​Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum Debuts Immersive New Layout

The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum (EASM) in McMinnville, Oregon, has a new look—on the inside.

The museum has just undergone what EASM CEO Scot Laney calls “a reset” to enhance visitors’ interaction with the aircraft on display by removing as many chains and barriers as possible but still maintaining safety—for example, to avoid hitting your head.

“We’re not going to show you just the nose of the aircraft,” Laney said. “We will show you they have a back and a side and all that, and we want people to walk around them. We want people to get right up to the aircraft and really experience it in a safe manner.”

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The aircraft have been rearranged as well and organized by role or function.

“For example, the fighters are organized by generation,” Laney said. “This lets people get a feel for the progression in design for the various tasks the aircraft performed.”

Laney said the idea is to show the evolution of the aircraft design as they were tailored to a specific mission.

The reset took several weeks to accomplish. One aircraft that didn’t move is the Hughes H-4 Hercules—also known as the “Spruce Goose”—because the museum building was literally built around it. The keel of the behemoth aircraft is countersunk approximately 12 feet below the floor of the Hercules Pavilion.

The H-4 remains the jewel in the collection, according to Laney, but it’s not the only airplane with a fan club.

“The SR-71 Blackbird has a global fanbase,” he said. “Also the F-117 gets a lot of interest.” 

Both aircraft were built by Lockheed Martin and used for stealth military missions.

With aviation museums it is common for visitors to have a personal connection to an aircraft on display. Another one that draws the crowds is the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II—also known as the “Warthog,” Laney said the museum sees a fair amount of 50-something-year-olds who flew the aircraft in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts or who have positive memories of it showing up to save the day.

But it’s not the only aircraft that provokes a moving reaction.

“The Huey Dustoff Vietnam medical helicopter is the most emotional aircraft in this museum by far, I believe.” 

The helicopters were used to evacuate the wounded during the Vietnam War. They served as frontline ambulances, carrying over 90,000 wounded soldiers to hospitals, and Laney said it’s not uncommon for people to become tearful when they view the helicopter.

“There’s a ton of emotion,” Laney said. “We’ve installed a Vietnam memorial around it so that people can write notes to leave on [it]. It’s very touching.”

The EASM is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and Laney noted there will be special events throughout the summer to mark the milestone.