Military Aviation Museum

In June 2013 it was reported that the museum and its collection of planes was to be sold off, due to some financial difficulties which Yagen's business was then experiencing. He was selling his vocational schools business, and no longer had the resources to finance the Museum.[6]

An article in The Virginian-Pilot reported that Yagen had said "I'm subsidizing it heavily every year and my business no longer allows me to do that financially, and therefore I don't have a solution for it".[7]

However, the announced sale of the museum and aircraft was premature; it was announced only a week later that "the museum won't close soon, some of the facility's planes ... may have to go to keep the operation aloft" and "'we are still open for business and business is normal'".[8]

Several aircraft were sold, see below, but both Yagen's businesses and the museum are now operating normally.[9] Since the sales in 2013, additional aircraft (including a projected replacement de Havilland Dragon Rapide) have been acquired and are under restoration to fly.

Fighter Factory facility in the maintenance hangar at the Military Aviation Museum

Associated with the museum is an aircraft restoration and maintenance organization, called The Fighter Factory, started in 1996 to restore the collection's first aircraft (the P-40E). [5]

It was originally located at Norfolk Airport, and later moved to premises at the Suffolk Municipal Airport in Suffolk, Virginia. It currently operates two facilities: the one in Suffolk, and a new facility (in the purpose-built hangar) at the museum.[15][21]

Visitors to the museum can take a guided tour of the Fighter Factory hangar during weekdays, and view the team of maintenance technicians performing tasks such as regular maintenance and minor restoration work.

• Beechcraft T-34A Mentor - The Museum's instance, serial number G-778, was produced in 1956, and apparently passed out of military service in 1966. Over the years it has been upgraded to the T-34B configuration, with a new engine; it was acquired by the Museum in August 2000.[22][23]
• Douglas AD-4 Skyraider - The Museum's aircraft (BuNo. 123827) was built in 1949, and saw three tours in Korea with several different squadrons. After spending 10 years as a static display in Atlanta, in 1966 it was purchased and restored to flying condition; the Museum acquired it in 2000.[24][25]
• North American T-28D Trojan - The Museum's, serial number 49-1634, was built in 1949, and rebuilt into a D model, with the underwing hardpoints, in 1951. Transferred to the Zaire Air Force in 1971, it saw service with them until 1997, and came to the Museum in August 2000.[26][27]

• de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk - The Museum acquired the aircraft in 2004.[27][28]

• Lavochkin La-9 Fritz - The museum's example, c/n 828, is the only known flyable survivor (of 6 airframes worldwide). It apparently saw service in Korea with the Chinese Air Force, and was retired to a display role; starting in 1986, a decade of discussions eventually bore fruit and brought it to the West. After another decade of restoration, it finally flew again in 2010.[29][30]

• Fiat G.46-3B - It was delivered to the Italian Air Force in 1950 and released in July 1961. It was later exported into the United States on June 15, 1972. The plane was purchased in the Spring of 2015.[31]

• Bell P-39 Airacobra - The museum's P-39F (s/n 41-7215) arrived to the museum in May 2019 after a ~15 year restoration in both Australia and then at Pioneer Aerospace in New Zealand.[32]
• Bell P-63 Kingcobra (static display) - The museum's P-63A-10-BE (s/n 42-70609) is one of a group which were engaged against Japanese forces at the end of World War II in Far Eastern Russian territory; several were found there after 60 years of open storage. Although the museum has located the rare Allison engine for this aircraft, no restoration is currently planned, as it has significant internal corrosion and would need to be completely rebuilt.[33]
• Cessna UC-78 Bobcat (under minor restoration in the Fighter Factory) - The museum's example (s/n 43-31765) was donated to the museum in 2020 and arrived to the museum November 2020. The aircraft will go through a minor restoration before being put on display with the collection. [34]

