Into the wild blue yonder: Museum curator preserves air heritage

Hank Winkler of Sugar Grove is a regular at the free lunch hosted by Sugar Grove Township every month.

Winkler spends most of his time as the curator of the Air Classics Museum of Aviation at the Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove. He is not a pilot, but will “fly just about anywhere with just about anybody,” he said.

The museum is home to 12 airframes on display, including four full-size replicas of World War II aircraft and the A-7E Corsair II.

As we near Thanksgiving, the museum will close until April.

Winkler said the favorite part about his position is working with visitors and educating them on the airplanes on display.

– Sandy Bressner