Air Zoo
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.
History
The Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum was founded in 1977 by Sue and Pete Parish, "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.
