Provisions For The Future, Maintenance, And Expansion Of APM

Brent Taylor, Treasurer of the Air Power Museum, and Executive Director of the Antique Airplane Association based at Antique Airfield (IA27) in Blakesburg, IA announced this week the creation of an endowment that will support and preserve the APM.

"The establishment of this endowment is a key element in our plans for the future of the APM," said Taylor. "Last spring the APM Board of Directors conducted an extensive evaluation of every aspect of the museum, from infrastructure and buildings, to the aircraft collection and even the website. We now know what needs to be done and this endowment will provide the foundation for ongoing improvements and growth at the APM."

As a result of that springtime evaluation, a Steering Committee was created, made up of prominent business individuals within the antique airplane community. This Steering Committee will help guide the Board of Directors as a master plan is developed and project priorities put in place.

"The APM's two main missions remain the same as they have for decades," Taylor said.

"The first is to see that the museum exists to preserve and educate the public about our aviation heritage. The second is to see that the APM, the AAA, and Antique Airfield, remain the site for the annual Invitational AAA/APM Fly-in that means so much to antique airplane owners nationwide, because it is the place where the "grass roots" of antique aviation can still be experienced.

"Therefore the Air Power Museum Legacy Endowment has been established to make sure those two missions continue long into the future."

The threefold goal of the endowment will be to ensure the future and permanence of the APM; to rebuild and maintain the infrastructure of the APM; and to expand the offerings and programs of the APM.

A more detailed announcement will be made in the future outlining methods of giving that will be available for potential donors to the endowment.

However, funding for the endowment has begun. The start up money came from the profits on the sale of the flown postal covers from "Air Mail Days", the theme of the 2008 AAA/APM Invitational Fly-In at Antique Airfield, held over Labor Day weekend of this year, and donations to the APM PayPal account. Flown postal covers are still available through the AAA/APM web site.

FMI: www.antiqueairfield.com