Cavanaugh Flight Museum Down for the Count

Addison, Texas has lost the Cavanaugh Flight Museum after more than 30 years in the business.

Cavanaugh Flight Museum announced its end in a facebook post, stating that the final weekend of 2023 would be the last time it opened its doors. The airport manager of Addison, Texas had ended the museum’s lease in order to make room for new jet hangars, office space, and parking. All aircraft, educational displays, and memorabilia will be moved to the NOrth Texas Regional Airport, where they will presumably become part of the “new chapter in {Cavanaugh Flight Museum’s} history.” Fans of their collection can only hope that their exhibits once again find their way to public access.

The Cavanaugh Flight Museum has been part of the fabric of Addison for more than 30 years and its historic planes have been featured in Addison’s Kaboom Town airshow for more than a decade,” said town spokeswoman Mary Rosenbleeth. “It is regrettable that Addison Airport is not large enough to be able to accommodate the world-class facility that an historically significant aviation collection of this caliber deserves.”

Rosenbleeth said that the shut down isn’t entirely out of the blue, since Addison voters did not pass a bond measure that would have funded a new museum in 2008. By then, the writing was on the wall. “A purpose built aviation museum would require 10 to 15 acres and the Addison Airport does not have the space to support a development of that size.” Cavanaugh was already living on borrowed time, since the City Council had okayed a lease extension into 2024.

FMI: www.cavflight.org