If you’re aviation nuts like we are, or even if you’re not, the opportunity to learn some factoids about our favorite planes is always thrilling.
This is the primary reason we love and support the Flight Test Historical Foundation (FTHF) and its efforts on behalf of the Air Force Flight Test (AFFT) Museum, currently located on Edwards AFB near Lancaster, CA.
What kind of stuff does it take for planes to take flight? The right stuff.
What kind of stuff does it take for a museum to honor our flying heritage and the brave men and women whose flight testing took us to the clouds and beyond? More of the same.
We at Sage Cheshire Aerospace, the creative, technical and mission-crititcal team behind Red Bull Stratos, have devoted some of that stuff to helping FTHF build the right facility to carry out its core mission.
For us, it’s the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the planes that we built as models when we were kids or that kept us up at night dreaming of being able to fly them and what that would be like.
Did you know they have a “Blackbird” SR-71, and that you can walk up to it and see what made it so cool? Did you also know that on occasion pilots who flew these planes are available as a docents and can answer your questions about them?
Did you also know that you could personally sponsor this plane and have your contribution to FTHF memorialized in front of the plane?
Sure, it seems like we’re asking a lot of rhetorical questions, but some of our friends honestly didn’t know that there is such a collection of aircraft and where such a collection was. And that happens to be right here in the Antelope Valley of California’s high desert, square in the heart of aerospace country.
Our neighbors are Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks, Northrop Grumman, NASA Dryden and lots of innovative start-ups that are developing the next generations of aerospace technology to take us to the stars and beyond.
These are exciting times. And we need to look back as much as we look forward to make sure we remember the lessons learned by those who came before us and whose work and sacrifice gave us the tools on which to build the future.
There are lots of ways to help FTHF, big and small, from shopping at Amazon.com to making the kind of gift that helps the foundation attract matching funds from larger foundations. In fact, stage one of their campaign is nearly complete and if they reach their current goal by July 1, really good things will happen for them. Wouldn’t you like to be a part of that success?
We know you do, that’s why we made this little appeal. Some of the easiest ways to help are simply staying in touch with the Foundation on their social media channels:
FTHF on Facebook
FTHF on Twitter
Hey, as long as you’re shopping online, use their AmazonSmile link which will kick back funds to the foundation seamlessly and at no additional cost to you while you shop. What could be better?
You can buy some really clever items from their store –>>
You can also “get friendly” with the Museum (as we have) –>>
If you are passionate about flying or if you’ve flown some of the planes in their inventory, please consider making a meaningful gift to FTHF so that these planes can be enjoyed by everyone and the museum can become one of the most important tourist attractions in the area.
There is an urgency to our appeal. We need to help the Foundation raise about $100k between now and July 1 in order for them to receive a significant bonus from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. There are lots of tangible rewards for your tax-deductible gifts. If you can’t help, perhaps you know someone who can. Let us know if we can help you help us help them.
