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by Jack R. Perry
Originally published in Hills Living magazine July, 2016
You know about the Hall of Fame with the parades and football, the McKinley Monument, The First LadyÕs Library, The Saxton House, the Canton Car Museum, CantonÕs First Friday and the Food Tours. These are just a few of the great things we have in Canton, Ohio. Those will keep you and your camera busy for a while. I will write about some of those in the future. A location that you may not of heard about and one of my favorite places to visit and take my camera is the Military Aviation Preservation Society (MAPS). It is an aviation air museum and you need to add it to your bucket list of places to visit. It is located in North Canton on the back side of the Canton/Akron Airport, just off Wales/Massillon Road. You will be greeted by their P-51 Mustang Mock-up at the entrance on International Pkwy. Their mission statement: ÒMAPS Air Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating people about the history of military aviation and its impact upon societyÕ. This is the important part for us camera buffs: ÒIt accomplishes this mission by acquiring, restoring, preserving, studying and EXHIBITING . . .Ó. What that means is there are of a lot of different airplanes for us to put our lens onto and knowledgeable volunteers to tell us about them.
From their Website: ÔMAPS Air Museum has acquired a broad collection of aircraft from both private individuals and government collections. We have been entrusted with the restoration, maintenance, and display of aircraft from the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH, the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL, and from various private collectors.Õ What that means is that you will be able to photograph a 1908 Martin Glider. ItÕs first flight was Jan. 12, 1909, and it was built right here in Canton. Another cool aircraft is the Beechcraft SNB-5 Expeditor, a World War II U.S. Navy light transport/multi-engine trainer. The MuseumÕs Beech was built in 1943 as a Beech AT-7. A third plane is the Douglas C-47 Gooney Bird, known as the ÔRuptured DuckÕ. It is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remains in front line service with various military operators to the present day. That is just a few of the aircraft you can see, photograph and hear about at MAPS. For of a complete list of their aircraft on display visit the website at www.mapsairmuseum.org/aircraft-on-display/ They are searching for new aircraft all the time to add to the inventory. The latest and greatest is a A-4A Douglas Skyhawk which they are very proud of. They just finished painting it in the original blue of the NavyÕs Blue Angels. While not on display yet you can catch sight of her on the official MAPS FaceBook page. Just search for ÔMAPS Air MuseumÕ on FB. Be sure to give them a ÔLikeÕ to keep up to date on events at MAPS.
MAPS has everything a history and a photo buff wants. They have a full calendar of events all year long from the Don Sitts sponsored MAPS Air Museum's Annual Car Show in June, Pancake Breakfasts, Scouting events, Boy Scout camp outs where they can earn aviation merit badges, US history field trips for high school students from 15 different schools and three counties and much more. My personal favorite event is the Collins Foundation ÔTHE WINGS OF FREEDOM TOURÕ. You can experience the WWII flying history tours with the Collins Foundation and four of the most famous WWII bomber and fighter aircraft. Get your camera ready because you can ÔTAKE TO THE SKIES YOURSELFÕ in one of their four planes, a P-51 Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator and a B-25 Mitchell; or just photograph them landing and taking off or tour the planes while on the tarmac. They will be at MAPS August 12, 13, 14, 2016, add it to your bucket list. For more information about the Collins Foundation and their planes visit www.cfdn.org
DonÕt forget Hills Living will be sponsoring Wings and Wheels at MAPS September 22, 2016. MAPS has over a thousand members, and dozens of unpaid volunteers. If you want more information visit their website www.mapsairmuseum.org. I have included photographs of some of the planes I have mentioned for your enjoyment. You can find many more of my photographs from around Ohio and other great outdoor places I love on my website www.jackrperryphotography.com. Watch for my more in-depth articles and photographs of some of my favorite places in Ohio and other states.
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