US Navy hangar, location of the Catalina, along with other US Navy planes

• Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina - The museum's PBY-5, Bureau Number 48294, was built in 1943, and served in a variety of locations around the Atlantic during World War II and with the Coast Guard after the war. Leaving government service in 1956, it then had a long and colorful civilian career, including stints as a fuel tanker in Alaska, and was eventually seized by the US Government for drug smuggling. It was purchased by the museum in England in 2001.[35][36]
• Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk - This particular aircraft, serial number 41-35918, was built in 1941 and sent to the UK as a Lend-Lease item; it was passed along to the Russians in April, 1942, and lost in action while protecting Murmansk. It stayed on the tundra where it had landed for almost 50 years, and was recovered in 1992; acquired by the Museum's founder in 1996, it finally flew again in 2003.[5][37][38]
• Douglas A-26B Invader (in storage - not on display) - The Museum's was built in 1945, but not much is known about the military history of this plane. After being stored in Texas for a number of years, it was purchased in 1996, and trucked to the Fighter Factory for total restoration.[39]
• Fairchild PT-19A-FA - The museum's, serial number 42-83643 (T43-7230), was ordered in 1942, built in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1943, and delivered to the Air Force on February 23, 1944. It had a very short military life, being listed as "disposed as surplus" on September 7, 1944. Little is known of its life after that; it was purchased from a company in Texas in November, 2013.
• Grumman FM-2 Wildcat - The museum's example, an FM-2 variant built under license by GM (based on Grumman's XF4F-8 prototype), was produced in 1944. It saw service in the Philippines, and in July, 1945 was transferred to a small training field in Pungo (not the same location as the Virginia Beach Airport, though); it entered private hands in 1952, and came to the museum in 2010. It is thought to be the most original F4F in existence.[40][41][42]
• Grumman TBM-3E Avenger - GM's Eastern Aircraft Division became a second source for the Avenger, eventually building over 7,500, around three-quarters of the total production of this type; the Museum's, BuNo. 53454, came from this source in 1945. Although sent to the Philippines, it does not appear to have seen active service; before being surplused in 1956, it accumulated only 1,227 hours. It then saw duty as a fire "bomber" in Idaho; restoration commenced in 1998, and it was acquired by the Museum in 2001.[43][44][45]
• Naval Aircraft Factory N3N - The N3N open-cockpit tandem primary trainer was the last biplane in US military service; this example is BuNo. 2892, aircraft registration N120BH, built in 1941, and sold off to civilian use in October, 1943. Having not flown since the 1950s, it was acquired by the museum in 2007, part of a group of N3N's found in a barn, and restoration was completed in 2011.[46][47][48][49]
• North American B-25J Mitchell - The museum's, B-25J-25/27-NC serial number 44-30129 "Wild Cargo", was built in late 1944; surplused in 1958, it passed through several hands (once for as little as $500), before ending its flying in 1963 after a dual engine and landing gear failure. Bought by the Museum in 1997, after a complete restoration it finally flew again in November, 2005.[50][51]

P-51 Mustang "Double Trouble two"

• North American P-51D Mustang - The premier American ground-based fighter of World War II; this example, serial number 44-63684 (but the tail wheel says 44-72483) was built in 1945, and sent to the UK to join the Eighth Air Force. In 1947 it went to the Swedish Air Force, and then through several others until entering private ownership in 1972, being acquired by the Museum in 2004.[5][52][53]
• North American P-64 - This example is a replica, built from an SNJ-4, and finished in 2001; after a complex history including a spell at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and a forced landing due to a failed engine, it was acquired by the museum in 2014.[54]
• North American SNJ-2 - An early variant of the basic North American NA-16 advanced trainer, first flown in 1935.[55]
• Piper NE-1 Glimpy - It was designed in World War II to be dropped from a blimp to take photos and to do other tasks.[56]
• Stinson L-5 Sentinel - This small high-wing utility aircraft, capable of short unimproved airstrip operations, was the second most common light observation aircraft of the war, after the Piper L-4 Cub. Capable of taking off in as little as 50 feet when using full flaps, they could operate out of almost any small field.[57]
• Vought FG-1D Corsair - A F4U-1D (Corsair Mk IV) produced by Goodyear in May 1945, the museum's Corsair, BuNo. 92508, apparently spent much of its military career in storage; it is one the lowest time Corsairs known. After 13 years with the military, it passed into private ownership, coming to the Museum in 1999. Gerald Yagan chose to use the insignia of the VF17 Corsair flown by Ray Beacham during the war, because Lt. Beacham was born in Norfolk, raised by his grandparents in Kitty Hawk, was known in the squadron as the Kitty Hawk kid, and chose to become a teacher after retiring from the Navy [5][58][59]

• CASA 352L (Junkers Ju 52) - The museum's is a post-war example built by CASA under license at their plant in Getafe, Spain, under their type designation CASA 352L. Once thought to be serial number 67 (built in May 1950), matching data plates in the cabin and on the outside of the fuselage revealed it to actually be serial number 77, built in January 1949. Assigned identification number T2B 176 by Spanish Air Force, they surplused it in November, 1976, when it was sold to the legendary Confederate Air Force. Grounded for 8 years in 1990 by engine problems, it was converted to P&W Wasp engines, and acquired by the Museum in 2010.[60][61][62]

