Another museum milestone

The Osprey can deliver Marines to battle more safely, bring them reinforcements over greater distances in greater numbers and evacuate wounded more quickly. That all equates to lives saved, as we continue to prosecute the global war on terrorism.

- Dr. Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Navy, January 2006

Missiles and More Museum opens its 2008 season with a display of the V-22 Osprey often seen in the skies over Topsail. This revolutionary aircraft is a hybrid. It takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like a plane. 

"This is another milestone in Topsail's long relationship with aviation," said Charles Robrecht, a trustee of the Historical Society of Topsail Island, which oversees the museum. "It started with the anti-aircraft program at Camp Davis, progressed through Operation Bumblebee to now with the completion of the Osprey proving program and the current pilot training at New River. The Board of the Historical Society felt the Missiles and More Museum could be a great venue to educate the public as to what they were seeing each time an Osprey flew by," he said.

The museum's display details the history of the Osprey's development and highlights its unique design and avionics. Visitors will learn how the Marine Corps and the other military services will use it and which aircraft it will replace. There is a first-person account of what it is like to fly in one. Plans for an audio-visual presentation with footage of the Osprey's vertical takeoff and landing are in the works.

 The museum's director Rose Peters worked alongside Robrecht on the project. She said, "Charlie is the driving force behind this exhibit." 

Robrecht's interest in aviation technology inspired the Osprey exhibit. Wanting to learn more about it, Robrecht looked to both Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River. He found neither has an on-base exhibit showcasing the aircraft.

"I try to keep up with each major advance in aviation," Robrecht said. "The Osprey is such a one-of-a-kind aircraft. I'm not sure we appreciate how different it is. I wondered why we were not giving it more attention. The Osprey is special and it is right here in our backyard!"

The OSPREY Exhibit opens on April 7 at the Missiles and More Museum, located in the Assembly Building at 720 Channel Boulevard in Topsail Beach. For more information, contact Rose Peters, Museum Director at (910) 328-8663.