"Education Through Living History": The Dixie Wing History Education Program
Flying airplanes have a depth of character that museum pieces lack.
One of the main goals of the CAF charter is to promote education of young people regarding the role of airpower, especially the role it played in WWII. Our fleet of airplanes is the primary means by which we do this–our fleet is living history and this is what sets our organization apart from many others. There is something about real living, breathing airplanes and the great effort one must put forth in order to sustain and maintain them that makes a flying airplane totally different from a static display.
Because our airplanes fly to airshows throughout the US, people need not make a trip to a museum someplace to see examples of WWII historical airpower–it merely takes a trip down the the local airport on air show day. This means the CAF's fleet of airplanes are seen by millions of people every year, and not just seen but heard, too!
In addition to taking our airplanes on the show circuit every year, the Dixie Wing is becoming increasingly involved in education of young people in the Atlanta area through school tours of our hangar museum complex. We have a large meeting room for discussions and lectures, and a 12,000 sq. ft. hangar containing not only airplanes but also a wide variety of artifacts from WWII. We also have a 4,800 sq. ft. restoration shop where we do maintenance and restoration of our airplanes. Learn more about Education Through Living History.
Hangar tours for groups of school children: We have established a set of lectures on various topics and lasting approximately one hour each. A tour of the hangar facility itself requires an additional half hour. We can accommodate groups of up to 60 children at a time with prior arrangements (4 weeks advance notice preferred). If you'd like to make arrangements for a school trip to our facility, please fill out our on-line field trip request form or e-mail the education program coordinator. If you'd like to find out more about our school field trip program, look at our program overview (pdf). We also have an online presentation with further details (MS PowerPoint).
Hangar tours for visitors: If you have a group of 10 or more and would like to request educational lectures or arrange a formal tour of our facilities, please e-mail the education program coordinator to get further information and make arrangements. Let the education coordinator know what organization you're with and what your interest is in. If you'd like to take a tour of the hangar, just drop in sometime. Driving directions and business hours are available on the contact page of this Web site.
Links to other great educational web sites (aviation and history theme).