page_title: Air Zoo
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Air Zoo / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Sue Parish's Curtiss P-40 Warhawk on display at the Air Zoo at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport in Portage, Michigan (United States).
context_page_description: The Air Zoo, founded as the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, is an aviation museum and indoor amusement park next to the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport in Portage, Michigan. The Air Zoo holds many historical and rare aircraft, including the world's fastest air-breathing aircraft, the SR-71B Blackbird. Many of its antique planes are airworthy. Among its other attractions are a 180-degree theater that projects a 4-D simulation of a B-17 bombing mission during World War II; and various amusement rides, including flight simulators of a rocket trip to Mars, U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets, a stunt biplane, a hot air balloon, and more. Air Zoo is a Smithsonian Affiliate.
context_section_description: The Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum was founded in 1977 by former Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), Sue Parish and WWII pilot Pete Parish. The museum was dedicated to "preserving and displaying historical and military artifacts and to serving as a research and educational facility for this country and abroad." The doors opened on November 18, 1979, to great local acclaim, and the museum quickly developed into one of the 10 largest nongovernmental aviation museums in the United States.
  In early 1999, the name "Air Zoo" was adopted. The name comes from the fact that so many of the planes in its collection have animal nicknames like Warhawk, Gooneybird, and various cats like the Wildcat, the Bearcat, and the Hellcat.
  Also in early 1999, plans began for a major renovation. On April 25, 2003, construction began on a new 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m²) facility that doubled the museum's size and added flight simulators, amusement rides, Smithsonian Institution exhibitions, character actors, and a 4-D theater that combines 3-D films with special effects such as rocking chairs and plumes of smoke to simulate anti-aircraft fire.
  The new facility opened in April 2004. It holds the world's largest hand-painted indoor mural: "Century of Flight", by aviation artist Rick Herter, a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m²) tribute to the history of flight in the main entrance.
  Across the hall is the 168-foot (51 m) "Night to Day" mural by Miriel Williams. There is also a computer-generated background on an adjacent wall.
  In June 2007, the Michigan Space & Science Center opened in the old building (East Campus). The building featured World War II aircraft, several artifacts from the defunct Jackson Space Center, and more.
  On October 1, 2011, the Air Zoo expanded its Main Campus again, moving everything from the East Campus into the new 50,000-square-foot addition. Half of this new expansion (known as the "East Wing") is devoted to the Space Theme, while the other half of the add-on includes World War II aircraft. The East Campus is now being used as the Restoration Center, which is noted for its work on aircraft including a Douglas Dauntless, a Sopwith Camel, and the newest project: An FM-2 Wildcat that had been lying at the bottom of Lake Michigan for 68 years.
caption: Sue Parish's Curtiss P-40 Warhawk at the Air Zoo
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "ILCE-5100", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "350", "Image YResolution": "350", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ILCE-5100 v1.00", "Image DateTime": "2019:12:27 12:42:51", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "364", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 3, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail ImageDescription": "", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "ILCE-5100", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail Software": "ILCE-5100 v1.00", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2019:12:27 12:42:51", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "38516", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10547", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "500", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "500", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:12:27 12:42:51", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:12:27 12:42:51", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "5277/1280", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "19", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "6000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "38224", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[16, 50, 7/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS"}