WILLIS M. ALLEN Jr. & ALLEN AIRWAYS FLYING MUSEUM
Willis “Bill” M. Allen, Jr.
Entrepreneur, pilot, philanthropist, and author, Mr. Allen comes from good stock. His grandfather and great grandfather were both rear admirals. His father was one of San Diego’s most successful native sons.
Past president of the International Aerospace Hall of Fame (IAHF) and on the board of directors for 24 years at the San Diego Air and Space Museum, Bill contributes a breadth of knowledge from his 40 years as an aviation enthusiast and accomplished collector of aircraft and aviation artifacts. So internationally regarded is the Allen Airways Flying Museum collection, it serves as the exclusive provider for the 32 vintage posters featured in the Smithsonian Institution companion exhibition “Looping the Loop: Posters of Early Flight.”
Bill is the founder of the Allen Airways Flying Museum at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, California. He started the museum officially in the 1980s . Today his diverse collection contains over 10,000 items, including a significant library, aviation and aviation movie posters, head gear, propellers, collections pertaining to historic individuals, aviation art, airplanes, and automobilia. The museum aircraft collection includes a 1929 Boeing F4B-1 Navy Fighter, a 1930 Stearman C3R, and a 1940 RYAN Sport Trainer Military (STM-2). Among the unique aircraft Bill Allen owns is a 1945 N1 previously owned by actor Steve McQueen. The plane still carries McQueen’s reform school number as its N-number. However, the most significant aspect of the museum’s mission is the desire to share this material with other museums, authors, artists, aviation organizations, and those individuals who express a passionate interest in aviation history.
In 2000 Bill co-authored Looping the Loop: Posters of Flight with Henry Serrano Villard.
Gillespie Field
2020 N. MarshallAve.
El Cajon, CA 92020
The Allen Airways Museum mission is multi-faceted in that the collections have been put together due to opportunities to acquire significant material that otherwise might never have been preserved in one location. The aircraft represent another series of opportunities involving many very interesting people spanning several countries around the world. There were purchases, trades, projects, etc.
However, the most significant aspect of the mission is the desire to share this material with other museums, authors, artists, aviation organizations, and those individuals who express a passionate interest in aviation history.
ALLEN AIRWAYS BEGINS
Allen Airways Flying Museum was started officially in the 1980s by Willis “Bill” M. Allen, Jr. His fascination with aviation and collecting started in about the 5th grade (1957) in San Diego. Today the diverse collection contains over 10,000 items, including a significant library, aviation and aviation movie posters, head gear, propellers, collections pertaining to historic individuals, aviation art, airplanes, and automobilia. The museum aircraft collection includes the following: a 1929 Boeing F4B-1 Navy Fighter, a 1930 Stearman C3R, and a 1940 RYAN Sport Trainer Military (STM-2).
The Museum encompasses nearly 17,000 sf. of event space, including the main hangar floor, the barn building which houses a lounge and bar, center bay for groups up to 110, and a surround-sound theater gallery. Besides the plane collection the museum displays an extensive poster gallery with many rare flying posters. The collection includes rarely found European posters created primarily to entice spectators to air meets. They document the marketing of early flight from its infancy in the 1880s to the beginning of World War I and on.
Email
allenairways@sbcglobal.net
Phone: (619) 596- 2020
