Aviation Museum of Iceland

The museum was founded on 1 May 1999 and formally opened on 24 June 2000[1] by Halldór Blöndal, the Speaker of the Althing.[2] It was initially known as the Aviation Museum at Akureyri;[3] another aviation collection existed at Hnjótur in Örlygshöfn.[2] It was renamed in 2005 to reflect its national role.[4][5] Svanbjörn Sigurðsson, a principal figure in the foundation of the museum, was its first director.[3][6][7][8]

Initially in temporary quarters in a hangar rented by Íslandsbanki, the museum moved in 2007 to a purpose-built building with 2,200 square metres (24,000 sq ft) of space, approximately five times what it previously had;[7][9] the building was officially opened by Sigrún Björk Jakobsdóttir, the mayor of Akureyri.[10][11] It celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2009.[3]

The aircraft collection has been used for training by the Icelandic Technical School.[12]

Cockpit of Boeing 727 Gullfaxi

The museum has many photographs of Icelandic aviation through the years and also a number of historic aircraft,[13] many of which it maintains in airworthy condition[14] and flies at least once a year on an annual fly day.[3][15] These include:

• Klemm L.25e TF-SUX, built in 1934 and brought to Iceland by Germans in 1938;[3] the first plane to land in the Vestmannaeyjar[6]
• Waco YKS-7 identical to TF-ÖRN, the first aircraft operated by Flugfélag Akureyrar, later Flugfélag Íslands, when it began service in 1938[6][16]
• a twin-engine Beechcraft identical to that first brought to Iceland in 1942[6]
• Björn Pálsson's Auster V, with which he flew the first air ambulance service in Iceland[3][17]
• a 1943 Douglas DC-3 that saw duty at Keflavík Air Base before transfer to civilian use by Flugfélag Íslands in 1946[12]
• the cockpit of Gullfaxi, Boeing 727 TF-FIE, the country's first jet aircraft, recovered from the Mojave Desert[3][6][14][18][19]
• Aérospatiale SA-365N-1 Dauphin 2 TF-SIF, a Coast Guard rescue helicopter that was in service for 22 years before being damaged in a training exercise in 2007[3][6][14][19]
• Coast Guard Fokker F-27 TF-SYN[19]

• Media related to Aviation Museum of Iceland at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website (in Icelandic)