About Our Air Crew Museum

  • William Malo, who established the museum, has been a collector for over forty years. After his first time in Vietnam he started collecting aviation gear. The collection was then sold to help Malo in his move to Denver. He would later on purchase his plane in 2007.
  • William has worked with Several Museums over the years including the Military Museum in VA and the Ft. Campbell Museum for the 101st and the Darkhorse Aviation Museum in CA.
  • The collection of aviation was started once again later on and even more so once eBay began to get established. The collection of flight helmets alone grew from 3 to 300.  Even more memorabilia would be added thanks to surplus and thrift stores all over.
  • The huey out front of the bar was bought on eBay!
  • As a collector, Malo wanted everyone else to enjoy the items he had stored at his house so he went to Landing and asked the owner if he could put a display there and she told him no because she do not want the liability of having the collected items in her bar.
  • Malo then went to Lukes and he said he would love to have some things on display. Malo said he did not have any helicopter things; and he replied saying he did and showed him a picture of a helicopter in Vietnam with someone standing next to it. Malo told him he would not believe what he was about to say, but he had gone to flight school with that person and even worked with him at YPG.
  • When asked by his wife why would he want to do this he replied “because of his interest of aviation and the fact he had worked with several other places in aviation.”
  • The bar is patterned after a restaurant Malo has been to called 94 Aero squadron. They talked with his sister in law and she came on board and they started LZ.
  • You can find 6 manikins with full uniforms on display from World War II, to Vietnam, to the present. Jack Hudging’s first Gulf tour uniform is here as well as a full Harrier uniform.
  • LZ features the only Cobra tail boom fence in the world… it runs behind the bar.
  • You can find a complete T37 cockpit outside the bar.
  • William Malo is the designer and decorator. He wanted to bring in as many aviation concepts as he could. They include the shape of the building (an old Hanger), the runway entrance and wing sock runway lights. You can even find his airplane on the ceiling – a 1947 Stinson 108-2!