We all have our favorite aircraft—even the people who are charged with caring for them at aviation museums across the country. As 2023 marks the 120th anniversary of 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.
Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho
The Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho has been open to the public since 1989. The collection ranges from a Fokker DR-1 triplane to a MiG-21.
According to Sue Paul, the museum executive director, the public’s favorite aircraft are the World War II designs, particularly the P-51B model Mustang known as The Boise Bee, and the Museum’s Curtiss P-40N Warhawk Parrot Head and P-40E Kittyhawk Sneak Attack.
“The N Model has a parrot head on the nose; the E model has the classic shark mouth,” Paul said.
The P-40E was restored in the 1960s and first flown in 1971. The N model was restored to airworthiness in the 1980s. Both aircraft make the air show circuit and have competed in the Reno Air Races—they are also movie stars—look for them in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor.
When asked about her favorite, Paul says it’s Sneak Attack because the airplane literally has her name in it: S U E.
