Florence Air & Missile Museum

Florence Air & Missile Museum

former location
Established	unknown
Dissolved	1997
Location	Florence, South Carolina, United States
Coordinates
Type	Aviation museum
Director	T.C. "Tommy" Griffin

The Florence Air & Missile Museum was an aviation museum previously located at the entrance to the Florence Regional Airport, in Florence, South Carolina. The museum closed at the end of 1997.

The airport was originally known as Florence Army Airfield, or more simply as Florence Field, a World War II U.S. Army Air Corps / U.S. Army Air Forces training field for P-39 Airacobra and P-40 Warhawk pursuit aircraft and A-20 Havoc and A-26 Invader attack aircraft. Because of its former military connection and available runways, the military was able to fly in aircraft and leave them at the museum as they were retired from service.

The museum was founded by "T.C." Tommy Griffin, a former USAAF officer and B-25 Mitchell navigator with Doolittle's Raiders, flying the B-25 "The Whirling Dervish" during the Doolittle raid on Japan during World War II. After Tokyo Raid, he served as a bomber navigator in North Africa until shot down and captured by the Germans on July 3, 1943. He remained a POW until released in April 1945. His decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Chinese Army, Navy, Air Corps Medal, Class A, 1st Grade. After the war, he served as executive director of the Florence Airport.

During the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, the museum built up a collection of World War II and Cold War era U.S. military aircraft and early 1950s/1960s military space hardware. The museum was located along routes once frequented by travelers between the southeastern and northeastern United States and between Florence and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but once Interstate 95 was built, attendance declined. The museum closed in December 1997 and much of the collection transferred to the newly established Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Exhibits

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Boeing NTB-47B-20-BW Stratojet, AF Ser. No. 50-0062
  • Now on display at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, Georgia
• Chance Vought Regulus I
  • Now on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum
• Convair YF-102A Delta Dagger, AF Ser. No. 53-01788
  • Now on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum
• Douglas BTD-1 Destroyer, BuNo 4959
  • Now on display at Wings of Eagles Discovery Center at Elmira-Corning Regional Airport, Elmira, New York
• Douglas MGR-1 Honest John tactical battlefield missiles (2)
  • Now on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum
• Grumman C-1A Trader "COD" aircraft, BuNo 136790, c/n 43
  • Now displayed at the Grissom Air Museum at Grissom Air Reserve Base (former Grissom AFB), Indiana
• Grumman F-11A Tiger, BuNo 141790, c/n 107
  • Now displayed at the Grissom Air Museum at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Indiana
• Lockheed F-104B-5-LO Starfighter, AF Ser. No. 57-1301, c/n 283-5013
  • Now displayed at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson, Kansas
• Lockheed NC-121K Lockheed Constellation, BuNo 141292, c/n 4416
  • This aircraft flew the final USN Constellation mission in 1982 with Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 33 (VAQ-33) from NAS Key West, Florida - Front 50' now in a private collection in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Lockheed T-33A-5-LO Shooting Star, AF Ser. No. 53-6089
  • Now on display at the Darlington, South Carolina Airport
• Martin RB-57A-MA Canberra, AF Ser. No. 52-1459, c/n 42
  • Moved to National Warplane Museum, Genesco, New York; noted in Sep 2006 at the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, Elmira, New York
• Martin TB-61C Matador missile
  • Now on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum
• McDonnell F-101F Voodoo, AF Ser. No. 56-00243
  • Now on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum
• Republic F-84F-40-RE Thunderstreak, AF Ser. No. 52-6553
  • Moved to Drister Aviation and Space Museum, Amarillo, Texas, then to English Field Air & Space Museum, Tradewind Airport, Amarillo, Texas
• Sikorsky HO4S Chickasaw, BuNo 125506
  • Now on display at Tyler, Texas
• Sikorsky CH-34A Choctaw, Army Ser. No. 55-04496, c/n 58-509
  • Now on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum
• Waco CG-4 WW II era assault glider skeleton
  • Current location unknown; is not the CG-15 skeleton in storage at the Carolinas Aviation Museum
• Boeing KC-97G Stratofreighter, AF Ser. No. 52-2624, c/n 16655
  • Parts were used by Don Creason to complete the KC-97G, AF Ser. No. 52-0335, on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum
• Douglas A-26A Invader, AF Ser. No. 64-17671
  • Remanufactured from 44-35820; scrapped for parts
• Douglas WB-66D Destroyer, AF Ser. No. 53-00431
  • scrapped
• Grumman HU-16 Albatross, AF Ser. No. 51-07212
  • Sold following museum closure. Currently owned by Margaret S. Dewitt of Corpus Christi, Texas for restoration to flyable condition with civilian registration N10625
• Martin SM-72 Titan I Ballistic Missile, AF Ser. No. 61-4499
  • scrapped
• North American F-86H-5-NH Sabre, AF Ser. No. 52-05737
  • Moved to Burlington Township Office Complex, Burlington, New Jersey
• Northrop F-89J Scorpion, AF Ser. No. 53-02646
  • Moved to Friendship Park, Smithfield, Ohio
• Piasecki CH-21B Workhorse "Flying Banana", Army Ser. No. 54-04003
  • On display at the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center in West Chester, Pennsylvania
• Ryan AQM-91A Firebee Reconnaissance Drone
• Ryan Ryan Firebee Model G Drone
• F-101A Simulator
• T-28 Simulator
• Kaman HH-43A Huskie, AF Ser. No. 58-1833
  • Now on display at the Museum of Flight, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Sweet Eloise" (former "Miss Marilyn Gay"), AAF Ser. No. 44-70113
  • Now on display at the main gate of Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia