The Hickory Aviation Museum is an airplane museum located at the Hickory Regional Airport in North Carolina. The Aviation Museum displays airplanes from multiple different eras, stretching from World War II to the present day. Exhibits included a Blue Angel, a Grumman F-14D Tomcat, and Lockheed P-3C Orion. The P-3C Orion is a marine patrol aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin to serve as an anti-submarine and maritime patrol aircraft. To accomplish its mission, the P-3C can carry AGM-64 Maverick and AGM- 84 Harpoon missiles; the aircraft can also deploy various bombs, mines, and torpedos. The P-3C Orion was first produced in 1969, and the last P3C production run occurred in 1990. Over these twenty years, military contractors produced 757 aircraft. The American military still uses the P-3C Orion, making it one of the few aircraft that have been in service for over fifty years. However, the military is currently replacing its P-3C Orions with the Boeing P-8 Poseidon.
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