![Exploring-the-Piper-Aviation-Museum-in-Lycoming-County-PA Exploring the Piper Aviation Museum in Clinton County Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Exploring-the-Piper-Aviation-Museum-in-Lycoming-County-PA-696x584.jpg)
The Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven honors the legacy of the Piper Aircraft Corporation, which designed and manufactured aircraft in Clinton County, PA between 1937 and 1984.
![The distinctive chrome yellow paint used on this Piper J-3 Cub at the Piper Aviation Museum has come to be known as “Cub Yellow” or "Lock Haven Yellow."](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-Pennsylvania-Lower-Level-Aircraft-Exhibits.jpg)
The Piper Aviation Museum, opened in 1996, is located inside the company’s former engineering research building.
![The Piper Aviation Museum is housed in the former Piper Aviation Engineering Building.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-exterior-view.jpg)
Company founder William T. Piper earned the nickname “the Henry Ford of Aviation” for his efforts to popularize air travel by building simple-to-operate, low-cost airplanes designed for purchase by private individuals.
![William T. Piper became known as the "Henry Ford of Aviation" because of his desire to build low-cost aircraft that were easy to fly.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-William-Piper-Founder.jpg)
Today, you can relive the glory days of the Piper Aircraft Corporation and see dozens of actual examples of these iconic planes by touring the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven.
![The J-2 Cub was the earliest Piper Cub model.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Piper-Cub-J2-Exhibit.jpg)
Visiting the Piper Aviation Museum
The Piper Aviation Museum has an upstairs exhibit area, a mezzanine with additional displays, and a hangar floor with more than a dozen aircraft on display.
![Some of the historical exhibits at the Piper Aviation Museum in Clinton County Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Historical-Exhibits.jpg)
Tours begin upstairs in a theatre next to the gift shop.
![The theatre at the Piper Aviation Museum plays an orientation film that gives an overview of the Piper aircraft history.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Theatre.jpg)
Here you’ll see a short film entitled “The Cub That Roared”, which gives a concise overview of the history of Piper Aircraft.
![The Cub That Roared is a film that gives an overview of the history of Piper Aircraft, shown in the theatre at the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Piper-Cub-Story.jpg)
Tours of the upstairs exhibit area are self guided and laid out in a time-line fashion that makes it easy to trace the evolution of the aircraft and the Piper brand.
![A timeline of Piper aircraft development at the Piper Aviation Museum in Clinton County Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Historical-timeline-exhibit.jpg)
There’s also a fair bit of info about the company’s founder, William T. Piper.
![A portrait of Harvard graduate and Piper Aircraft Corporation founder William T. Piper.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-William-Piper-Founder-Portrait.jpg)
The simplicity, affordability and popularity of the Piper Cubs that propelled the early success of his aviation company lead many to compare him with Henry Ford and his Model T.
![A brief biography of Piper Aircraft Corporation founder William T. Piper, on display at the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-William-Piper-Biography.jpg)
And as mentioned earlier, the gift shop is located in the upstairs portion of the museum.
![The gift shop at the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Gift-Shop.jpg)
The Mezzanine at the Piper Aviation Museum
The mezzanine features several Piper aircraft on display, including this L-4 Grasshopper used for photoreconnaissance and artillery spotting during World War II.
![The L-4 Grasshopper was a military version of the Piper J-3 Cub.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Piper-Grasshopper-Exhibit.jpg)
Also on the mezzanine level you’ll find a flight simulator, which my daughter and I tried our hands at.
![Visitors to the Piper Aviation Museum can take the controls of a Piper flight simulator for $5.00.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Flight-Simulator-Exterior.jpg)
We paid $5.00 each to take a rather lengthy simulation run, which while fun, convinced me that the “piloting gene” skipped over our family.
![Flying a Piper flight simulator at the Piper Aviation Museum in Clinton County Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Flight-Simulator-interior.jpg)
The Hangar Floor at the Piper Aviation Museum
The hangar floor is where you’ll find more than a dozen Piper aircraft from various time periods on display, some of them one-of-a-kind.
![Aircraft on display in the hangar at the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Piper-PT-1-Exhibit.jpg)
Among them is this PA-12 Super Cruiser dubbed the City of the Angels, which along with its sister ship, City of Washington, became the first light aircraft to fly around the world, a feat accomplished in 1947.
![This Piper aircraft was the first light aircraft to circumnavigate the globe](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-City-of-Angels-Piper-Aircraft.jpg)
The City of Washington now hangs in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C, while the the City of the Angels remains on display at the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven.
