Last time, you remember, we talked about the future location of the brand new museum. Many meetings have taken place since then and dollars have wisely been spent acquiring professional guidance in matters relating to land usage, building codes of Island County and information regarding State of Washington rules and regulations.

The current property owners have been kept up-to-date on our findings and have possibly learned some things of which they, themselves, were unaware.
It has been, and will continue to be, a ‘process’ through which we need to travel before buying any land and building what we hope will be the […]

Assistant Museum Maintenance Supervisor Wayne Hastriter scrubs masking tape residue after the port wing star had been previously painted, adding finishing touches to the wing restoration evolution.

Photo by Joshua Auradou

Captain Geoffrey C. Moore, Commanding Officer Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI), with the station Master at Arms, lays the wreath in the 76th annual commemoration of the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II which occurred between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Surrounded by family, Rachel Atwood, a native of Oak Harbor, receives congratulations as the 2018 Eileen Brown Scholarship selectee from Wil Shellenberger, President of the PBY Naval Air Museum. With the $1,000 prize, Atwood is headed for Washington State University to major in Journalism. She is a graduate of both Oak Harbor High School and Skagit Valley College and her hobbies are reading and traveling. Her plans include several road trips this summer with her friends before beginning classes at WSU in the fall.

Summer 2018 –

In 2018, last year’s solid progress is being carried forward. Venues presenting naval aviation history are being expanded. Education and outreach programs are being expanded and improved. Relationships with additional museums and PBY restoration projects are growing. Progress is being made on a new museum. And, finally, we are building on the last year’s fundraising successes.

We continue taking the story of Naval Aviation in the Northwest to venues throughout the area, including at least one new event at the Skagit Valley Regional Airport on July 14 featuring Pacific Flying Boats’ PBY-5A. Work will soon commence on an exhibit […]