From the main entrance of the EAA AirVenture Museum, you walk downstairs from the Mezzanine Level to the Main Floor. About halfway across the main gallery, you’ll find the Restoration Center, where museum visitors can see EAA restoration staff and volunteers at work.

Walk through the main door to the Restoration Center. Ahead of you and to your left is the workshop, in an aisle going off to your right is a 60-foot-long mural showing highlights of the history of aviation. Turn to your right. Across the aisle from the mural you’ll see the paper model display next to the door you just entered. The cases are about 7 feet high. Farther along this wall is a large display of about 200 hand-made resin scale models (desktop display models).

EAA originally offered us one case, but gave us two.

This is the case on the left. The placards describe the history of paper models. In the lower right corner is a list of people and organizations that helped put the display together.

The case on the right contains placards describing the advantages of paper modeling and “Computers & Paper Modeling.” In the lower left corner is a list of the modelers who contributed their work to the display.

The Fly Model F-86 displayed prominently in the left-hand case is nearly identical to the Museum’s full-size F-86. That aircraft used to be parked in the Restoration Center, but has been moved outside for the summer.

The Museum’s J-3 Cub is in the main gallery just outside the Restoration Center. At bottom, a Fiddler’s Green Cub is displayed sitting on an its unbuilt sheet.

Left-hand case, upper shelves. I snuck Snoopy & his dog house in there among the “heavy iron.”

Left-hand case, lower shelves. The kit parts and instruction sheets are from the Fly Model Shorts Sunderland.

Right-hand case, upper shelves. At center is the cutaway Fly Model Mig-15 showing typical model construction. Behind the Link Trainer is a White Wings Rutan Voyager. The Museum has a large display on the Voyager’s flight, including a full-size mockup of the cockpit.

Right-hand case lower shelves. Along with assorted unbuilt kits from my collection are a copy of Cutting Remarks and a PMI catalog. The list of modelers is at lower left.

This early ultralight is just one of about a dozen aircraft hanging overhead in the Restoration Center.

Leave the Restoration Center the same way you entered and this is what you’ll see straight ahead of you.

As you approach the paper models display from this door, one of the first models you see is John Linke’s beautifully detailed “Spirit of St. Louis.” Standing in front of our display, turn 45 degrees to your right, looking back into the main gallery, and you’ll see one of EAA’s full-size replicas of the “Spirit” suspended over a diorama of Paris built of Legos®. (It’s more realistic than it sounds.)

From our display, continue on down the aisle, past the mural on your left and the resin models on your right, then turn right to go back into the main gallery through a another door. Ahead of you is Molt Taylor’s AeroCar (the FG model is in the display).

The Museum has a great Web site with lots of photos at www.airventuremuseum.org