Western North Carolina Air Museum Inc

We have been focused on community for many years by preserving and promoting our Carolina flying heritage. Although we suffered catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene, we immediately rose to the occasion and placed priority on helping those in need by clearing space in our hangar to operate a relief center. Through the help of friends, we flew supplies into our airfield and then out to stranded communities and individuals and placed our own needs on hold.

We identified trapped communities and flew generators into them to power a well to provide running water and followed with tools, food, and medical supplies so those areas could form a network and get information back to us as we repeated the process.

We lost nearly everything on the airfield and unfortunately are not covered by insurance for the majority of our losses. We've always had a small operating budget and put nearly every penny back into creating a space that encourages education and hands-on involvement with the community and access to aviation for the general public. Being that we are a free museum, our funds come from small donations, occasional small aircraft parts and sales, hangar space rental, and one small fundraiser where we offer rides each year. While we find a path forward, our damage and hazards from the storm limit our ability to bring in visitors and receive donations. With all our tenants losing their aircraft, we are faced with reduced hangar rentals while we repair the hangars that were damaged and repair the airfield. We have lost our ability to effectively generate operational funds.

We are hopeful that our love and dedication to supporting our community and general aviation will encourage others to help us continue to be a place for families to gather and enable us to continue being a thriving hub and resource for the community.

We are grateful for any support you can offer as we navigate this difficult time and process.