Military Aviation Museum

By A. Kevin Grantham and Stan Piet

The de Havilland Dragon Rapide. One of the museum’s crown jewels. This particular airplane was originally built in 1944 and is restored to resemble the aircraft that was ordered by the Prince of Whales in 1935. (A. Kevin Grantham)Virginia Beach, Va. is well known as one of the best places on the east coast to visit and enjoy the surf and sand of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the home of Gerald “Jerry” Yagen’s Military Air Museum, which is quickly becoming a major attraction for the resort town.

The museum was established in 2005 and is located on the privately owned Virginia Beach Airport in Pungo, Va. It is only about a 15-minute drive from the shore to the museum. The first hint that something special is ahead is when the red and white water tower appears on the horizon. The museum’s 1930s era hangars come into site a few yards farther down Princess Anne road, and as you turn into the entrance you are instantly greeted by some wonderful dinosaur sculptures. This is not exactly something one would expect to see in a somewhat rural area of Virginia, or for that matter at an air museum. But seeing these colorful static creatures brought back fond memories of the roadside attractions that littered the United States during the post-World War II pre-interstate era. No doubt Yagen had that in mind when designing his Jurassic Park gallery.   

A German re-enactor deck out in authentic flight gear posing in front of the museum’s Focke Wulf 190 “Dora.” (A. Kevin Grantham)The art-deco dual main hangar, which stands adjacent to a natural grass runway, is the home for many of the World War II aircraft that Yagen has acquired and restored since the 1990s. His extensive collection includes a Bell P-63, Boeing B-17 and P-26, Consolidated PBY-5A, Curtiss P-40E, Goodyear FG-1D, Grumman FM-2 and TBM, Hawker Fury and Hurricane, North American B-25J and P-51D, MIG-3, Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-153, Supermarine Spitfire, and Yak-3. The museum’s aircraft also share space with many vintage land vehicles including a rare three-wheel bubble car designed by Willy Messerschmitt. In addition to this central building are three additional structures on the back side of the airport.  

The first is the World War I hangar that is similar in design to the French barns that were used to shelter aircraft during the First World War. Inside, the smell of fresh cut lumber extenuates the vibrantly decorated British, French, and German fighter aeroplanes that adorn the facility. This gallery correspondingly has one of the largest groupings of Fokker DR.1 Triplane replicas in the world. Next up is the museum’s local maintenance building, which is an extension of Yagen’s foremost Fighter Factory facility located at the Suffolk Executive Airport, Suffolk, Va. Last in line is the authentic German Luftwaffe hangar that Yagen bought and relocated from Cottbus Army Airfield in Cottbus, Germany. He restored and rebuilt this rare facility taking great care to preserve the battle damage it incurred on May 29, 1944 from an Eighth Air Force attack. Visitors can clearly see the bullet indentations in the building’s frame. During its reassembly, the Museum staff discovered an inscription scratch on one of the beams. In Polish it reads “Anusia Waclaw Worked Here, 10.14.1944,” leading one to believe that forced labor was used to repair the hangar after the 1944 attack. There are additional plans to build yet another building on the field in the near future. In May of this year bricks from an original English Control Tower were delivered to the museum. Included with this lot of bricks were the tower’s original Loos. Wow! Yagen’s keen sense of history and his attention to historical detail is second to none – can’t wait to see how this turns out!

The Museum also puts on a World War I and a World War II airshow each year in addition to the many events it also sponsors. The World War II event is called Warbirds Over The Beach, and this year’s spectacle was held over the weekend of May 17, 2013. There was worldwide interest in the event as Yagen was scheduled to debut the only flying de Havilland DH-98 Mosquito on the planet.

The Museum’s Mosquito (serial number KA114) was originally manufactured in Canada in 1945 and later sold surplus to a farmer in 1948. In 1978 the deteriorating remains were claimed by a Canadian Museum who in turn sold the aircraft to Yagen in 2004. It was then shipped to AVspecs in New Zealand for restoration where it was painstakingly remanufactured throughout the next eight years. The forms needed for the fuselage, tail and wings had to be hand crafted, and one look at this aircraft clearly shows the love, dedication, and expert workmanship that went into this rebuild. It is without hesitation one of the finest warbirds in existence today. As one spectator put it, “better than factory.”

Two of the Fokker DR.1 fighters that adorned the museum’s wooden World War I facility. (A. Kevin Grantham)Another attraction at the airshow was the aforementioned Luftwaffe Hangar along with it’s supporting aircraft and authentic contents. The layout of the structure featured bunks for the pilots along with a mess hall, communication center, and, of course, a couple of fine looking aircraft. Two of particular interests are the museum’s FW-190A and D-model Focke Wulf, most commonly referred to as “Dora.” Both are airworthy reproductions. Filling out the German contingency is Yagen’s jet powered Me 262. The aircraft is not certified to land on grass, so it is kept at the Suffolk Airport, but made daily circuits above the airshow spectators. All of these things are great, but the real icing on the cake are the wonderful volunteers and re-enactors that come to Warbirds Over the Beach to help Jerry Yagen perpetuate the history behind the machines that are on display.  Early Friday morning your authors witnessed German paratroopers preparing German paratroopers practicing their jump techniques. (A. Kevin Grantham)for their next jump from a Junkers JU52 transport aircraft. This sensational re-enactment was as close you can get to World War II without being there.  

Our visit to the museum and airshow was a treat beyond treats. We understand that Jerry Yagen has future plans to add a Japanese Kawasaki KI.61 Hein (Tony) to his stable of warbirds and many other projects are in the works as well.  So, if you are in the Virginia Beach area, make a point come and visit the Military Aviation Museum. You will not regret it. As for your authors – we plan to cover the World War I show in the Fall. Stay tuned!