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| Come Grow With Us! |
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The Estrella Warbirds Museum Mission:
"We are dedicated to the restoration and preservation of military aircraft military vehicles and memorabilia to those who flew and worked on military aircraft. Our approach, however, is not to glorify conflict but rather to make a future generation aware of the fact our way of life does not come without sacrifice."
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Volunteers Make it Happen
Estrella Warbirds Museum was pleased to have Veteran Harald Bauer docent in Freedom Hall. Bauer flew HE-162 jets for the Luftwaffe, served in U.S. intelligence, and later as an American reconnaissance pilot during the Korean War. Bauer is a longtime supporter of Estrella Warbirds Museum.
We salute you sir!
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Estrella Warbirds Museum is growing rapidly. With the acquisition of an adjacent 10 acre parcel, we are ready to burnish our credential as the Central Coast's premier attraction. What do we need for the next step? Money? Buildings? We need that for sure.
But the most important ingredient to our success and growth is people. We are asking you to participate in making our future happen. It takes all types, engineers, plumbers, financial experts, planners, electricians, race car drivers, bankers, landscapers, customer service personnel, veterans, or even pilots, just to name a few. But in addition to skills, you possess a lifetime of unique experiences.
If you haven't visited the museum lately, we invite you to come on down and see the additions and changes to the displays. And, if you can spare an extra three hours of your busy life once in a while, please consider serving as a docent in one of the museum's functional exhibits. We have plenty to teach and we know you have plenty to share if you love meeting new people and making new friends. Now is the time to give back to your community in a personal way.
We would love to hear from you and get to know you better! Please consider joining us as we continue to grow. Kindly fill out the form
at this link
or come on down and speak with one of our staff.
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The Gathering of Vietnam Veterans Transportation Corps
This week is the annual reunion of Vietnam Veterans Transportation Corps held at the Inn of Morro Bay.
Estrella Warbirds Museum is proud to provide a unique centerpiece for the reunion, the recently completed Viet Nam Gun Truck. The group will be visiting the museum on September 14th.
For more information on The Gathering, click on the image at left.
Click here for information on the Estrella Warbird Museums' Gun Truck.
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USS Cavalier APA-37 Docks at Estrella Warbirds Museum
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Lon Allen with EWM Curator, Dr. Jill Thayer |
A very special thanks goes out to Lon Allen for your donation of The USS Cavalier (APA-37) to Estrella Warbirds Museum! He dropped by the Curator's office last month with this wonderful model that he built from scratch using pine, mahogany, basswood and anything he finds lying around the shop, no kit or pre-cut pieces. Lon earned his commission in Newport, Rhode Island's Officer Candidate School. His first command was as a junior officer aboard the USS Cavalier (APA-37) in 1963-64. When he made LTJG, he was transferred to Assault Boat Squadron 1, based at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado. He left active duty as Lieutenant. He holds a BA in English and an MA in Education. After six years of teaching high school English, Lon worked for 35 years as Editor of the Atascadero News. He currently writes a column for the Tribune. He is past president of Atascadero Historical Society and the author of two books on Atascadero: "Atascadero - The Vision of One, The Work of Many," that chronicles 100 years of the city's history; and "Atascadero's Historic Business District." Lon started building models of navy craft. His first venture was to build a six-foot model of a PT Boat, which is also on display in the Hind Pavilion at Estrella Warbird. This four-foot long model will be included in our naval collection in Freedom Hall.
The USS Cavalier (APA-37) was a Bayfield-class attack transport. It was named for a county in North Dakota. The Bayfield ships were made to get men and equipment to the beach quickly. The steam-powered ship was 492 feet long and 69 feet wide. She displaced 8,100 tons. The ship's compliment consisted of 51 officers and 524 enlisted personnel. The Cavalier could carry 80 officers and 1,146 enlisted men to be put on the beach using the ship's 12 LCVP's (landing craft, vehicle, personnel) and 4 LCM's (landing craft, mechanized). During WW II, the ship was manned by the Coast Guard. Launched in March, 1943, the Cavalier saw action in Tinian and Saipan. On 30 January, 1945, the Cavalier was struck while steaming in Manila Bay by a torpedo fired from a Japanese submarine. The blast killed one sailor and injured 50 crew members. The ship's rudder and screw were damaged and it had to be towed to Leyte for repairs. The Cavalier was decommissioned in 1968. The ship earned five battle stars for WW 11, four for the Korean Conflict, and five for service in Vietnam.
The USS Cavalier joins our growing fleet of naval vessels currently on display in Freedom Hall at Estrella Warbirds Museum.
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New in the Woodland Auto Display!
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| Click on picture for more vehicles |
One of the latest additions to the Woodland Auto Display at Estrella Warbirds Museum is this championship California Racing Association (CRA), Sprint Car, driven by 7 time champion, Jimmie Oskie. This is in the style of late 1970's, early 1980's era cars. You can find this and multiple garages full of classic, historic, vintage, unique, and racing vehicles show-cased within the Woodland Auto Display. It is well worth the trip, you will be amazed at the extent of the entire collection.
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How We Keep On Growing!
Estrella Warbirds Museum is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization
We have been funded over the years solely from private sources, benefactors, groups, individuals and members. We receive no funding from your tax dollars. We exist because of your generous support and we are forever grateful. We've continued to grow as more people have seen what can happen when individuals and community seek a common goal - preserving our heritage for future generations. As we continue to grow, our expenses, unfortunately, continue to increase also. We are ever vigilant as to how your donations are spent to insure 100% goes to the support of the museum. If you would help support us or would like more information, please visit our website at this link, or call us at 805 238-9317
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