Air Museum Writeup

The Palm Springs Air Museum is a beautiful museum located in Palm Springs, California. It has an array of memorabilia ranging from original newspapers, plane and ship models, medals, stories, paintings, videos, music and of coarse WWII car and planes. It houses about 25 WWII airplanes which all can still fly and are all original. It was a nice addition to the Palm Springs tourism and they have a lot of wonderful events. I have attended dedications to hero’s from WWI, speeches from writers and fighters, the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala they have each year and private events which have been held at the museum. Each event had its own unique twist with a backdrop of the planes complimenting each theme. Somehow the museum never seems to get old and you always discover new things when you walk through it. The volunteers are always so helpful and eager to tell you the history of each plane with their own personal experiences in the war itself which always makes it so much more exciting. The founder, Robert Pond, originally had the museum in Minnesota, which was called: “Planes of Fame East” and fell in love with Palm Springs so he decided to move the entire museum here. That’s a compliment to the city if you ask me?! His love for aviation and history is quite apparent if you google anything about him. From what the volunteers say, he was a humble, honest and down to earth man who they all looked forward to seeing when he would walk through.


The museum also appears to favor an artist by the name of Stan Stokes. The museum is filled with his paintings and they are as realistic as anything making you feel like the planes in the pictures are jumping out at you. He painted a huge mural giving faces to the Tuskeekee airmen of WWII and it was so impressive it has traveled all over the US, including to the Smithsonian. The Tuskeekee Airmen was a group of African American aviators which flew in the war and for that time it was monumental. For this air museum to realize the importance of this piece of history and want to remind people of the importance of all men and woman who served in the war, my respect for this museum grew even more.

It always feels like there is something going on there. If you take a moment to watch some of the films, you really can feel a part of the war. Not that you want to but to understand what the men and woman of our country did to help secure our freedom leads you to truly apprichiate your grandparents and their friends for more then just stories they tell you. We must not forget what had to be done to protect our country and how brave these young people were. This Air museum is filled with so many memories and it is an asset to carry on the history to our future generations.

Palm Springs Air Museum sues co-founder's widow

"The Palm Springs Air Museum filed a lawsuit in Riverside Superior Court on Tuesday against Jo Rose Pond, the widow of museum co-founder and benefactor Robert Pond.

Air museum representatives allege that Pond is denying the museum access to the flight logs, manuals, tools and parts necessary to maintain the fleet of World War II planes that her late husband has on display at the museum.

The museum, which has an option to purchase the planes, has been paying $250,000 annually toward the $10 million purchase price of the 14 aircraft, said Fred Noble, chairman of the Palm Springs Air Museum board of directors.

The tools, which include special jacks, some of which are no longer manufactured, are needed to keep the aircraft in flying shape, Noble said.

The items are kept in a locked hangar near the Palm Springs Air Museum. The hangar belongs to the Pond trust.

The museum has been "locked out" and no longer has access to these items, Noble said.

Jo Rose Pond said today that's not true.

"Anytime they need tools, they make a request and they get them immediately," Pond said.

Pond also said the tools could be bought at "any hardware store."

Some of the jacks weigh 1,000 pounds, Noble said.

"It isn't just a tool box," he said.

Palm Springs Air Museum
spent $300,000 of charity funds for $10,000 in tools...
[ Don't believe it?? Download the court documents here ]

Is this where my money went???