BIG SPRING, Texas — The Hangar 25 Air Museum has been in operation in Big Spring for more than 20 years. But its history goes much further back than that.
“Originally our doors opened in 1941," said Amber Stokes, the museum administrator. "We were the Big Spring Bombardier Pilot Training School and Army Air Corps Training Facility.”
This facility was one of the places pilots came to learn the ropes of one of the Allies’ greatest assets that helped changed the tide of the war in our favor, the Norden bombsight.
“During World War II pilots would come in and bombardiers were learning the Norden bombsight," Stokes continued. "The Norden bombsight is one of the biggest and most important machinery that was used to help us win World War II.”
Even after World War II had long ended, the facility still had a purpose to fulfill. It became a base for the Air Force, which was still a relatively new branch at the time.
“At the end of World War II, we then were opened as an Air Force Base here," Stokes added. "We were known as Webb Airforce Base; we were opened in 1951. We trained during the Korean War, the Vietnam War [...]”
Today the Hangar 25 Air Museum serves as a reminder of the contributions the city of Big Spring gave for the country during one of the most important wars in history. It’s a point of pride in the Big Spring community and they do a lot to ensure the museum is around for generations to come.
“We have a lot of community pride," Stokes said. "We’re one of the very, very lucky small museums that’s fully helped by their city that we’re connected to. The city of Big Spring has been very grateful and gracious to us as a museum for our 20 plus years that we’ve been in existence.”
Whether you’re a resident or just a visitor to Big Spring, the Hangar 25 Air Museum wants to share their history with anyone that comes their way.
“If anybody’s out here, we love visitors," Stokes said. "We love anyone that’s affiliated with the military to come and visit us. We’re always wanting to learn. You never know who you’ll meet walking through these doors.”