Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum

and Pearl Harbor''. The tower is being restored by the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor. In 1983, the Pacific Aerospace Museum was formed inside Honolulu International Airport after pressure from the Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce to create an aviation museum in Hawaii succeeded. The first phase of the museum opened in 1991 and was founded by Frank Der Yuen. Due to airport expansion plans, the Pacific Aerospace Museum operation was suspended in the fall of 2001 and finally removed two years later. A few of the exhibits were salvaged by the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor foundation as well as responsibility for the education and scholarship programs. The foundation sought funds to raise the original $46 million goal from various sources including the US State of Hawaii, the United States Congress, the United States Navy, and fundraising dinners. It received support from former US astronaut Captain Walter Schirra. A groundbreaking ceremony was held March 21, 2006 for the $75,000,000 construction of the museum. In 2006, its board consisted of former United States president George H. W. Bush, Brigadier General Chuck Yeager, and retired Brigadier General Paul Tibbets. In 2012, the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor was named an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution as part of the Smithsonian Affiliations program. On April 4, 2013, the museum received its millionth visitor. The museum opened a 4,000 square foot Aviation Learning Center in 2021. Facilities F-111C in front of hangar 37 Due to its historical significance, as the location of the first radio alert of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the museum plans to spend over $7,500,000 repairing the Ford Island control tower. It was registered as a category 1 structure in the 1978 Pearl Harbor Naval Base Historic Preservation Plan and is being restored by Kiewit Building Group; the same contractor who built the museum. A grant through the United States Department of Defense appropriations for the stabilization and restoration of a historical landmark was given to the museum for $3,800,000 which provided the initial funds to start the project. The control tower, as well as the runway, has been designated a national historic landmark since 1964. In 2010, records filed with Congress shows that defense firms had donated nearly $449,000 to the museum during efforts to raise money to restore the tower. The tower was considered a personal issue for Senator Inouye and many of these donations were made in his memory. Hangar 37, a former seaplane hangar and a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, was the first hangar developed for the museum. The facility consists of nine exhibits, a movie theater, flight simulators, a store and a restaurant. The renovation cost was $11,000,000 and was raised by federal and state grants and through donations by local corporations. The hangar's glass windows are still riddled with bullet holes from Japanese aircraft from the day of the attack. ==Exhibits==

In 2009, former McDonald's CEO Fred L. Turner sponsored the restoration of a Douglas SBD Dauntless. The Boeing N2S-3 Stearman used by former President George H. W. Bush for flight training and used for his first solo flight is an exhibit at the museum. It is displayed exactly as it was after the crash. The remains of the tractor used to create trenches to prevent such a landing are stored at the museum. A Japanese A6M2-21 Zero similar to the aircraft used in the attack on Pearl Harbor was salvaged in 1968 and restored to flying condition in 1985. It was sold to the Commemorative Air Force for use in air shows and later sold to the museum in 2006. The restoration project is expected to cost $5,000,000. In June 2012, the museum debuted a tall, wide diorama of the Battle of Midway. The diorama was commissioned in 2008 for $400,000 on the advice of Turner and took three years to complete by former US Navy pilot Karl Lau. The film explains the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor to museum guests and won the 2010 Pixie Gold Award from American Pixel Academy. ==Public reception==

Controversies In 2013 the museum planned to host 1,500 Chinese nationals from Amway China on Ford Island who were particularly interested in the Flying Tigers exhibit. The Navy expressed concerns about this plan as Ford Island remains an active military installation. Despite these concerns, the Navy approved the event and erected a tall fence. In March 2013 the museum's online ticketing service was hacked. The museum's service provider, Vendini, believed that none of the data of its customers was accessed. In June 2013 the museum fought the US Navy's plan to install 60,000 photovoltaic panels over 28 acres on the Ford Island runway. The Navy had intended to comply with Congressional and Defense Department mandates to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and offset the cost of Hawaiian energy costs, which are the highest in the United States. The Navy offered the museum $250,000 toward renovation of the control tower's elevator in exchange for their support of the plan which the museum declined. In 2012, the program was credited with teaching 3,500 students from 40 schools. The program allowed students from Kaiser High School to participate in a cultural heritage exchange with students in Chengdu, China and conduct research into 1940s American-Chinese relations. While former and active military tourists gain access through the Admiral Clarey bridge and because Ford Island is still part of the active military base Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, non-military tourists gain access via the National Park Service's Halawa Landing, now known as the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites, for tickets to the museum and then are transported via tour bus onto the installation for the museum and the USS Missouri. ==Recognition and awards==

Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor was listed as the eighth top aviation attraction in the United States by TripAdvisor. In 2007, the museum was awarded a preservation award from the Historic Hawaii foundation for "a specific project that preserved, rehabilitated or restored a historic building, object, site or district" in the redevelopment of hangar 37. ==See also==