Bombers On The Prairie Museum Project
The Bombers On The Prairie Museum will tell the complete story about one of the important battles in WW II, The Battle Of Kansas! The story is about the development of the B-29 Superfortress and the training of its combat crews in western Kansas. The Museum will contain artifacts, displays, exhibits of personal accounts of this Battle told by those who lived it as well as a reference Library for researching the Kansas Air Fields and Bombardment Groups who were trained at these Air Fields. The Air Fields include Pratt, Walker, Great Bend and Smoky Hill. See this summary about The Battle Of Kansas to learn more.
Museum Project
The inspiration behind the scope and the name of the Museum is the "Bombers On The Prairie" video produced for Smoky Hills Public Television. A "B-29 Museum" about the Pratt Army Air Field was part of the original plans of the All Veterans Memorial Complex, however the B-29 Museum Committee decided to broaden the scope and the potential appeal to include all of the Army Air Fields in western Kansas. Smoky Hill Public TV has graciously allowed us to use the "Bombers On The Prairie" phrase and its associated "logo" for our Museum efforts.
See the video trailer of "Bombers On The Prairie".
Parachute Building
The State of Kansas Historical Society has approved the application for the historical listing of the PAAF Parachute Building located at the Pratt Airport. The State Staff approved the PSIQ under Criterion A for their association with mid-20th century military practices and Under Class C as representative architectural examples of their type of building. This is an important step on the way toward the development of a "Bombers On The Prairie" Park planned at the Pratt Industrial Airport centered around the current All Veteran's Memorial Complex.
For a description of how this structure was used during WW II, see the Parachute Building story at the Pratt Army Air Field History Center.
