Belleville, Michigan: Yankee Air Museum

Nearly destroyed in a 2004 fire, this never-say-die museum reopened exactly six years later -- minus eight planes and a few thousand artifacts.

Aviation Museum destroyed by fire

The wooden hanger housing the museum was burned right to the ground by a fire. The building was a total loss, although some planes were rescued by crew members of a B-25 that'd just returned from a Fall Colors tour. There is talk of rebuilding and reopening the museum in the future, but nothing concrete yet although there is lots of local support.

[Birk, 12/19/2004]

Aviation Museum

Off I-94 and Belleville Road is the greatest aviation museum that you will see in your lifetime. It is headquarters for 6 other divisions from New Jersey to Wisconsin. Housed in a 1941 hangar that the B-24's came through, is a display of aircraft that consists of over 20 static aircraft on display (including a B-52 Stratofortress bomber), and the flyable wing consists of the flagship C-47 "Gooney Bird," a North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, and the last purchase was a B-17 bomber (only one of 9 flying in the world!). The Gift Shop is the largest in the Great Lakes states. Museum rooms are filled with artifacts, as is the Women in Aviation Room, and the Hall of Uniforms.

[Rosie Crowell, 03/13/2000]