Nicholas-Beazley Aviation Museum

Any fan of aviation will be able to immediately rattle off a list of their favorite airplane museums. For Americans the list usually includes such destinations as the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. British airplane aficionados will probably list the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust or the Imperial War Museum in Duxford. Each of these destinations attract hundreds of thousands of people every year and are worth the effort to visit at least once in your life.

As impressive as these premier destinations are, they are not the only kind of aviation museums worth visiting. There is also a myriad of smaller museums that commemorate local aviation history. One of these museums is right here in Missouri; the Nicholas-Beazley Aviation Museum in Marshall. After returning from the First World War, Russel Nicholas and Howard Beazley went into business together selling parts for surplus Curtiss OX-5 engines. The Curtiss engine powered the JN-4 Jenny which had been the US Army Air Service’s primary trainer during the war. After the armistice they were sold for next to nothing and became the primary airplane of the 1920’s barnstormers. The Nicholas-Beazley Airplane Company sold parts to help keep those planes flying for years.

Eventually the Nicholas-Beazley Airplane Company grew beyond just selling parts. They bought several Jennies and ran a flying school in Marshall. They trained pilots and mechanics and founded the airfield which eventually became Marshall Memorial Airport. The Nicholas-Beazley Aviation Museum has built a reconstruction of the ground school classroom and displays photos and stories of the pilots who trained there.

By the late 1920’s the age of the barnstormer was coming to an end. The WW1-era Jenny was not able to meet the safety standards being introduced by the federal government. There was a need for newer, more modern, training aircraft. Nicholas-Beazley hired Walter Barling to design a new airplane. His design was the Barling NB-3. It was tube and fabric airplane that was designed to be easy to fly and was advertised as being spin-proof.

The Barling NB-3 was a three person airplane used for training and tour flights. The museum’s NB-3 is the only complete aircraft of that model known to exist in the world today. Nicholas-Beezley sold airplanes and parts from 1927 until 1937 when production ceased. In 1938 the company was sold to Air Associates Inc.

The Barling NB-3 was not the only plane built by Nicholas-Beezley. The NB-8 was a high wing two seater designed by Tom Kirkup and Al Mooney. This example was built in 1931. It was designed to be towed behind a car with the wings folded back.

Nicholas-Beezley designed planes are not the only aircraft on display at the museum. This 1937 Flying Flea homebuilt was built by company mechanic Jacob Van Dyke. The original certificate of ownership is shown as well. This was an era long before the modern kitplane movement took off. Every piece of the plane was constructed by hand from Henri Mignet’s plans.

The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday. Cost is a $6 for adults and $3 for kids under 12. In addition to the historical aircraft display, the museum has a well designed children’s room which teaches the fundamentals of flight. Kids get a chance to climb into the cockpit of a Boeing 727 or a Cessna 172. There are even Link trainer-esque simulators for them to fly. Afterwards visitors can stop by the gift shop for some aviation memorabilia.

The Nicholas-Beezley Museum is a example of the fact that aviation history is all around us. Any airplane bluff traveling through central Missouri on I-70 should plan to take a short detour and visit Marshall. It will be an hour very well spent.