Virginia Air Museums Virginia Beach/Norfolk The Military Air Museum (341 Princess Anne Road Virginia Beach, VA)

[Kyushuj7w]

Been here a few times and it never disappoints. Another great museum in the VA beach area south of the Norfolk/HAmpton roads area. As I've said in other posts you can spend a week down here easily and not see it all. If you ever wanted to retire and work as a docent this is the place.

Airshows are held here especially a great WW1 airshow annually. Also new hangers including a WW2 hanger brought over from Germany that has the markings of the possible slave or conscripted laborers who had to consruct it. One hanger has 1/1 scale models of Luftwaffe planned aircraft, call it a LUFT 46 hanger. Where they got them the docent was not sure. BUt here you can find a collection of the aircraft used by the Soviet VVS in WW2 that I do not believe can be see anywhere else in the USA. For the real little kids at the entrance is a dinosaur park with life sized dinosaurs or all types to see.

 

[Kyushuj7w]

I can't think of anywhere in the USA or the world other than the former soviet union that has as many of these soviet WW2 types. The man who owns all of this I'm told made his money in for profit schools that provide technical training. He sold them all off years ago and that what funds this.

A very rare Mig 3

The story on the Yak is that there are still the dies and some parts and several were constructed specifically for the collector market. People are building the Me262 and other WW2 birds but I'm not sure thet have original mfg equipment.



Lend lease P-63 King cobra not as many of these around.

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[Kyushuj7w]

Pics fro the WW1 airshow and the 1946 what if hanger. Could not got in there or the Mossie hanger this past spring. but they still have everything. Great place and they do restorations there and some place close by.

FOR THE KIDDIES ​

For the dads ​

 

[Capt. Vick]

I remember when the owner fell on hard times and there were thoughts of liquidation. Glad he stuck it out. Quite a collection.

 

[nuuumannn]

The man who owns all of this I'm told made his money in for profit schools that provide technical training. He sold them all off years ago and that what funds this.

That'll be Jerry Yagen. The Polis and of course the Mosquito were restored in New Zealand, the La-11 also has a Kiwi connection; it was traded with a university museum in Beijing for a Harrier GR.3 by the Old Flying Machine Company at Duxford, England, and its owners, the late Ray (born in NZ) and Mark Hanna based the La-11 in New Zealand for a bit. I have photos of it flying at an airshow here years ago somewhere.

Here's the Mossie just before it was dismantled and sent to the USA.

Mosquito Day 2012

 

[Gnomey]

Good shots!

 

[Micdrow]

Great shots, it is a great museum, looks like they put a new paint job on the Fw-190 replica. Last time I was there it had this paint job.

 

[SaparotRob]

Shouldn't this replica have a three bladed prop?

 

[Micdrow]

Shouldn't this replica have a three bladed prop

Shouldn't this replica have a three bladed prop?

So that aircraft and a few others were made as a 1 to 1 from the original drawings. They did something similar with the Me-262 but with modern day engines but yes normally it would be with a 3 bladed prop but if I remember right this aircraft along with I think 4 or 5 had Pratt and Whitney engines instead of the BMW engine as these do fly mainly due to cost and rarity of the BMW engines. I am not a huge Fw-190 but am sure there are some that know more about this.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I had no idea they had this many aircraft. I thought we had a member that worked or used to work there.

 

[Crimea_River]

Good pics. This museum is on my bucket list and I want to be there for when the WW2 birds fly.

Mosquito KA114 is hardly a "restoration". The fuselage and wings are newly built. The metal parts from the original KA114 were kept where possible and used but that's about it.

 

[nuuumannn]

Mosquito KA114 is hardly a "restoration". The fuselage and wings are newly built. The metal parts from the original KA114 were kept where possible and used but that's about it.

True Andy, I use the term loosely. I made that same point on a Kiwi forum around the time it was unveiled and got a tirade of abuse from people. I was flummoxed by some of the logic behind their definitions of restoration in KA114's case and I even posted a pic of the remains of the fuselage, but to no avail, the pitch forks and tiki torches were out...

In truth there is little in any flying warbird that is restored of originality, but like with the many Frame 5 Spitfire restorations, as long as the dataplate is original it's a Spit resto.