Mosquito KA114 taxiing after landing during an airshow at the Museum

• de Havilland Mosquito - The museum's example, a Canadian-built FB Mk 26, serial number KA114, was constructed in early 1945, never left Canada and was surplussed in April 1948. The farmer who bought it took it to his farm in Alberta, where it sat outside in a field until August 1978. After passing unrestored through another warbird collection, restoration (including building of new fuselage and wings, as the existing ones were too deteriorated) began in January 2005 in New Zealand, continuing until 2012. Its first post-restoration flight was on September 27 of that year.[63][64][65][66]
• Hawker Hurricane Mk XIIB - This example (serial # 5667, construction # 56022) was built in Canada in 1943, never left Canada during the war, and was surplused in October, 1946. It was recovered from a farm in Saskatchewan in 1965; after a long restoration, it finally flew again in May, 1994, and came to the museum in 2001, in almost completely original condition.[67][68][69]
• Supermarine Mk IXE Spitfire - The museum's, serial number MJ730, was produced in December, 1943, and went on to serve in North Africa, Italy, Corsica, Greece and Yugoslavia. Post-war it wound up in Israel, where it eventually became a dilapidated playground attraction in an Israeli kibbutz, from where it was rescued in 1978. Restoration was finally completed in 1988, and the museum acquired it in 1999.[70][71][72]

• Fieseler Fi-156 Storch - The Museum's example was produced at the Morane-Saulnier plant in Puteaux, France, where Storch production was moved so the Fieseler works could concentrate on Fw 190 production. It has the serial number 204 and arrived at the museum in May, 2019.[73]
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 "Blue 4" (to be restored) - The museum's example, "Blue 4", serial number 732 183, built in July–August 1944 and flown by Rudi Linz, was lost on February 9, 1945, defending against an Allied raid in Norway. It was recently recovered from where it had crashed.[74]
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 - the museum has added another Fw 190 after selling a previous A-8 in 2013. In December 2014, the museum acquired this plane as a Flugwerks Kit with a serial number of 990005.[75]
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 (to be restored) - The museum's is painted in the colors of Theo Nibel of JG 54 who was shot down during Operation Bodenplatte. It is a recent replica from a German company, Flugwerk with a serial number of 990003, built under sub-contract by Aerostar SA of Bacau, Romania; it was purchased by the Museum in 2012.[76]
• Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun - The museum's was built in 1945. It was purchased in August 2004 from Albany, New York.[77][78][79]
• Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-4 - The museum's was assembled from five wrecks which were recovered from Russia over a period of three years before 2011; a substantial portion of the plane was part of a Bf 109 built in 1939 as an E-3 variant, serial number 2023, and later converted to a E-7 with a long-range tank, which was shot down near Murmansk in May, 1942. It was restored to a G-4 variant. It is painted for Klaus Quaet-Faslem from JG 3.[80]
• Messerschmitt Me 208 - The museum's was built in 1946 under license from the Messerschmitt Aircraft Company as a Nord 1101. The Nord 1101s were used as communications aircraft through the 1970s. The museum acquired the aircraft in August 2004. It is painted as "Yellow 14" from JG 53 "Ace of Spades".[77][79][81]
• Messerschmitt Me 262 (Currently located in Suffolk)- The museum's is a recently built replica, produced by the Me 262 Project, Me 262 A/B-1c serial number 501243. It was completed in 2011, and is powered by General Electric CJ610 engines (the civilian variant of the General Electric J85).[82][83]

• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 - The museum's aircraft was the first MiG-3 to fly in 60 years, in a public display at the Moscow Air Show, after which it was brought to the museum.[84][85]
• Polikarpov Po-2 Mule - The museum's example, discovered in a forest outside Vladivostok and restored in Russia, is one of few remaining examples of the most-produced military aircraft in history; over 40,000 were produced during its long production run, 1928-1953.[86][87]
• Polikarpov I-153 - The museum's example was built in 1938, serial number 6316; it was found in a swamp outside of Murmansk, and was restored in Russia in 1998; the Museum acquired it in December, 2002.[88][89]
• Polikarpov I-16 Rata - The museum's was built in late 1939, and assigned identity number White #28; it was recovered in the early 1990s from a crash site in Karelia near the Finnish border.[90][91]
• Yakovlev Yak-3M - The one in the museum is actually a replica, using an Allison engine, built in 1991 at the Yakovlev factory using original parts and dies.[92][93]

