Castle Air Museum welcomes back visitors for Open Cockpit Day in Atwater

Castle Air Museum in Atwater held its May Open Cockpit Day on Memorial Day allowing people the chance to get an up close look at some of the museum’s 70 aircraft.

According to Board Chairman Ed Walters, the event is normally held annually or semi-annually but last year’s was canceled due to the pandemic.

“Today it was so great to see the crowd just roar in here, they were filling up so fast we really didn’t have room. We couldn’t sell the tickets fast enough,” said Walters.

The event was also a celebration of the museum’s 40th anniversary.

“For us to now be celebrating these 40 years, the Air Force was here before and we have been here for this term now, and it’s tough to keep these aircraft intact and to be alive and well,” Walters said. “But there’s something special and they are history, and there’s great history on every one of these.”

About 35 of the 70 total aircraft were open for the event.

Holding the event on Memorial Day is special to the museum, according to Walters. “They get to come and see the aircraft that represented these people who died on our behalf,” said Walters.

This story was originally published June 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.