Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum

      Friday, March 17, 2023: For many years in the 1960s and ‘70s, my parents, on their way to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, would drive up Route 611 and pass by the Willow Grove Naval Air Station. The main thing we noticed while going pass this base were the different military aircraft parked behind a chain-link fence. Years later, the base closed, but not before a museum opened here in 2004: the Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum, 1155 Easton Road (Route 611), Horsham, PA (215-672-2277). Both inside and outside the museum building, I saw full-sized aircraft. The volunteers here explained the history of this airfield and the history behind the many exhibit items. Among the full-sized aircraft, I noticed the highlight of the collection, a 1931 Pitcairn PA8 Mailwing, the only aircraft in the museum that could still fly because its engine and other equipment remained intact inside of it. (Those who restored the other full-sized aircraft removed the engines, and they are currently for display only.) In addition to those other full-sized aircraft: planes, jets, helicopters, and auto gyros, I also looked at model-sized aircraft--many of which have been used for remote-controlled flying. The rest of the exhibits included engines, a flight simulator, and uniforms, as well as flight suits, and display cases loaded with pictures, texts, and items having to do with the history of this airfield, the people involved, and their connections with the Delaware Valley. Along with other facts, I learned how important this area was from World War II to the Gulf War. Once outside, I glanced at more full-sized aircraft. Overall, this place covered around 90 years of the history of flight in the Philadelphia area!