Combat Air Museum

06/17/2026

Our Young Aviators completed day three of the class. We learned about the National Airspace System, air traffic control procedures and the layout of Forbes Field at Topeka Regional Airport. We then traveled to the Museum of the Kansas National Guard to find out more about the beginnings of aviation in the Kansas Army and Air National Guard and visited the aircraft in the collection. After returning to the Combat Air Museum for juice and a snack, four of the students flew our flight simulator while the rest learned about aircraft engines and how to perform a preflight inspection of our 1946 Fairchild 24. We were so busy we forgot to take pictures today!

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06/17/2026

Chuck continues to improve the final display space for the 80 paintings of the Red Baron's victories during World War I painted by renowned illustrator Tom La Padula while the collection is on loan to the Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal, Kansas.

06/16/2026

Combat Air Museum's Young Aviators Class 26-1 started Monday and our students learned about the fundamentals of flight, basic aircraft instruments, built and flew foam plate gliders and then toured the Museum.
Today we visited the 190th Air Refueling Wing, where our Young Aviators went inside and around a KC-135 and tested their refueling skills in the Boom Operator Simulator System (BOSS). After a snack the day ended with a discussion of aerial navigation and looking over an aeronautical chart of the local area.

06/16/2026

There’s a very specific thrill in spotting old warbirds lined up on the edge of an airfield. Even before you step inside, you can feel the mix of pride, curiosity, and pure little-kid awe.

This museum leans all the way into aviation history, with military aircraft, engines, uniforms, and the kind of artifacts that make you slow down and actually read every placard. Being right by an active runway gives it an energy you do not get in a sealed-off gallery. You’re looking at the past while hearing the present overhead.

I love that Kansas has a place like this. It says something about the state that we do not just remember history here, we park it in a hangar and let people stand inches from it.

It feels reverent without being stiff, which is a hard balance to pull off. 🔗👇🏻

06/13/2026

Retired Kansas Air National Guard Brigadier General Charles "Mick" Baier spoke at the Combat Air Museum on June 8 and described his experiences as commander of the 190th Air Refueling Group during Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM during 1990/1991.

06/11/2026

06/01/2026

Step inside an unassuming Kansas hangar, and the air suddenly feels charged with history, as if every corner quietly holds echoes of aircraft and crews from another time.

05/27/2026

The Combat Air Museum has on display 47 military aircraft, from World War I to the present day, in addition to multiple static displays of missiles, rockets, aircraft engines, artifacts, and dioramas. The museum is one of a handful of major aviation mus...

05/27/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NPDbOeISlQ

TOPEKA (KSNT) — At 3:00 p.m. Monday, retired Air Force Captain Hers...