Welcome to the Aerospace Museum of California!
The Aerospace Museum of California Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that was formerly known as the McClellan Aviation Museum. The Museum has been in existence since 1982. The name was changed in 2005 to reflect the new vision focused on education and to reflect the full heritage of aviation and aerospace in the Sacramento region.
Since we cut the ribbon at our new location on February 2, 2007:
> Dedicated a new 37,000 square foot Hardie Setzer Aerospace Pavilion and opened a 4-acre Air Park in February 2007. This is a totally new museum that drew over 100,000 visitors in 2007
> Added exhibits including military and civilian aircraft, aircraft and rocket engines original aviation art, interactive displays, and a motion-ride simulator;
> Hosted, the Da Vinci Experience, from April to September 30, 2007 a world traveling exhibit as the only northern California venue. This educational exhibit featured 60 machines built to Da Vinci’s drawings; many were interactive. Over 60,000 visitors saw the Da Vinci Experience and 20,000 were students;
> “Fun with Physics” exhibit geared to middle school students from February to April 2008.
Crew Chief's assembled before opening their aircraft at the recent Open Cockpit Day
Our Volunteers:
The Museum has over 150 volunteers, many of whom work almost full time. Our volunteers logged over 30,696 volunteer hours in 2007. Our volunteers work in the exhibit hall, reception, gift shop, air park and education center. Our volunteers are docents, educators, researchers, and aircraft/engine restorers. Our volunteers work with the public and behind the scenes. Many of our volunteers have extensive knowledge about aircraft and some don’ but - what they have in common - is a desire to volunteer.
We could not have the Museum without our volunteers – join us…
Education Program:
The Museum has a strong and growing education program that is based on providing hands-on, practical educational experiences related to math and science subjects for students from elementary to community college. The main focus is for middle and high school grades, but there are programs for all levels.
We have partnerships with the California Aerospace Academy Charter School and with Sacramento City College to provide a location for the Applied Technology program classes. We work closely with all the regional school districts.
The Aerospace Learning Center has hosted over 4,500 students and gives them an appreciation for how math and science can be used in aviation. We allow the students to fly a no-motion flight simulator as part of the class.
The Museum also offers Teacher Workshops with NASA instructors, Summer Camps and Classes and special presentations such as Astronaut Clay Anderson’s presentation What I Did on Your Summer Vacation sharing his experiences as an astronaut and his time at the International Space Station from June – November of 2007.
The Museum was able to win the Da Vinci Experience venue over cities in the Bay area and other northern California locations because of the educational vision of the Board, the new aerospace pavilion, and the location in the State capitol.
Capital Campaign:
The Museum has embarked on a Capital Campaign to complete paying for the new building and Air Park, to enable us to build more interactive exhibits, and to build an educational endowment for the future.
In addition to Hardie Setzer’s $1.0 million leadership gift, some of our other major donors are: SAFE Credit Union, GenCorp Foundation/Aerojet, Sacramento County, Teichert, SPAN Construction, Northrop-Grumman Foundation, McClellan Park LLC, Pride Industries, the Aerospace Museum Board, Nella Oil Company/Flyers Gas Stations, URS Corporation, Bob and Carol Wolfe, and Jim and Mary Hopp.