Naval Air Station Wildwood (NASW) Aviation Museum will receive funding in 2023 through a Cooperative Marketing grant from the New Jersey Division of Travel & Tourism. The grant will support the museum’s digital and print marketing campaigns. In 2022, with the help of the same grant program, advertisements piqued the interest of new visitors which helped NASW achieve an admissions record.
The more people that visit Historic Hangar #1 the better, because it’s an opportunity to educate the public about the history of Naval Air Station Wildwood and its involvement in the Second World War. The former base was used by the United State Navy as a dive-bomber training center from 1943 to 1945. Dive-bombing was a very dangerous tactic to learn and execute. During training there were nearly 130 crashes which led to the deaths of 42 naval aviators stationed at Naval Air Station Wildwood. The museum’s mission is to educate the public about this history, memorialize the 42 men that made the ultimate sacrifice, and restore historic Hangar #1.
The museum is currently open daily and staff are planning this year’s special events including a 4-part virtual lecture series, “Wings & Things”, Christmas in July, AirFest, and Christmas at the Hangar.
Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum is located inside historic Hangar #1, a 92,000 sq ft double-wide wooden hangar. The museum is located at the Cape May Airport and is open daily 10am – 4pm. For more information, visit www.usnasw.org or call (609) 886-8787.
