Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum
Horsham, Pennsylvania
October 2025
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The Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum is dedicated to preserving the rich aviation history of the Greater Delaware Valley. Operated by the Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association, the museum honours the region's contributions to aerospace innovation.
Originally founded by Harold F. Pitcairn, Pitcairn Air Field later became Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove. The museum highlights the early development of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aviation at this historic site. Pitcairn's invention of the articulating rotor-head helped establish Willow Grove as the birthplace of rotary-wing flight and helicopter aviation.
On April 8, 1931, Amelia Earhart flew a Pitcairn PCA-2 autogyro to a record altitude of 18,415 feet over Willow Grove. The following day, she completed a flight lasting one hour and 49 minutes. The PCA-2, developed by Pitcairn at his local aircraft factory in the early 1930s, played a key role in advancing early rotorcraft technology. |
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| Left to right: Douglas A-4M Skyhawk (158182 'QG-01') ex USMC. |
| Left to right: Grumman C-1A Trader (146034 '62') ex US Navy. |
| Left to right: McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet (162436 'AF-300') ex US Navy. |
| Left to right: Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II (76-0516 'PA') ex USAF. |
| Left to right: Kaman SH-2G Seasprite (162576 'NW-27') ex US Navy. |
Left to right: McDonnell Douglas F-4A Phantom (148252 'UH-1') ex US Navy.
Beech T-34B Mentor (143990 registered N4028A) ex US Navy. |
| Left to right: Republic F-84F Thunderstreak (52-6555) ex USAF. |
| Left to right: North American FJ-4B Fury (143568 '7W-27') ex US Navy. |
Left to right: Grumman F9F-2 Panther (127120 'V-209') ex US Navy.
Bell UH-1V Iroquois (68-16614) ex US Army. |
| Left to right: Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart (135764) ex US Navy. |
| Gyrodyne QH-50C (DS-1289) ex US Navy. |
Left to right: Eastern Rotorcraft Corp Z-9 (N4014A) experimental single-seat flying kite rotorcraft built by Rotorcraft Corporation of Doylestown, PA in 1959.
Bell OH-13G Sioux (52-7833) ex US Army. |
| Left to right: Pitcairn PA-8 Super Mailwing (NC10751 c/n 162). American mail carrier and three-seat sport utility biplane aircraft produced from 1927 to 1931. NC10751 was flown on the mail routes operated by Eastern Air Transport on Contract Air Mail (C.A.M.) number 19, flying from New York to Atlanta and back. |
| Left to right: Lockheed TV-1 Shooting Star (47-221, 33824 'FT-824'). In 1948 the US Navy received F-80C Shooting Stars to speed its transition to jet fighters, assigning them naval serials from a cancelled Martin Mauler order. This aircraft, originally built for the US Air Force as F-80C 47-221, was delivered to the US Navy as TV-1 33824. After service with Naval Air Reserve units, it was preserved at NAS Willow Grove. |
Left to right: Lockheed P-3B Orion (154574 'LU-00') ex US Navy.
Piasecki UH-25B Retreiver (128517 '7W-517') ex US Navy. |
