Military Aviation Museum facts for kids
US Air Force hangar and main building
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| Established | 2005 (Opened to the Public in 2008) |
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| Location | Virginia Beach Airport, Virginia Beach, Virginia 1341 Princess Anne Road |
| Type | Aviation museum |
| Collection size | Over 70 vintage airplanes |
| Visitors | >80,000 (2019) |
| Founder | Gerald "Jerry" Yagen |
The Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is home to one of the world's largest private collections of old military planes that can still fly. These amazing aircraft are called warbirds. The museum has planes from countries like Germany, France, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They flew during both World War I and World War II. The collection includes planes from the 1910s up to the early 1950s.
The museum works hard to keep these planes safe and fix them up. They also put on exciting airshows twice a year, where you can see some of these historic aircraft fly! The museum also has a library and other items that help tell the stories behind these planes.
Contents
History of the Museum
The Military Aviation Museum was started by Gerald "Jerry" Yagen in 2005. The museum's buildings first opened to the public in 2008. Jerry Yagen had been collecting and fixing up warbirds since the mid-1990s. His very first plane was a Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk.
Keeping the Museum Flying
In June 2013, there was a time when the museum faced some challenges. Jerry Yagen had to sell some of the planes. He explained that he could no longer afford to support the museum as much as he had been.
However, the museum was able to stay open. Even after selling some aircraft, the museum has added more planes to its collection. Some of these new planes are being fixed up so they can fly again. In October 2024, Jerry Yagen gave his 70 aircraft, the museum's land (about 130 acres), and $30 million to the museum. This generous gift helps make sure the museum can keep going for a long time.
Museum Buildings and Airfield
The museum is located at its own small, private grass airfield called the Virginia Beach Airport. This airfield is in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The museum has several interesting buildings:
- Two large display hangars, one on each side of the main museum building.
- A replica of a World War I-era wooden hangar.
- A modern maintenance hangar that looks exactly like a 1937 design.
- A real, restored metal hangar from the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) that was built before World War II.
- Three identical storage hangars painted to look like British World War II hangars.
The Luftwaffe hangar was built in 1934 in Germany. The museum bought it in 2004 after its original air base closed. It was taken apart, shipped to Virginia Beach, and put back together at the museum. This amazing project finished in 2012. Now, it houses the museum's German aircraft.
The museum's control tower is also very special. It's an original World War II tower from a British air base called RAF Goxhill. This brick and concrete tower was carefully taken apart in the UK and shipped to Virginia. It was put back together at the museum in 2018. This is the only original World War II British control tower like it in the United States.
You can also spot a tall orange and white checkered water tower at the museum. It's easy to see from far away and helps people find the museum.
Right at the entrance to the museum, there's a fun dinosaur park. It's free to visit and open to everyone!
Fixing and Rebuilding Planes
Some of the planes that need a lot of work are fixed at the museum's own repair shop, called the Fighter Factory. Other planes are sent to special companies that have the skills to restore them. These companies include:
- Meier Motors
- AV Specs Limited
- Pioneer Aero
- Light Retouch
The museum also works with the Aviation Institute of Maintenance. Students there are building new copies of World War I planes. This helps them learn and adds more cool aircraft to the museum's collection. Some of these replica planes include a Morane Saulnier AI, a Nieuport 11, a Nieuport 17, a Nieuport 24, a Sopwith Pup, a Sopwith Camel, a Sopwith 1½ Strutter, and a deHavilland D.H.2. The Morane Saulnier AI and the Sopwith 1½ Strutter have already arrived at the museum.
The Fighter Factory
The Fighter Factory is a special group that works with the museum. They fix and maintain the aircraft. It started in 1996 to restore the museum's very first plane, the P-40E.
The Fighter Factory used to be at different airports. Now, it has two locations: one in Suffolk, Virginia, and a new one right at the museum in a special hangar built just for them.
Fly in a Historic Plane!
The museum offers a unique chance for visitors to fly in two types of historic planes: the Waco YMF-5 or the Stearman N2S-3. Both of these aircraft are open-cockpit biplanes, which means they have two sets of wings and an open area where you sit!
See also
- List of aerospace museums
- Virginia Beach Airport
