Imperial War Museum Duxford - American Air Museum

American Air Museum

From the late 1970s the museum acquired a number of important American aircraft; a B-17G Flying Fortress in 1978, a B-29 Superfortress in 1980, and a B-52 Stratofortress in 1983. With Duxford's association with the US Army Air Forces, in the mid-1980s plans developed for a commemoration of the role of American air power in the Second World War. A group of American supporters was formed, and the architect Sir Norman Foster was commissioned to design a new building. Fundraising for the project began in 1987, support and funds being sought in the United States; the Founding Member was General Jimmy Doolittle in 1989. Fundraising events were held across the US in Houston (1989), Washington, D.C., (1991) and Los Angeles (1992). The project was widely supported in the United States by some 50,000 individual subscribers. A further $1million of funding was secured from Saudi Arabia, and £6.5million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. On 8 September 1995 the groundbreaking for the new building was performed by wartime 78th Fighter Group veteran, Major James E Stokes.