Cape May Airport museum offers a hands-on World War II experience for the whole family.
Okay, I have never been to an aviation museum that I did not thoroughly enjoy—or learn something from. The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum is certainly no exception—except that it ranks right up there among my favorites. Surprising, perhaps, because Navy “squid’ pilots might think this Air Force Vietnam era “weenie” pilot could not fully appreciate naval aircraft. But I have been fascinated with aircraft since my dad took me to my first air show at the very earliest point in my conscious memory.
The NASW aviation museum—a short drive from the south Jersey beaches and Wildwood, New Jersey—is located in Hangar #1 on the Cape May Airport. Turning into the original aircraft parking ramp, now used for visitors’ parking, I was facing a classic 1940s all-wooden military hangar. Covering 92,000 square feet, this hangar was big enough to service and repair a dozen or more aircraft. Through glass panels in the huge hangar doors I could see the silhouettes of aircraft and I could feel my pulse quicken. Airplanes do that to me.
NASW features aircraft and displays of aviation history from World War II through the end of the century. A visit to NASW is an opportunity to experience naval aviation history the way airmen and sailors lived it in the 1940s. The time shift begins the moment you step into the hangar. The path to the nearest aircraft passes several displays of World War II recruiting posters, 78-rpm records, and both uniforms and clothing styles of the 1940s while 40’s era swing music plays in the background.
Naval Air Station Wildwood officially began operation as a dive bomber training facility, preparing carrier-based flight crews for duty in World War II battles raging in the Atlantic and Pacific. Today, Hangar #1 is a museum dedicated the 42 men that died during training between 1943 and the war’s end in 1945.
Unlike many museums where the aircraft are displayed behind restrictive rope barriers, you can not only walk up to, examine, and touch the aircraft, but most aircraft have steps and platforms that let you to look into open cockpits and view the instruments and controls closely. This is an opportunity to really look into the pilot’s “office” and get a sense of what it must have been like to take these aircraft into battle. The open arrangement of the aircraft and displays allows each person to create his own experience, viewing aircraft and displays in any order desired.
A beautifully restored TBM-3E Avenger dive bomber represents one of the types of aircraft that was stationed at the base during WWII. Designed to deliver bombs while diving at high speed, these bombers were among the carrier-based aircraft that defeated the Japanese navy in the later stages of the war. Close examination will reveal that what appears to be an all-metal aircraft actually had fabric-covered control surfaces on the wings and tail—fabric similar to that used on classic aircraft such as the Piper Cub—then and now.
TBM pilots from NASW also had a direct impact on one Delaware Bay lighthouse. In 1910, the Cross Ledge Lighthouse in the middle of the bay was taken out of service. For more than three decades, this unique lighthouse stood abandoned. During the war, pilots of fighter-bomber squadrons dropped small practice bombs on the defenseless lighthouse. Today, only the base of the lighthouse remains—a rookery for cormorants.
Several aircraft will be readily recognizable by many—even non-pilots. For example, all three aircraft featured in the movie Top Gun are on display: the F-14 Tomcat, the A-4 Skyhawk, and a camouflaged Marine F-5E Tiger. Because of the way the aircraft are displayed, it is possible to grasp and feel the beefy tail hook that brought the 25-ton Tomcat from 140 mph to a full stop in less than 300 feet on a pitching aircraft carrier deck. The A-4, next to the Tomcat is painted in the Blue Angels color scheme. A camera is a must.
Perhaps equally recognizable is the UH-1M Huey helicopter that appeared almost nightly on the evening news beginning 1963 during the Vietnam conflict. This aircraft initially provided rescue, medivac and troop transport duty, but its role soon expanded to become a gunship. Almost every Marine and soldier who served in Southeast Asia from 1963 until the end of the conflict had at least one flight aboard the venerable Huey during their tours of duty. The Huey often went into battle with the AH-1 Cobra like the one sitting on the museum floor next to it. The menacing, two-seat ground attack chopper’s most distinctive feature is the “chin-mounted” three-barrel mini-gun capable of firing 730 rounds per minute.
Of particular interest to me was the F-5E Tiger single-seat fighter aircraft. As an Air Force pilot trainee, I flew the T-38B Talon trainer version of this same aircraft. The T-38 had a two-seat cockpit to accommodate an instructor and the student pilot. The Navy and Marines used the F-5E as an aggressor aircraft to train Navy fighter pilots in air-to-air combat. Although smaller than the Tomcat, the F-5E was fast, maneuverable, and, at the hands of a skilled pilot, could dogfight with the best aircraft in service at the time.
Not all aircraft on display are U.S. models. A MiG-15, one of Russia’s first operational jet fighters, sits next to a trainer variant of the P-80 Shooting Star fighter that was the first USAF operational jet fighter. It entered combat duty in Korea in 1950 and went head-to-head in combat against the MiG-15.
In addition to the aircraft, there are aircraft engines and many interactive displays that explain and describe aircraft operations and aerodynamics with clear, uncomplicated illustrations or hands-on demonstrations. For example, a pilot’s ejection seat trainer along with a video of ejection seat operations puts the viewer in the action when all else fails and the pilot has to bail out his aircraft.
The museum provides a very realistic hangar environment. Beyond the boundaries of the displays more aircraft, engines, and aviation hardware sit, covered and waiting to be prepared for display. There is the sense and feel of a working hangar. With just a little imagination you can hear the “clink” of a wrench dropped on the concrete floor or the distant rumble of an engine being test run.
The NASW is more than a museum of static displays. The NASW Foundation supports a year-round program of activities for every member of the family. Hangar dances capture the USO’s 1940s swing style music and concerts. Vintage car shows are scheduled regularly. A Young Eagles day, jointly sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association offers a day for youngsters to not only tour the museum but also get an opportunity to get a ride in more modern aircraft.
The staff and displays at the NASW offer the closest possible opportunity to personally experience 1940s naval aircraft operations. The museum is open all year. Allow at least several hours to view all of the aircraft and displays and to browse the gift shop. Museum admission is $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for children ages 3 through 12.
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For more information, including schedules of upcoming events, visit the official web site of the NASW Aviation Museum: www.usnasw.org
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