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Air Zoo Blog

Category: recovery

Tuesday, Dec 10, 2019

The Story of our FM-2 Wildcat

IT WAS A COLD DAY OVER LAKE MICHIGAN On December 28, 1944, it was just 15 degrees in Michigan when the FM-2 Wildcat fighter plane that currently calls the Air Zoo’s East Campus Restoration Center home crashed into the icy waters of Lake Michigan. One of the US Navy’s most successful fighters in early WWII, this particular Wildcat was being used to train pilots for aircraft carrier landing and takeoff over Lake Michigan. After completing two take offs and landings that fateful day,... Read More
Posted by Abby Sample at Tuesday, Dec 10, 2019
FDC Flight Discovery Center recovery restoration Volunteer World WarII WWII

Monday, Jul 15, 2019

The man behind the Air Zoo's SBD-2P “Dauntless” dive bomber

John Henry Lendo One of four children of Polish immigrant Gabryel and Anna Lendo, John Henry Lendo was born July 26, 1918, in Gardner, Massachusetts. An exceptional athlete in high school, John was accepted at Dartmouth College and played on the Ivy League school’s baseball and basketball teams. A member of Dartmouth’s Naval Aviation Cadet Training Program, he enlisted as a pilot in the United States Navy immediately following his graduation in June, 1941.  The next month he... Read More
Posted by Nikki Statler at Monday, Jul 15, 2019
Dauntless Dive Bomber recovery restoration SBD

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    Great place! Very interesting educational and informational! Great place to take the whole family as there is something for young children up to adults!

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    We took our grown daughters and young grandsons to the Air Zoo. It was very entertaining for all of us. There is so much to see and do. Rides for the whole family!

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