HILL AFB, Utah -- After a hiatus of several years due to expansion construction, the Hill Aerospace Museum is once again hosting its popular annual Open Aircraft Day. The event takes place Sept. 21 at the museum.
Open Aircraft Day offers visitors a rare chance to view inside the cockpits of several historical military aircraft, as well as go inside a few of the larger airframes, like the C-130. In addition, there will be guest speakers, Hill Air Force Base mission displays, food trucks and live music.
“We are excited to host this popular community event again,” said Elizabeth Najim, museum operations manager. “We are looking forward to giving the public rare and unique opportunities to get close to and inside many historical military aircraft, as well as interact with Airmen from across Hill Air Force Base.”
This year’s event will focus on the museum’s newest aircraft, the F-22 Raptor. Not only will be the public be able to see inside the cockpit of this groundbreaking stealth fighter, but there will also be crew members from the F-22 program giving in depth details and information about this advanced weapon system aircraft.
Speakers include Joe Chew, a retired F-16/F-22 crew chief who also worked maintenance training at Boeing, and Lt. Col. Philip “Stonewall” Johnson, an F-22 pilot and commander of the 514 Flight Test Squadron at Hill AFB. Speakers will begin at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free to the public.
“We are looking forward to a fun day, full of Air Force and community engagement,” Najim said.