The collection of vintage aircraft parked in a small lot facing U.S. Route 30 in Sugar Grove won’t likely ever fly again. Photo by Jack McCarthy/for Chronicle Media

The collection of vintage aircraft parked in a small lot facing U.S. Route 30 in Sugar Grove won’t likely ever fly again.

But the propeller planes, helicopters and attack jets that once patrolled wartime skies from Europe to Asia and points in between have a different — and still important — mission these days.

The dozen aircraft now serve as the centerpiece of the Air Classics Museum, which has a mission of chronicling and promoting the critical role aviation plays through displays and hands-on exhibits.

The museum is non-profit and staffed by volunteers who range from former pilots to lovers of aviation history and flying.

“ ‘Preserving the Dream’ is the Museum Motto,” wrote Art Sereque in an Air Classics history. “The Museum is committed to not only educating young and old, but to be conservators of aircraft and aviation memorabilia.”

Along with and outdoor display area, Air Classics Museum includes several small buildings that appear to have served as portable classrooms in an earlier life.

But the space is sufficient to showcase treasures ranging from full-sized B52 engines to uniforms and equipment to scale models of military aircraft from as far back as the 1930s to more recent conflicts in the Middle East.

There’s also a collection of painted logos from aircraft flown by the famed World War II Tuskegee Airmen plus an area devoted to women in aviation.

Photo by Jack McCarthy/for Chronicle Media

Visitors can take their time studying indoor displays alone or with a guide. There’s also an opportunity for up close looks at military aircraft and even climb up a staircase and peer inside a cockpit or get inside a Vietnam-era Huey helicopter.

Air Classics officials are always on the lookout for additions and encourage collectors who have a piece of aviation to donate or loan it to the museum.

The non-profit museum was once located at DuPage Airport and moved to Aurora in the late 1990s.

Hours run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through November and tour groups can visit by arrangement on other days. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and children over age 6.

Yearly memberships — ranging from $15 for students, $30 for individuals and $45 for families — offer unlimited free admission and other benefits.

The museum is located at 44W546 Route 30, about a mile west of the Aurora Municipal Airport.

An open house is planned in June. More information is available by calling (630) 466-0888.