Hickory Aviation Museum is an aviation museum at the Hickory Regional Airport in Hickory, North Carolina. It features a museum located in the former airport terminal with artifacts, a hangar with aircraft and outdoor exhibits of aircraft on the former airport ramp.

History

The museum originated from the Sabre Society, which was formed in 1991 to restore a North American FJ-3 Fury on display at a ballpark in Taylorsville, North Carolina. Co-founded by Kyle and Kregg Kirby, it opened to the public on 19 May 2007. In 2021, the museum announced it would receive an F4F on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum. In 2022, plans were announced for a new building located at Hickory Regional Airport. In addition to housing the museum's aircraft, it will also serve as a training facility for the Catawba Valley Community College. The new facility will cost a total of $22 Million, with $15 Million appropriated from the state budget and the remaining $7 Million from museum fundraising. Stipulations of the plan include relinquishing the spot the museum has within the commercial terminal should commercial operations return to Hickory Regional Airport. The museum broke ground on the new building on 26 October 2023. The museum has received a number of aircraft on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum, including a NU-1B in January 2024. This trend continued with the announcement of the arrival of an AV-8B in July of that year.

Collection