• P-26D Peashooter - The Museum's P-26 (s/n 32-06) is a replica (one of 5 currently in existence, along with 2 originals), built in Bolton, Massachusetts, and completed in 2006; it was acquired by the Museum in 2009. It is not a precise replica, including several minor changes for safety and performance, such as a slightly different wing airfoil shape; hence the 'D' type designation.[94][95][96][97]
• Stearman N2S-3 - The Museum's was acquired when the founder, Mr. Yagen, was looking for a training aircraft to learn how to handle tail wheel airplanes (the usual configuration for World War II-period aircraft); it was purchased over the phone in the winter of 1997, one of the Museum's first acquisitions. This particular aircraft had recently been restored to its original condition.[5][98]
• Waco YMF-5 - The museum's example is a replica, built in 1989, after they were returned to production in March 1986, by WACO Classic Aircraft.[99]

• de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth - This particular example was built by Morris Motors in Cowley in 1940, and left RAF service in 1952. The museum acquired the plane in 2004.[100][101][102]
• de Haviland Dragon Rapide (under restoration in Fighter Factory) - After the loss of the previous Rapide, a replacement was found and delivered to the museum in late 2013. The museum's is currently being restored at the Fighter Factory.

• Bücker Bü 133C Jungmeister - The Museum's was built under license in Switzerland in 1940 for the Swiss Air Force, serial number 38; sold off in 1968, it eventually came to the Museum via The Fighter Collection of Duxford in 2006.[103][104]
• Focke-Wulf Fw-44J - The MAM's example of the FW-44 (WkNr. 183) is of the final model of the series, the FW-44J; it was built in Bremen in 1937, and was originally exported to Argentina.[105][106][107]
• Fokker C.I - The Museum's is a replica, built in Tulsa.[108][109]

• Polikarpov I-15bis - The Museum's example is believed to be the only example remaining; it was found wrecked in Northern Russia, and fully restored and flying again by July, 2001.[110][111]

Replica World War I hangar at the Museum

(All are replicas except for the Curtiss Jenny and the Thomas Morse)

• Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" - The Museum's Jenny (s/n 34135) is an original, built by the St. Louis Aircraft Company (of St. Louis, naturally), completed on 8 May 1918, and delivered to the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Some time later, it passed into civilian hands, and then went through numerous owners (including being in storage from 1935-1957, prior to a restoration), finally being acquired by the Museum in 2013. It arrived at the museum in the Spring of 2014.[112][113]
• Thomas Morse S-4C Scout - The Museum's example (s/n 38663) was built in 1917, but never left the states. It was restored in Kingsbury, Texas and arrived to the museum in April, 2019.[114]

• Avro 504K - A replica (static display only, in Army Hangar).[115][116][117]
• Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 - (under restoration in the Fighter Factory) Replica. Built and restored in Kingsbury, Texas. It arrived at the museum in May, 2017.[118][119]
• Sopwith 1½ Strutter - This plane was used in the 2006 movie Flyboys and was obtained by the museum in September 2010.[120][121][122]
• Sopwith 1½ Strutter - Replica. It is painted in the colors of the United States Army Air Service. It was built by the Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Atlanta and came to the museum in August, 2017[123]
• Sopwith Pup - 3/4 scale replica (static display only, in lobby)[124]
• Sopwith Triplane - Replica. Purchased in May, 2017. It arrived at the museum in July, 2017.[125]

• Morane-Saulnier AI - (Under restoration in Fighter Factory) Replica. Built by the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (Kansas City). It arrived at the museum in October, 2015 and was found that it needed some additional restoration before it will be added to display in the collection. That restoration is currently underway.[126]
• Nieuport 11 - (Currently not on display) Replica. Arrived at the museum in July 2010.[127][128][129]
• Nieuport 17 - Replica[128]
• Nieuport 28 - Replica. Put on display December, 2019.
• S.P.A.D. S.XIII - Replica- 2004 (Now hanging on the ceiling of the WWI hangar)[130][131][132][133]