![This Piper Super Cruiser on display at the Piper Aviation Museum completed its around-the-world flight on December 10th, 1947.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-City-of-Angels-Piper-Aircraft-First-Light-Aircraft-to-Fly-Around-the-World.jpg)
This Piper PA-29 Papoose experimental aircraft was designed in 1959 and made of a phenolic honeycomb core covered with fiberglass.
![An experimental aircraft on display the the Piper Aviation Museum.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-Pennsylvania-Experimental-Aircraft-Exhibit.jpg)
This 1963 Comanche was one of only 146 400-series Comanches built.
![The hangar at the Piper Aviation Museum houses nearly a dozen aircraft.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-Pennsylvania-Piper-Aircraft-Exhibit.jpg)
And if you didn’t know this already, you’ll learn that Pennsylvania designated the Piper J-3 Cub as the official aircraft of Pennsylvania in 2014, when Governor Tom Corbett signed the law into legislation.
![Pennsylvania designated the Piper J-3 Cub as the official aircraft of Pennsylvania in 2014.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Piper-Cub-Official-Plane-of-Pennsylvania.jpg)
Even if you have only a casual interest in aircraft and/or aerospace technology, you’ll find the displays on the hangar floor at the Piper Aviation Museum quite informative.
![Cockpit of a Piper Cheyenne aircraft at the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-Piper-Cheyenne-Cockpit-Exhibit.jpg)
Visiting the Piper Aviation Museum
The Piper Aviation Museum is located at 1 Piper Way, Lock Haven, PA 17745.
![A map to the Piper Aviation Museum in Clinton County Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Map-to-Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA-1024x609.jpg)
The museum is open Wednesday-Sunday (closed Mon/Tues), with hours varying by season – check out the museum’s OFFICIAL WEBSITE for the most current hours.
![The Piper Aviation Museum is located at the William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Directions-to-Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-PA.jpg)
Admission rates as of the summer of 2022 are as follows: Adults – $10.00, Senior Citizens (55 and Up) and Military- $8.00, Children & Teens (6-16) – $5.00, Children under 5 – Free.
![The shell of a Piper aircraft sits outside the hangar at the Piper Aviation Museum in Clinton County Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-Pennsylvania-Airplane-body.jpg)
If you love vintage aircraft, or just want to learn more about an iconic symbol of central PA, you’ll definitely want to take a tour of the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven!
![The distinctive Piper Cub logo, on display at the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Piper-Aviation-Museum-Lock-Haven-Pennsylvania-Piper-Cub-Logo.jpg)
Nearby Attractions
Hyner View State Park in Clinton County offers visitors one of the finest scenic overlooks in all of Pennsylvania!
![Hyner View in Clinton County.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Hyner-View-State-Park-Fall-Foliage-October-2020-1-1.jpg)
Logan Mills Covered Bridge is the last remaining historic covered bridge in Clinton County.
![Summer at Logan Mills Covered Bridge in Pennsylvania](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logan-Mills-Covered-Bridge-Clinton-County-Pennsylvania-summer.jpg)
The Taber Museum in Williamsport tells the story of how people have lived and worked in the Lycoming County area from prehistoric times to the present day!
![Exploring the Taber Museum in Williamsport Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Exploring-the-Taber-Museum-in-Williamsport-PA.jpg)
The Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat cruise in Williamsport is a relaxing, hour-long sightseeing excursion up and down the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
![Taking the Hiawatha Riverboat Cruise in Williamsport Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Taking-the-Hiawatha-Paddlewheel-Riverboat-Cruise-in-Williamsport-Pennsylvania.jpg)
The Pine Creek Declaration of Independence, as it has come to be known, was signed on July 4, 1776 beneath an elm tree on the west bank of present-day Pine Creek in Clinton County.
![Remembering the Pine Creek Declaration of Independence in Clinton County Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Tiadaghton-Elm-Pine-Creek-Declaration-of-Independence-Historical-Marker-Jersey-Shore-PA.jpg)
The abandoned Alvira bunkers are remnants of the American WWII war effort, 149 dome-shaped concrete bunkers that once housed explosives, now being slowly reabsorbed by the Earth on State Game Lands 252.
![Inside one of the abandoned Alvira bunkers.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Abandoned-Alvira-Munitions-Bunkers-Union-County-Pennsylvania.jpg)
Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland near Williamsport is a zoo that specializes in exotic reptiles and amphibians from around the world!
![A collage of photos from Clyde Peeling's Reptiland in Allenwood Pennsylvania.](https://pabucketlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Clyde-Peelings-Reptiland-Williamsport-PA-collage-1.jpg)
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