FAQ - Aeronca Museum

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the purpose of the Aeronca Museum?

The Aeronca Museum is a publicly supported history museum whose primary goal is to preserve the Aeronca heritage, legacy and technical documentation for the benefit of present and future generations.

It maintains a facility for the restoration, preservation, and public display of aircraft, memorabilia and documents relating to all aspects of the aircraft built by Aeronca Aircraft Corporation. The museum provides resources to the public and to museum members for the restoration and flight of Aeronca aircraft.

Additionally the museum collects, preserves, interprets, and exhibits Aeronca related artifacts, including but not limited to complete flying aircraft, aircraft parts, type certificates, documents, photos, videos, stories, instructions, tools, and knowledge.

Finally, the museum educates the public about the historical significance and impact that Aeronca had on the light airplane industry. And also encourages youth and adults to become involved in aviation and the restoration of antique aircraft.

2. How did the Museum get started?

Starting in 1997, Todd Trainor created and managed the Aeronca.com website. It started as a way to preserve the vast Aeronca K and Aeronca E-113 knowledge of his father, Tom Trainor.

Upon hearing about the terrible flood that destroyed many of Bill Pancake’s collection, Todd decided to exercise his computer talent to preserve any remaining Aeronca drawings by scanning them and posting them on the website. This project grew to include the FAA collection of drawings from the Chicago ACO office. This collection now has nearly 4000 drawings, of which 1850 are available online. The project continued to expand to include Aeronca service letters, Helps & Hints, manuals, Pre-War memos, and all other documents. Todd’s interest in the legacy and history of Aeronca continued to grow. For the past several years, he gave a presentation on Aeronca History at AirVenture and local EAA chapter meetings throughout the country.

It was decided, mid-2010, to convert Todd’s knowledge and artifacts into the Aeronca Museum in order to ensure its long-term availability to the public. The Board of Trustees were selected, the Museum was incorporated and the 501(c)(3) status was granted by the IRS.

3. Who owns the Aeronca Museum?

The Museum is operated as a public charity under the public trust of a Board of six Trustees. It is incorporated in the State of Michigan as the Aeronca Aircraft History Museum. It is both a Michigan non-profit and an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. .

4. What airplane is featured in the logo, & why?

The 1929 Aeronca C-2; it was the first aircraft produced by Aeronca. Interestingly, the logo colors of orange and yellow, are the colors of the Aeronca C-2 and the Aeronca 7AC Champ. The winged shield is exactly the shape of the official Aeronca logo, but the colors are different.

5. What kind of volunteer help do you need?

Document, photo & slide scanners
Digital document cleaners
Technical Writers
Restoration labor & skills
Photographer
Photo and data searcher
Droid or iPhone app developer.
Special projects coordinastor
- Roche into the Aviation Hall of Fame.
Grant & gift seeker
501c3 advisor
Genealogist to find the families of
- Freelanders, Morehouse, Wragle, Schlemmer, etc.

6. I want to volunteer. Can I signup now?

Yes. Please contact Todd directly by phone, email, or in person. Let him know what talents you can offer to the Museum and when you can be available.

7. Michigan is a long distance from me – can I still volunteer to help?

Yes. Much of the volunteer work is computer based or requires doing research. Most of the volunteer help can be done anywhere in the world. Tasks such as restoring parts and aircraft can also be done anywhere in the world, but transporting the items will require some logistics planning and costs.

8. Can I buy printed copies of documents and photos?

Yes. Log in at www.aeroncamuseum.org, when viewing any archive document search results, select the SHOP button to purchase available documents.

9. Can I still buy the Aeronca Drawing DVD?

No, not at this time.

10. Can I become a Museum member now?

Yes. Annual Museum Memberships and Lifetime Memberships are now available.

11. What are the benefits of being a Museum member?

Access to many Museum Member Archive documents.
Discounts on Premium Archive documents.
Discounts on Museum Store Merchandise.

12. How much is membership?

Regular membership is $35 annually.
Lifetime membership is $500.

13. Can I buy a multi-year membership?

Yes, you can purchase as many years of membership in advance as you’d like. There is no discount for purchasing multiple years. It is, however, convenient. Perhaps you’d like to purchase a multi-year membership for a friend or relative.

14. Is my membership and/or donations tax deductible?

In IRS terms, the Aeronca Museum is a “qualifying tax exempt organization.” Generally speaking, your donations to the Museum, including your membership, are eligible to be tax deductable. Consult with your tax accountant to make sure you and your financial situation also qualify.

15. Can I buy a gift certificate to the Museum store?

Great idea! This will be considered for future version of the AeroncaMuseum.com website.

16. Do you have Family memberships?

No, not at this time. That is a future consideration.

17. Is my membership transferable?

No. But your membership number is transferable to a single offspring, in which case they will have to pay the renewal annual membership dues or purchase a lifetime membership.

18. Do you accept credit cards?

Yes. We can accept credit cards for online purchases and memberships.

19. What kind of things do you need donated?

All things Aeronca: Aircraft, parts, photos, drawings.
Historical photos, projects, etc.
Your time, as a volunteer.
Financial donations.
A wide-format scanner.
A wide-format printer.
Microfiche and microfilm scanner.
A slide & negative scanner.
Printing services.
Aeronca annual reports from 1929 to 1953.
Restoration tools such as a shear, press, specialty tools, etc.
Old magazines from 1928 to 1970

20. Can I donate a flyable Aeronca?

Please do. In order to be qualify as a tax-deductable donation, the airplane would need to be appraised by a qualified independant appraiser.

21. Can I donate Aeronca projects or parts?

We need the parts to complete other projects. It is our intention to become a restoration knowledge base. For this we need to restore Aeronca aircraft. And for that, we need donated parts.