Museum is dedicated to 2nd Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch,
a native of  High Falls, North Carolina, who served prior to WWII with the 74th
Flying Squadron, better know as Chennault's "Flying Tigers". A very interesting historical
figure as his remains were not discovered until 2005.

Click Here for the Upchurch Memorial Page
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AIRCRAFT

The Museum currently has an inventory of five planes that will be housed within the museum building.
Also there are commitments for the donation or loan of a number of other aircraft that will
be on display as soon as our facility is constructed.

The planes we presently have are listed below
 

Featured in the film the "Dawn Patrol" the famous World War One biplane fighter, the British SE5A (Scout Experimental)
as flown by the leading allied aces of WW1 including William Avery "Billy" Bishop, Edward "Mick" Mannock,
James McCudden and legendary British ace Albert Ball.

The Museum's full size plane was actually used
in the 2004 filming of  the film "The Aviator" >  >  >  >

The Nieuport model 11 was a French biplane of World War I,
most often referred to as the “bebe” or the Nieuport Scout.
 It is famous as one of the aircraft that put an end to the first “Fokker scourge” by putting more formidable planes in the sky against the Germans. The type reached the French front
in 1916, and 90 were placed in service within a month.
  
The Allies at the time did not have synchronized guns that fired through the propeller arc , so the gun was mounted on the top wing, which was problematic when the gun jammed or needed more ammunition.

The P-40's first fame came at the hands of the now
legendary Flying Tigers, a group of American
mercenaries who volunteered to defend China against
 the Japanese. Well before the war reached America. 
The A.V.G. (American Volunteer Group) program was
to send volunteers from the U.S. Army, Navy, and
Marine Air Corps to China, along with U.S. fighters,
and establish three squadrons to combat the threat 
from the rising sun. Colonel Claire Lee Chennault
headed the operation. He pieced together a fighter
group and shipped them to China with 99 aircraft
originally intended for British use.

This is the type of plane Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch
flew with Chennault's "Flying Tigers"

Manufactured by  "Aero Design and Engineering Company"
of Oklahoma. Its facilities consisted of an aircraft hangar
and 26,000 sq ft (2,400 m²) manufacturing facility located
at what is now Wiley Post Airport near Oklahoma City.
 In August 1951, the first production Aero Commander,
the piston-engined model 520, rolled off the assembly line.
In 1954, the 520 was replaced by the 560 and 560A featuring
 a larger cabin and more powerful Lycoming piston engines.
In 1955, the U.S. Air Force selected the Aero Commander
 as the personal transport for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, ordering 15 aircraft, two of which were used by
The White House. This was the smallest "Air Force One,"
and the first to wear the now-familiar blue-and-white livery.

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