The 1940 Air Terminal Museum in Houston has begun liquidating parts of its collection as a June 30 deadline to vacate its buildings at William P. Hobby Airport approaches. The organization said earlier this month it had notified the City of Houston and the Texas Historical Commission (THC) that it was in default on its lease for the 1940 terminal and adjacent 1928 hangar.
According to museum leadership, the group has not received further communication from the city, while THC said it could not provide more information until a June 1 meeting with city officials.
“The 1940 Air Terminal building will remain,” the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society board said last week in a letter to the city and THC. “Its contents — eighty years of Houston aviation history — will not.”
HAHS has operated the museum for more than 20 years and suspended operations earlier this year, citing financial pressures while THC reviewed the site for possible inclusion in its Historic Sites Program.
The first items being liquidated include three full-size, full-motion simulators and the nose section of a Douglas DC-6, according to postings from the museum dated May 21 and May 22. The simulators include a Southwest 737-200 unit, a Beechcraft King Air 200 and a Hawker 700, all housed in a hangar on Travelair Street.
The museum said the DC-6 nose, cut from N841TA, is currently mounted on a trailer near the hangar but would require separate transportation arrangements.
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