Museum Spotlight: Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum

The museum's favorite aircraft among visitors was left abandoned in a swamp for decades before it was found and restored.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, December 23, 2022 at 09:23 AM ET

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The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is a not-for-profit museum that focused on the attack on Pearl Harbor that plunged the U.S. into World War II. [Credit: Stephen Yeates Photography]

Key Takeaways:

The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum features favorite aircraft, with Executive Director Elissa Lines favoring the P-40 Warhawk for its historical role in the December 7, 1941, defense.
The museum's visitor-favorite is the B-17 "Swamp Ghost," an aircraft with a unique story of being delayed for Pearl Harbor, crashing in a swamp during its first mission, and its later recovery featuring Disney-designed nose art.

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We all have our favorite aircraft—even the people who are charged with caring for them at the aviation museums across the country. Since December is the birthday month of powered flight, FLYING magazine reached out to museums across the country to find out which aircraft are the personal favorites of the museum staff as well as the museum visitors.

H2: Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii