Aviation history has been coming to life in Central Ohio.The volunteers and staff are friendly, knowledgeable and always ready to talk about the museums exhibits - or their flying B-25 Mitchell the Champaign Gal and her larger sibling the Champaign Lady B-17G. The Lady is a four-engined World War Two bomber being built and assembled to air worthy condition using copies of the original Boeing blueprints, old fashioned Yankee Know-How and Can-Do spirit.Walking into the museums hangar is like steping back in time to experience a portion of the once-massive factories and assembly lines from Seattle or Detroit helping the war effort of the 1940s.Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Grab some food at the diner then walk through this gem. Plus talk with the all volunteer force actively building a working B-17 Flying Fortress!

Wonderful staff. Well worth the visit. Will be going again and hope to see some planes take off.

We came out here to donate some items from world war II that belonged to my father Fred Wagner and his signature and his picture was already in there when we got there its beautiful out here and take a minute and have a meal at the little cafe food was excellent

Boys loved it and I could have stayed and read every detail. Nice friendly clean and educational.

Would a very nice aircraft museum, Truly a lot to look at a great learning lesson for any young person in order like. Some very nice old aircraft people around was always willing to help Always had a story about any piece of equipment or aircraft that you would ask about some rich history and female pilots in how they interact it in the war all in all a very moving experience if you in the area definitely want to stop by the museum

They are repairing a B-17! How cool

Very interesting museum. They are in the process of restoring a B-17 and the volunteers explain what they are doing. Never knew the belly turret of a B-17 was that small and a gunner would sit in it for sometimes 8-12 hours.

Very nice little place

A Gem in Champaign County. From fly ins of B 17s to B 25s and helicopters. All of this of course is with the help of Grimes Airport. To whom none of this could have been possible. Go see the museum see Champaign Lady the B17 the museum is restoring and going to fly. And also Champaign Gal the restored and flying B 25 that flies around the country for fly-ins and airshows. Check them out. And you will be like me and keep coming back.

A neat little air museum. Currently rebuilding a B- 17 bomber. You can go back and watch and talk to the guys working on it. A good little restaurant at the nearby airport.

Excellent facilities, get see and talk with the volunteers as work is going on of building the B-17 Champaign Lady

Great collection of aircraft and memorabilia, including flying B-25 and A-26. Observe up close the construction of a planned flyable B-17 Flying Fortress! All for a donation. Must see!

This air museum is amazing. They are building from scratch a WW 11 bomber. I think thats what it is. They told us that folks come from all over the USA to work on the plane. We are going back to do the entire tour of the museum. Just saw a little glimpse of the museum.

This place is amazing! These guys are building a B17 from scratch. Never seen anything like. This is a must see.

Visited during the B17 Gathering on Sunday on the way back home. Excellent museum with great displays. Awesome B25 on display along with the B17 under reconstruction. Will be coming back in the near future!

Great place filled with lots of history and people who really care about WWII aviation

Awesome firework show !!

Lots of history, an airplane to climb up in, and get to see restoration on an airplane and talk to the people restoring it.

Great experience for any aviation buff - well worth the visit.

Great museum. The volunteers are all friendly and happy to answer any questions .

For airplane lovers, history buffs this museum is for you (both men and women) pictures, airplanes, t shirts, they are restoring a B17 to fly. It is awesome. A must see place visit is quite often. A+

Love history on display. All of the hard work and dedication to our military are appreciated. Fabulous collection being saved for future generations. Thank you

Cool planes. Also the Memphis Bell

It is truly an experience worth the price of the FREE admission.

Building a B17 inside and you can wander around the area. Donations. Workers very informative. Take advantage of this opportunity!

This place has tons of history in it, and theyre making parts for the old equipment, so its a working museum, also. Its not real big, but theres pictures and aircraft and technicians everywhere.

Small but Interesting!!!

Highly recommend, Jack is excellent to talk too, great guy, lots of information!! The B-17 is amazing!

A must see to appreciate museum. The work and commitment to the restoration of the B-17 and preservation of aviation history is amazing and heart warming. While we toured the museum we were able to interact with the restoration workers and we had a remarkable visit. Would highly recommend that everyone visit when in the area!

AWESOME!! To see the work that these men and women volunteers do is just amazing!

I was so surprised to find a gentleman at the museum who donated all his ww2 paraphernalia.he was a pilot in 1944 .He told me of his experiences during that time,he made the whole museum come to life.Thank you for serving.

This is a non - profit working aviation museum that relies on the hard work and efforts of its volunteer staff. They are actively and lovingly restoring aircraft to their original glory. They have some nice examples of ww2, korean and vietnam era aircraft that you can get up close too and get inside. The volunteers are extremely friendly and will take all the time you want to discuss any of the items in the museum or give you a tour of their restoration efforts.

Excellent combination WWII air museum and vintage airplane restoration shop. You can watch as they restore a B-17 to flying condition. My grandson loved it.

OUTSTANDING !!!! Place, people and mission are beautifully All American !! Great place to visit and enjoy some history being reborn. Take the kids, its never too late to salute the greatest generation and the latest generation keeping our history alive!! THANKS for a great visit!!

For a small museum, they are doing great things! Will come back again

Nice place to kill some time

This has to be my all time favorite museum! I was first introduced to the museum during the Gathering of B-25s last year for the Doolittle Raid anniversary, and I have returned several times. Thier staff and volunteers are first class! The ability to get up close and personal with the B-17 restoration is amazing and is my personal highlight! I have even had the opportunity to go back here and do volunteer work! I gotta tell you Ive never felt more excited to sweep and mop floors and wipe down display cases just to be able to be near the B-17 restoration! The only downside is the drive for me takes a while (over an hour) but it is more than worth it. Im super excited for the B-17 Gathering next Month!!!! I will try to get back to help out some more as soon as I can!!!

Fun place for aviators of all kinds. Great attitudes of all volunteers.

I had stopped by to see the B-17 s. These guys and gals are top notch. Great history buffs. Very informative. I will be back.

Hello, there! Ive been volunteering here since January 2008. Come watch the volunteers re-create 1944 B-17G Flying Fortress, some 85% from scratch! Open Tuesdays-Saturdays 10:00-4:00.

Friendliest aviation museum I have ever visited! (Feb 2017) I had at least 4-5 people meet me as I came in the door wanting to give me a free tour - outstanding! One gent even was talking to me in the rest room - amazing. This is a real GEM of a museum and I encourage anyone interested in history or aviation to visit this working museum -- where you can see dedicated volunteers actually building a B-17 Bomber, circa 1944, from the ground up! There is a magnificent B-25 there and many ground vehicles that are also fascinating. This is a great fly-in or drive-in destination for all ages. Mike Marra, Keystone Flight

Although a smaller museum, they have a lot of information. The people who work there is super friendly and love sharing what they know. A great place to visit.

Totally Awesome!!!! Anyone interested in WWII Air Force, aviation, engineering, high end craftsmanship, & hands-on participation.

Alot of things to look at and to see the restoration of the B17 up close is awesome.

Fascinating History! Friendly people and unique museum!

So much history in a beautiful area! Food at café is a must try!

Small museum with a couple of nice planes. The interesting part is all the volunteers rebuilding a b17. Pretty amazing how they are reskinning and rebuilding. Lots of very nice people.

Great place and they do great work. Well worth the time.

Great place to go and talk to the people building a B17f. A fun happening place.

Awesome experience! Lots of interesting displays and one of the volunteers gave us our very own guided tour with an abundance of information. Wish I was retired. Id love to work alongside the great group of volunteers that serve at that museum.

Absolutely awesome museum, the staff were very eager to talk to us about all the displays.

What a wonderful gem of a museum ! Several planes and about 5 plus years b/f the B-17 will be finished and ready to take to the sky. Good place to learn about women in Avaition History !!

Walking through the doors of this museum instantly takes you back in time. The first thing you see are the women who helped make our country great and the efforts they put forth to do so. Take a walk into the hangar and youll be taken back to a time in our nations history that is easily forgotten by many today, but is such a hugely important reason we get to live and enjoy the freedoms we cherish. You can almost feel yourself there in those moments with our greatest generation. You can see, in person, a ball turret to your left as you walk in the front door. Take time to read every plaque. They pay homage to those who bravely sacrificed time, hard work, and even their lives for the freedoms you and I take for granted today. You can see, up close, the technology of that day. You can walk along side the planes that won the great war for us and our allies. Its a true jewel of a small town in Ohio. One that you wont find anywhere else. Another great (if not the greatest) feature is that you can actually see the rebuilding project of a volunteer based force in the very same hangar of a B-17 aptly named Champaign Lady. The volunteers are there daily, donating time to preserve the best part of US! I definitely suggest taking a trip to Urbana to visit this amazing peice of history and sharing it with your kids!

My son and I was in the area for an appointment and decided to stop in and check it out. The people were very friendly. We got to see the restoration of the B-17 in action. There is some pretty neat history in there. Would recommend.

Nice place kids loved it.

Went here to hear Brian Shul at their annual fund raiser. Awesome speaker. Museum staff is very knowledgeable and friendly.

Very great place. Cant wait to come back.

The B-25 was at an air show so we didnt get to see it. :( But the fellow there was so nice and the kids loved the airplane trike so much that it earned back its lost star.

