Air Zoo
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S.P.A.D. WWI Fighter at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo
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| Former name | Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum |
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| Established | 1977 |
| Location | Portage, Michigan U.S. |
| Coordinates | 42°13′56″N 85°33′36″W / 42.23222°N 85.56000°WCoordinates: 42°13′56″N 85°33′36″W / 42.23222°N 85.56000°W |
| Type | Aviation museum |
| Founder |
Sue Parish Pete Parish |
| Website | AirZoo |
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.
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.
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