Aeronautical Museum Belgrade

The Aeronautical Museum Belgrade, formerly known as the Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum, is a museum located in Surčin, Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Founded in 1957, the museum is located adjacent to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The current facility, designed by architect Ivan Štraus, was opened to the public on 21 May 1989.

History

In 1975 JAT, the national flag carrier, donated 48 a (52,000 sq ft) of land for the museum and the museum later purchased further 2.7 ha (6.7 acres). Construction of the present building of the museum began in the mid-1970s. The construction work dragged on, so it was only in late 1988 that the setting of the first permanent exhibition began. The museum's new location was ceremonially opened on 21 May 1989.

The museum owns over 200 aircraft previously operated by the Yugoslav Air Force (both royal and communist), Serbian Air Force, and others, as well as aircraft previously flown by several civil airliners and private flying clubs. It also owns the only known surviving example of the Fiat G.50. The most valuable collections are housed in geodesic glass building, with additional aircraft displayed on the surrounding grounds.

The museum also displays wreckage of a downed USAF F-117 Nighthawk and F-16 Fighting Falcon, both shot down during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. In addition, the collection consists of more than 130 aviation engines, more radars, rockets, various aeronautical equipment, over 20,000 reference books and technical documentation as well as more than 200,000 photographs.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Aeronautical Museum Belgrade" and modified on 18 May 2020 according to the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.