Heres a ton of aviation interest right at arms reach! Theres a B-25, C-47, Stinson 10A, A-26, and a B-17 being built from the ground up, all under one roof. The staff and B-17 crew are incredibly friendly and have a plethora of stories and trivia to share. You might even be put to some very riveting work during your visit! :D Definitely worth a visit no matter how minor your interest in aviation--and if you love aviation its a must see!

A volunteer named Ken showed us around and let us go behind the scenes on the restoration projects! Both Ken and the museum were great. Look forward to returning and would love to volunteer some time.

Great place to visit, has a wonderful and informative WWII collection.

Great museum where you can look and feel history. Had an amazing opportunity to speak with a 94 year old veteran. His stories, and the museums will not be forgotten.

I really wanted to like this place, but seriously, I felt like I had stumbled into special club where they didnt want visitors. I say this because I walked in, the lobby was dark and the lights werent on, so you had no clue if they were truly open, or if someone just forgot to lock the door. When I walked into the larger hangar, there was a school group doing a small tour, and the rest were hanging out around the B-17 - which I didnt mind, it just seemed like itd be a deterrent to other visitorsAfter wandering around, I wanted to support the museum and buy a shirt, but it was like pulling teeth to get one, as one of the guys said that Oh, thats so and so, he does that. Youll want to talk to him. Mind you, they didnt point him to me, so when I finally did find him, he said hed be right with me, and he didnt return back until 15min later.All in all, its a nice museum with a good variety of planes, and I wish them well on their B-17 Project, but if theyre going to bill themselves as a museum, they need to improve things.

I was in awe of all the work these folks put into their craft..and the history was amazing.

19 July 2014 was a day I will long remember. My father-in-law, Gene Rice introduced me to Art Kemp at the Champaign Aviation Museum. I do not remember meeting a more honorable, enthusiastic and dedicated gentleman of the Greatest Generation. Art gave me a personal tour of the Museum and introduced me to many of the volunteers. The love and admiration of those volunteers for Art, permeated the entire area. The restoration of the B-17 is a gargantuan accomplishment and with such dedicated workers, is certainly a labor of love. I left your museum elated, Thank you to all who have worked tirelessly to have such a wonderful museum.

Nice history of this Grimes field. Loved seeing the B-17 that they are building from scratch.

Nice airport for the air museum. The event was well run. I will visit again someday.

Went on a Saturday morning. We met Mr. Ken who was super nice enough to show myself & the kids around the planes and talk to us about not only their history but also about many of the veterans who were in the hangar that day also. Thank you for your service and for everything you are doing. We enjoyed visiting, Lots of great people and history here - what a great place!

I learned so much here

Everyone is welcoming and a interesting project going on with the b17 its a must see

Surprisingly good musuem!

A good selection of vintage planes and the ones volunteering there are very informative.

Very interesting. Many items donated by veterans.

Interesting mix of aviation memorabilia.

Very interesting exhibits.

Excellent! Well done! Preservation done right!

Visited again to see progress on B-17. My father flew with 401st BG. Special feeling watching this project.

Awesome place to visit with your family

Very cool! A labor of love thanks to some very dedicated volunteers!

Very interesting and helpful people

A lot to see. A growing museum

I have been going to aviation museums all of my life and I have never had such a warm experience as this one.The people working here visually care about what they are doing, and their visitors.Unlike national museums, there is no glass protecting the aircraft so you can touch them, walk and sit in their cockpits. You can even walk through the restoration area and touch things and ask questions. It is almost like they want you to.So amazing; I plan on talking other members of my family to visit in the future.Not a big place but the hospitality and the ability to get personal and closely examine the details of the aircraft and their components really brings out the historical experience, and makes bigger no touch museums seem like a cold, boring virtual tour.Good work guys!

Great place....

Wouldnt be so good for small children but neat for warbird geeks. Very free form. We were allowed to wander to our hearts content.

Great place to spend some time and learn history

Awesome museum with vintage planes and awesome history!!!

As a visitor you are allowed to walk around and even touch the various assemblies of the B-17 Flying Fortress as it is fabricated and assembled. No ropes or barricades holding visitors at distance like other museums.

Smaller museum which you can get up close and personal with the people restoring the various aircraft.

Always a great place to learn and appreciate history.

Come on over and check the lady out! you will not be disappointed, i guarantee.

Just cool

Moving along nicely on the plane.

LOTS to offer the aviation enthusiast

Great little museum.

A must see

Even if youve seen a lot of B-17s, youve never gotten to see inside one like this.

Where else can you watch artisans rebuild a B17 from raw aluminum?

That man gave us a tour of the place.

Great Gala!