YAKIMA, Wash.- On what would be Charlie McAllister’s 121st birthday, the museum named after him is celebrating its own 25th birthday.
In 1999, the McAllister Museum of Aviation opened to share the history of aviation in the Yakima Valley and Pacific Northwest.
“A lot of aviation museums, 10, 15 years, that can be the life of them,” says Lynn Harden, the museum’s first executive director and one of the founding board members. “We’ve continued to progress. We have 55 displays on different pilots and navigators and pioneers in the valley here.”
The museum sits just off the YKM runway, in what used to be Charlie McAllister’s offices. Born in Yakima, McAllister found his aviation passion in Wasco, Oregon. After getting his pilot’s license signed by Orville Wright, he came home to Yakima, starting a flight school.
“Going through the records, they estimate about 6-7,000 people earned their pilot’s license from McAllister’s School of Aviation,” says Harden.
The now-retired board member flew with McAllister before the museum’s namesake died at 95 years old. Harden says he purchased a small plane and needed to find a place to fill up on gas, which is where he met Charlie.
McAllister’s former student flew with him for the first time with around 40 flights already under his belt. But Harden grew nervous as he began to take off, worrying about taking out runway lights.
“He says ‘Oh, you’re alright. Just relax and go a little easier on the rudder and I think it’ll be just fine,” recalls Harden. “I was definitely very nervous, and he just sat there very relaxed and in control. At that time, he was probably in his 60-70s.”
The man known for flying was described by Harden as a “real down to earth guy.” When his glider was sent to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, his former student says they also wanted his pilot’s license. McAllister told Harden he was wined and dined in an effort to add it to their collection.
“He says, ‘All they really wanted was my license signed by Orville Wright. They’re not getting that because I may want to use it again soon,'” says Harden.
McAllister’s legacy of teaching the next generation of aviators lives on at the museum. With the Civil Air Patrol sharing a hangar with the museum and school tours available, there’s still a wealth of knowledge hidden in what the museum calls “The Best Kept Secret in Yakima.”
“We love to share stories of the Yakima Valley a lot of them are of people that have relations still in the valley,” says Harden. “It’s kind of neat to see some of the family learn things about their peers and their elders that they didn’t know about.”
