A passion for Springfield native Mike George has turned into a world class attraction for aviation enthusiasts right here in our backyard. Mike George’s interest in airplanes started at a young age. Mike recalls that it seems like from birth his father started buying him model airplanes. As a child, Mike would spend hours building the models and dreaming of one day owning a real plane. When he was seven or eight years old he read the book “God Is My Co-Pilot,” a memoir by Brigadier General Robert Lee Scott, Jr. Mike’s interest in all things airplanes increased, especially in connection with the World War II fighter planes described in the book. Mike’s aviation enthusiasm continued as he grew older, and he earned his pilot’s license during high school. Mike set his sights on joining the U.S. military, where the best pilots in the world are trained. Unfortunately, bad eyes derailed those plans, and Mike had to go to plan B. He asked his dad what he needed to do to make the money to afford to continue to fly and eventually buy his own planes. His dad said go to the University of Illinois and get a finance degree – so that’s what Mike did, graduating in 1984.
After graduation, Mike moved back to Springfield and started working at the family business, George Alarm Company. George Alarm Company was started in 1957 when Mike’s father Donald George, a television repairman at the time, was asked by Springfield businessman Lou Myers to fix his alarm system. That request started a business that is still going strong. Today, George Alarm Company offers high-quality, affordable alarm and security systems for homes and businesses throughout the Midwest, including Central and Southern Illinois and Metro St. Louis.
Mike George worked hard at the family business and was fortunate to have the opportunity to also cultivate his passion for aviation. He bought his first plane in 1987, a single engine military trainer T-34 with origins from the 1940s. Fascinated by vintage WWII fighters, Mike told himself that he was going to buy a P-51 Mustang by the time he was 47. He bought one at 26. The P-51 Mustang, a long-range, single seat plane, is the most famous fighter built by the U.S. during World War II. P-51s escorted Allied bombers in Europe and the Pacific and later flew ground attack missions during the Korean War.
In 1990, Mike George opened the Air Combat Museum in a hangar at Capital Airport to preserve aviation history and make it accessible to the public. The Museum is still there today, and its collection has grown to 24 airplanes including several famous WWII vintage models. One of the more interesting planes at the Air Combat Museum is a Vought F4U-5N Corsair. Corsair fighter-bombers saw service in World War II and the Korean War. The Corsair became well known to new generations when it was highlighted in the 1970s television series “Baa Baa Black Sheep.” This action-adventure series was inspired by the WWII experiences of the U.S. Marine Corps "Black Sheep Squadron" and its fearless leader Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington. Boyington, an unconventional Marine aviator, personally shot down 28 Japanese planes and was awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. He earned the nickname “Pappy” because, at the age of 31, he was significantly older than most of the men in the squadron. During a January 1944 mission, Boyington was shot down into the Pacific Ocean. He was captured and held by the Japanese as a prisoner of war until after the Japanese surrender in 1945. Boyington’s autobiography, also entitled “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” was published in 1958 and recounts his unique experiences in his own words.
Along with the Corsair and the P-51, the museum has a P-40 Warhawk. According to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, the P-40 was the best U.S. fighter available in large numbers when World War II began. It was the aircraft used by the famed “Flying Tigers” in the Pacific in 1941-1942. The Flying Tigers was a volunteer American civilian Special Air Unit within the Republic of China Air Force, designed to defend China and the Burma Road from Japan. The book that intrigued a young Mike George, “God is My Co-Pilot,” and movie by the same name chronicle the significant work of the Flying Tigers. Prior to his WWII service in the Marines, Pappy Boyington was also a member of the Flying Tigers.
The Air Combat Museum is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a lunch hour closure from noon to 1:00 p.m. It is closed for national holidays and special occasions, including the last week of July, when it is closed for the airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Admission to the Museum is free, and private tours can be arranged for $75.00.
Thank you, Mike George, for sharing this important piece of history with Central Illinois.
For more information on the Air Combat Museum, please visit https://aircombatmuseum.com.
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