Hill Aerospace Museum is a military aviation museum located at Hill Air Force Base in Roy, Utah. It is dedicated to the history of the base and aviation in Utah.

History

Preparations for a museum began in 1984, when ground was broken on an "Aerospace Park and Museum". The museum itself opened in 1987 in a World War II warehouse. By 1989, the original base chapel had been moved to the museum and rededicated. In 1991, a new 9,600 sqft administration building and 36,000 sqft hangar were dedicated. The museum recovered a number of aircraft wrecks, including a B-24, B-26, P-38, and P-40 from Alaska in the mid-1990s. In 1996, the museum became the home of the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame. In 1997, it was alleged that seven years prior a number of artifacts and a C-131 were removed from the museum without authorization. The museum grew again in 1999, when a second display hangar was opened as the Lindquist-Stewart Fighter Gallery. A mezzanine was added to the first hangar, now renamed the Hadley Gallery, the following year. An exhibit about Women Airforce Service Pilots was opened in 2004. In 2014, the museum announced it would be removing 18 aircraft from its collection. Large scale repainting of the exterior display aircraft took place in 2015, with 5 airplanes and 2 missiles being affected. For the twentieth anniversary of its opening in 2016, the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame was renovated. The museum completed the conversion of a C-130 fuselage into a classroom in 2019. The museum embarked on expansion in 2021, building a new restoration facility and receiving $12 million from the state for the construction of a third hangar. At the same time, it was forced to announce plans to demolish its World War II barracks as it was too deteriorated to repair. Ground was broken for the 80,000 sqft building and 7,000 sqft connector in October 2022. The museum began moving aircraft into the hangar in November 2023, which was dedicated as the L.S. Skaggs Gallery the following May.

Facilities

The museum is also home to the Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education, which is located inside a C-130 fuselage. In addition to its collection of aircraft, the museum also houses the Major General Rex A. Hadley Research Library and Archives, which contains technical and historical information related to the aircraft on display. Also onsite is the Col. Nathan H. Mazer Memorial Chapel.

Exhibits

The museum has a number of exhibits about aviators from Utah such as Brigadier General Leon C. Packer and former senator Jake Garn. Other subjects include nose art of the 509th Composite Group and the Eighth Air Force.

Collection

Footnotes