| Incorporated as the Evergreen Museum on November
15, 1991, the non-profit Museum opens in a 12,000 square foot
hangar located at the Evergreen Aviation headquarters campus. |
| The Aero Club of Southern California names the Evergreen
Museum the new custodian of Howard Hughes' Flying Boat, a.k.a
Spruce Goose.
The Museum receives an AMIE (Award for Marketing Institutional
Excellence) from the American Association of Museums. |
| The Flying Boat arrives at Evergreen Aviation corporate
headquarters in McMinnville, Oregon on February 27.
The Museum begins offering Charter Memberships. |
| The Museum’s name changes to the Evergreen AirVenture
Museum on March 18. |
| The Flying Boat becomes an integral part of children’s
television programing in Where in the World is Carmen San
Diego? The program combines animation and historic film that
teaches geography, history, and science in an entertaining
format.
Captain Michael King Smith dies tragically in an automobile
accident. |
| Evergreen crews and members of the Oregon Air National Guard
hoist a McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle onto a pedestal, creating
a memorial to Captain Michael King Smith and Major Rhory Roger
Draeger. |
| The citizens of McMinnville, Oregon give their vote of approval
for the construction of the new Museum building. The name of
the Museum is changed to The Captain Michael King Smith Evergreen
Aviation Educational Center in honor of Captain Michael King
Smith’s vision. |
| The Center acquires the "Gooney Bird," a Douglas
C-47 aircraft built before World War II, from the Oregon Museum
of Science and Industry.
The Center begins awarding annual pilot scholarships to promising
Yamhill County high school students wishing to obtain their
private pilot’s license. |
| The Center becomes an Institute and workers break ground on
The Captain Michael King Smith Evergreen Aviation Educational
Institute’s new facility in August. |
| Construction on the new facility continues on schedule and
the Flying Boat moves to its new home. |
| The new Museum facility opens on June 6 – D-Day. The
Hughes Flying Boat and 25 other historic aircraft are on exhibit
together for the first time. Assembly of the Flying Boat continues
through the year, concluding on December 7 (Pearl Harbor Day),
with the tail cone installation. |
| The American Society of Mechanical Engineers designates the
Hughes Flying as an Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark
in July. |
| Walter Cronkite narrates a documentary about the Hughes
Flying Boat.
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