Texas Air and Space Museum

The Texas Air and Space Museum is one of the must-visit Amarillo attractions for air and space fans. It is also a great museum for families; kids will love exploring the many different exhibits. This family-friendly museum is located near the Amarillo International Airport, Amarillo Railroad Museum and Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian. The Texas Air and Space Museum has both indoor and outdoor exhibits. It is open from 10 am to 4 pm Monday through Saturday. This museum honors the efforts and contributions of Amarillo and Texas in the history of flight. Whether you are an aviation fan or simply curious, this museum may teach you something you did not know before. After your visit, head to the Big Texan for a Texas-sized meal.

It’s not just for aviation fans! The museum honors Amarillo’s and the Texas Panhandle’s history of flight. Featured are extensive documents, newspaper articles, exhibits and photos dating back to the beginning of English Field Airport. New in 2014, the historic DC-3 aircraft known simply as N34 is on display. It is one of only four planes on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can get close to a Grumman Gulfstream II NASA Shuttle Training Aircraft (flown by astronaut and Amarillo native Rick Husband), a North American P-51 Mustang (on loan), a de Havilland C-7A Caribou and the Bearcat– a locally built biplane-class aircraft flown by Texas Panhandle pilot Bobby Speed at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, NV. Additional aircraft arrive every year. The museum is open 9 am to 4 pm, Mon-Sat. Free admission, donations accepted. The museum is located on the grounds of the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. The Texas Air & Space Museum is an aviation museum located near Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Amarillo, Texas. The museum displays civilian and military aircraft, as well as a wide range of air and space artifacts.

In 1989, a group of aviation enthusiasts in Amarillo formed an air and space museum at private Tradewind Airport in southeast Amarillo. In 1997, the museum moved from Tradewind Airport to the Amarillo International Airport (later Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport) and into old buildings that, for most of the years from 1929 through 1972, served as Amarillo’s commercial air terminal, first as English Field, then as English Airport, and finally as Amarillo Air Terminal. When the ongoing maintenance costs of English Field’s old terminal building and hangars became too great for the museum and city to bear, English Field Air & Space Museum relinquished 13 of its 14 aircraft to other museums, moved its artifacts into storage, and in 2007, closed its doors. In February 2010, the museum changed its name to Texas Air & Space Museum acquired indoor and outdoor exhibit space at the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport and reopened its doors. On opening day February 15, 2011, Texas Air & Space Museum had a significant number of indoor air and space historical displays and three aircraft—a North American P-51D Mustang, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver on floats, and a de Havilland DHC-4 C-7 Caribou. In July 2011, the museum acquired the locally built and flown Speed Johnson F8F Bearcat Reno racer, (registered as Speed Johnson F4F Bearcat), in September 2011, the museum acquired a NASA Gulfstream II Shuttle Training Aircraft that was known by NASA as ‘946’ and was flown 49 times by the airport’s namesake—Rick Husband, commander of STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia that on February 1, 2003, disintegrated upon re-entry, killing all crew members.

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