[1] Its mission is to allow visitors from around the world "to explore aviation history, celebrate the story and people of Delta, and discover the future of flight.

[3] The museum is a nonprofit organization and relies on volunteers, corporate sponsors, donations, event rentals and merchandise sales.

Delta Ship 41 is by far one of the most faithfully restored passenger transport DC-3s in the world, evidenced by the fact that in 2001, it was the first aircraft to be presented with an award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

[5] On May 23, 1995, the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum was incorporated under Georgia law as an independent nonprofit corporation, organized exclusively for public charitable uses and purposes and qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

[citation needed] The aircraft was repainted in a commemorative paint scheme and toured the country to celebrate the airline's 75th anniversary in 2004.

Additional exhibit items in Hangar 2 include the forward fuselage of the prototype Lockheed L-1011 (formerly home to the museum store), the cockpit section of a Convair 880, the tail section of a Douglas DC-9, and a Boeing 737 flight simulator that formerly trained Delta pilots and now available for a one-hour flight experience.

[19] On October 9, 2002, N661US was operating as Northwest Flight 85 when it had to make an emergency landing in Anchorage while on its way to Tokyo from Detroit for a rudder malfunction.

[23] Much as in the Spirit of Delta, museum visitors enter the 747-400 via stairs and an elevator, proceed through the intact first class cabin, then through the economy section, part of which has been converted into an exhibition space, where the aft pressure bulkhead is visible.