• Albatros D.Va - A replica, built in 1978, and obtained by the Museum in 2013. The aircraft took its first flight in 2016.[134][135]
• Fokker E.III - It entered service in mid-1915.
• Fokker Dr.I Triplane - Replica (the last original Fokker Triplane was destroyed by an air raid in World War II). The blue one (painted to simulate that of Lt. Werner Voss) was acquired in 2010 which was first painted to show the color scheme of Manfred von Richthofen.[136][137][138]
• Fokker Dr.I Triplane - Replica, but has an original rotary engine. The red one (painted in the colors of Manfred von Richthofen). It arrived at the museum in May, 2017.
• Fokker Dr.I Triplane - Replica. The red and white aircraft (painted to emulate that of Lt. August Raben, commander of Jasta 18) was acquired in September 2009.[136][137][138]
• Fokker Dr.I Triplane - (under restoration - currently not on display) Replica. The yellow and brown one (the colours are those of Rudolf Klimke), built in 1989, was acquired in June 2009, flying again in August 2010 after restoration.[136][137][138]
• Fokker D.VI - This aircraft was built in 1996. The museum acquired this plane in 2012 from Heritage Aircraft in Pennsylvania and it had its first flight September 15, 2016.[139]
• Fokker D.VII - Replica. A green nose with lozenge aircraft. Originally it was solid red, but it went through an extensive restoration in 2013-2014.[140][141][142]
• Fokker D.VII - A replica. A yellow nose with lozenge aircraft. Acquired in 2011.
• Fokker D.VIII - The Museum's is painted to mimic that of Gotthard Sachsenberg, a German ace with 31 victories, and a winner of the "Blue Max". Coincidentally, the company which Sachsenberg founded after World War I designed and built the Luftwaffe hangar at Cottbus which is now at the Museum. It was built 2008, acquired in 2012 and arrived at the museum in 2013.[143][144]
• Halberstadt CL.IV - Replica[145][146]

• Curtis Model D Pusher - The Museum's is a replica, constructed to commemorate the centenary of the flight. It was acquired in 2012.[147][148]
• Wright Model EX - Replica (2003)[147][149]

• Blériot XI - Replica. This one is a single seat model that is currently not airworthy[150][151]
• Blériot XI - Replica. The museum also owns a second Blériot XI that is a two-seat model. It arrived in July, 2015 and had its first flight September 15, 2016.[152]

When the Museum's founder ran into financial difficulties in the summer of 2013, a number of the planes at the Museum were deaccessioned:

World War II

• B-17 - The Museum's, serial number 44-8543, was built in 1944 by the Vega Aircraft Corporation in Burbank; it apparently never went overseas, apparently being used for testing and training. Originally it was equipped as a 'pathfinder', with the top secret BTO (Bombing Through Overcast) radar in place of the usual belly ball turret. After a long career with the government, it was sold in 1959, and was used in a number of commercial roles. Eventually, a collector purchased it in 1979, and restored it to its military configuration; it was acquired by the Museum in 2010.[166][167][168][169]
• North American SNJ-4 - The Museum's SNJ-4 was delivered to the Navy in January 1943, and had a somewhat unusual life: it was assigned to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for operational use. It was surplused in 1946, and then went to the South African Air Force, who used it until 1995; in 1996 it returned to the US.[5][23][170]
• Ryan PT-22 - A military version of the Ryan ST, it served the Army Air Corps as a primary trainer, the first monoplane in this role (all prior primary trainers having been biplanes).[171]
• Fieseler Fi-156 Storch - The Museum's example was produced at the Morane-Saulnier plant in Puteaux, France, where Storch production was moved so the Fieseler works could concentrate on Fw 190 production. Apparently started during the German occupation, but completed post-war in 1947, on order for the French military (under the name Morane-Saulnier MS-500 Criquet), with dual serial numbers 2631 (German) and 751 (French), it was surplused from them in 1966, and acquired by the Museum in 2001.[172][173][174]
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8/M - This particular example was a recent replica from a German company, Flugwerk, serial number 550476, built under sub-contracted by Aerostar SA of Bacau, Romania. It was purchased by the Museum in 2005, but so heavily modified (cooling, oil system) to make its Dongan HS7 engine run reliably that it has been renamed a "Fw 190 A-8/M", from its original "Fw 190 A-8/N" designation; it finally arrived at the Museum in March, 2011. [175][176][177][178]

Inter-War

• de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide - This particular Rapide was built in 1944 for the RAF; it was sold as surplus in 1947. It has been restored as a copy of the one ordered by the Prince of Wales in 1935, in the colors of the Royal Guards.[179][180][181][182]
• Hawker Fury - The Museum's, the only air-worthy example in the world, is technically a replica, completed in 1982, although it used both original and fabricated parts, including a rare original Kestrel engine, found in a car museum in New Zealand. Rebuilt in 2000 after a minor crash in 1996, it was acquired by the Museum in 2009.[25][183][184]

World War I

• Avro 504K - A replica.[115][116][117]
• Fokker Dr.I - A replica, painted to imitate that flown by the German ace Werner Voss.[136][137][138]
• Fokker D.VII - A replica.[140][141][142]
• Sopwith Camel - A replica

These are aircraft that were once part of the collection, but have moved on (not related to the financial difficulties):

World War II

• North American AT-6 Texan - It was never officially part of the museum's collection, but it was on display until November 2017 when it was sold. It was built in 1958 and departed the military record in 1963.[56]