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Historic Flight Foundation

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The Historic Flight Foundation (HFF) was an aviation museum located at Felts Field in Spokane, Washington. The museum collected, restored, and flew historic aircraft from the period between Charles Lindbergh's solo Atlantic crossing in 1927 and the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 in 1957, a 30-year period when airplanes evolved from relatively simple wood and fabric biplanes to commercial jets. The museum was previously located at Paine Field in Mukilteo, Washington, but relocated to Spokane during the spring of 2020 due to the presence of commercial air service at Paine Field.

Historic Flight Foundation
Historic Flight Foundation aircraft on display.
Historic Flight Foundation is located in Washington (state)
Historic Flight Foundation
Location in Washington
Established2010
Dissolved2024
LocationFelts Field, Spokane, Washington
Coordinates47°40′47″N 117°19′22″W / 47.6797°N 117.3228°W / 47.6797; -117.3228
TypeAviation museum
FounderJohn Sessions
Websitehttp://historicflight.org

The museum aircraft had been fully restored to flying condition, and flew regularly at monthly summer Fly Days,[1] HFF's September Vintage Aircraft Weekend,[2] and Paine Field's Aviation Day[3] in May. The aircraft also fly at air displays throughout the Western United States and Canada.

HFF hosts educational programs throughout the year. This includes a STEM program for primary through high school students, historic airplane ground schools, and flight training in historic aircraft. Speakers from HFF's Speaker's Bureau regularly present educational programs about aviation topics and airplanes in the collection.

HFF also restored historic aircraft back to flying condition. Some of this restoration work was done in-house at HFF's hangar where visitors can watch as the work is performed. Other restoration work was done by outside organizations that specialize in restoration of specific aircraft types. Two of Historic Flight's aircraft won awards for their restoration work at the National Aviation Heritage Invitational at the California Capital Airshow in September 2017.[4]

History

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John T. Sessions[5] founded the Historic Flight Foundation and began acquiring the foundation's aircraft in 2003. In 2006 the museum began planning the construction of the hangar at Paine Field that initially housed the foundation's aircraft collection. HFF's hangar opened its doors to the public in March 2010.

 
Historic Flight Foundation Supermarine Spitfire LF Mark IXe

The museum acquired a de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide in May 2017.[6] The airplane was damaged in an accident in 2018 that injured Sessions, and resulted in the amputation of his foot.[7][8]

With the collection of aircraft outgrowing the space available at Paine Field, Historic Flight opened a second location at Felts Field in Spokane on December 17, 2019. The museum initially intended to maintain both their Mukilteo and Spokane locations, with the latter initially holding eight aircraft.[9][10] However, with the museum unable to cope with the demands of then-new commercial air service at Paine Field, it elected to move all of its collection to Spokane during the spring of 2020, with the Mukilteo location reduced to maintenance and restoration duties.[11][better source needed][12]

After being forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was able to reopen in 2021.[13]

The museum's Spitfire was damaged in an accident in July 2023.[14] A month later, the museum announced it would be temporarily closing due to a lawsuit involving its founder.[15] However, by September the museum's B-25 had been sold by its receiver.[16] In December, the court ruled that additional aircraft could be sold.[17] By April 2024, all of the museum's aircraft had been sold to pay off the owners legal debts.[18]

Hangar

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When Historic Flight was located in Mukilteo, its aircraft collection was housed in a working hangar at Paine Field, which is home to Boeing's manufacturing plant for 747, 767, 777 and 787 aircraft. The hangar at Felts Field in Spokane is larger than the Paine Field hangar, allowing the museum to store all of their aircraft indoors.[12] At both locations, visitors could walk among the collection, watch mechanics maintain and restore aircraft, and watch aircraft takeoff and land on their respective airport's main runway. The collection also included aviation artifacts such as military uniforms and vintage flight suits, as well as several vintage cars and buses, including a 1927 Cadillac Touring Phaeton car in which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt toured Glacier National Park on August 5, 1934.[19] The automobile collection featured two "Jammer" touring buses—one from Yellowstone Park and one from Glacier National Park.

Collection

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Historic Flight Foundation Douglas DC-3

The museum's collection included the following historic aircraft.

The collection's Douglas DC-3[20] was manufactured at the Douglas Aircraft Company's Long Beach plant as one of only 300 DC-3s specifically designed to "fly the hump"—the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains—during World War II.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Historic Flight Foundation Event Schedule". Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  2. ^ "Vintage Aircraft Weekend". Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  3. ^ "Paine Field Aviation Day". Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Eikenberry, Bree (September 12, 2017). "Historic Flight Foundation Scores Three Wins at National Aviation Heritage Invitational". Whidbeylocal.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Rosenberg, Jeremy (2013). "Profile: John Sessions '74". LMU Magazine. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  6. ^ Catchpole, Dan (May 22, 2017). "Paine Field museum scores rare 1930s de Havilland airplane". HeraldNet. Everett Herald and Sound Publishing, Inc. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  7. ^ Watanabe, Ben (August 13, 2018). "Historic Flight museum founder injured in BC air show crash". HeraldNet. Everett Herald and Sound Publishing, Inc. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Haglund, Noah (January 9, 2019). "After losing a foot, aircraft aficionado wants to fly again". HeraldNet. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  9. ^ Deshais, Nicholas (October 9, 2019). "Businessman and aviation enthusiast opening flying museum at Felts Field". Spokesman-Review. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  10. ^ Deshais, Nicholas (December 17, 2019). "Historic Flight Foundation opens aviation museum at Felts Field". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  11. ^ "Historic Flight Foundation has reduced its activities at Paine Field to maintenance and aircraft restoration". Historic Flight on Facebook. June 11, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Historic Flight Foundation to move to KSFF — General Aviation News". General Aviation News. Flyer Media. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Thomas, Virginia (February 25, 2021). "Aviation museum takes flight again". Journal of Business. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  14. ^ Cabeza, Garrett (July 7, 2023). "WWII fighter plane damaged in Deer Park crash on Friday; no injuries reported". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  15. ^ Bullock, Erica (August 17, 2023). "Historic Flight Foundation closes to public--for now". Journal of Business. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  16. ^ Epperly, Emma (September 10, 2023). "Vintage planes at Historic Flight Foundation in Spokane being sold to satisfy judgment". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  17. ^ Epperly, Emma (December 18, 2023). "Historic Flight Foundation planes to be sold as latest legal challenge fails". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  18. ^ Niles, Russ (March 20, 2024). "Washington Historic Flight Foundation Collection Liquidated". AVweb. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  19. ^ "A Red Phaeton for FDR". Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  20. ^ "Historic Flight Foundation's DC-3 takes flight". General Aviation News. March 4, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
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