McAllister Museum
2008 South 16th Avenue
Yakima, Washington 98903
Voice: 509-457-4933

In 1926 pioneer aviators Charlie and Alister McAllister opened their flight school in Yakima Washington. This historic flight school operated for 73 years to become the oldest continuously operating flight school in the Northwest. Charlie's death at age 95 marked the transformation of the flight school into the McAllister Museum of Aviation. This year marks the 75th anniversary of McAllister's on the field.

Charlie McAllister's Start

Charlie and Alister McAllister acquired and rebuilt their first airplane, and standard J1 in 1925. In 1926 they took flying lessons from the famous instructor and aerobatics plot Tex Rankin. Then they flew their standard J1 to Yakima to start their first flight school. At that time, there was no airport simply a field known as Goodman's Pasture. Later on, the pasture was converted to the Yakima Airport, McAllister field.

Landmarks in History

From Charlie's connection to Orville Wright who signed his first flying license, to Bonnie Dunbar and the space shuttle, the short history of aviation continues to have many ties in the Central Washington area. Yakima WA the place that the first woman did a demonstration flight in a Curtis Pusher in 1913. This was just 10 years after Orville Wright flew in Kittyhawk.

Pictures of McAllister Museum were taken by Darryl Franklin