The Illinois Aviation Museum’s grassroots beginning occurred in 2001 when four people sat down for lunch. Tim Tocwish, Ray Jakubiak, Steve Meyers, and Joe DePaulo shared a common vision to establish a place for the community to explore aviation and the sciences at CLOW Airport.

At the time, Packer Engineering had a philanthropic arm called Packer Wings at the airport. Their organization built a replica of the Wright Flyer, which is now on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. In the beginning, Packer Wings and IAM worked closely together. However, as IAM started to grow, Packer Wings’ dissolved, and the Museum took over the entire hangar, which is where it is still housed today. In 2004 IAM incorporated and became a registered 501(c)3 non-profit.

We look forward to sparking an interest in aviation and helping you discover all the infinite possibilities of getting involved.