Flight Test Center to Open at New Site

Visitors will have more space to view aircraft and aviation artifacts when the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum opens in a larger site at Edwards Air Force Base next Friday.

The $750,000 museum will feature larger exhibits, an aviation film theater that accommodates about 40 people, a research library and a gift shop. Government and military officials including pilot Chuck Yeager will be at the dedication ceremony. In 1947, Yeager became the first person to travel at supersonic speed.

Officials said it was necessary to expand the museum, once the size of a large living room. It now spans 12,000 square feet. Private donations funded construction of the museum, which is north of Lancaster.

“We completely outgrew the old facility,” said Doug Nelson, the museum’s director and curator. “It really couldn’t tell the story of Edwards Air Force Base.”

Visitors will learn that story through various exhibits, such as the “First Flights Wall,” where every inch of a model is equal to 6 feet of the actual aircraft. There is also an exhibit of several ejection seats that were tasted at the base.

Also on display is a full-scale representation of the rocket-powered Bell X-1 that Yeager flew at nearly 700 mph to break the sound barrier. There are three planes inside the museum and 12 aircraft outside, including a Vietnam War-era B-52.

The museum is at 405 S. Rosamond Blvd., about six miles east of the base’s main gate.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is free. Visitors can call ahead at (661) 227-8050.