PRESS RELEASE
Virginia Beach, VA (October 2, 2024) – The Military Aviation Museum is excited to announce the return of its two-day, premier air show featuring rare World War II aircraft. The weekend will include a large living history encampment, armored vehicles, weapons demonstrations, vintage vocal performances, a kids Exploration hangar, food trucks, and some of the rarest WWII aircraft in the world, all flying from the museum’s scenic grass runway. This event serves as the non-profit museum’s largest fundraiser, supporting the maintenance of its collection and the expansion of its educational programming.
This year’s air show will showcase iconic aircraft such as the P-51 Mustang and the Supermarine Spitfire, flying alongside their former adversary, the notorious Messerschmitt Bf 109 from the European Theatre. In honor of the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy, France, the C-47 “Chalk 40,” a D-Day veteran, will be a featured performer. Additionally, aircraft like the Corsair, Wildcat, TBM Avenger, and the rare P-39 Airacobra will take to the skies to represent those who played a key role in the Pacific Theatre.
Several guest aircraft will also be on display, including a P-40 Warhawk and a TBM Avenger, painted in a color scheme that served in the Battle of the Atlantic, that would have hunted enemy submarines along the Virginia Coast. Visitors will have the opportunity to get up close with many of the aircraft before the air show begins and explore the expansive living history encampment with reenactors from various theatres of war. Live performances of popular 1940s songs, which lifted morale on both the battlefield and the home front, will entertain attendees, while children can explore the Exploration Hangar.
The event opens each day at 9 a.m., allowing guests to visit the aircraft, displays, encampment, and military vehicles before the flying and weapons demonstrations take place from noon to 4 p.m. each day. Museum Director Keegan Chetwynd explained, “Warbirds Over the Beach is our premier air show, attracting fans from the Hampton Roads community, across the United States, and beyond. In many cases, these aircraft are the last tangible links to the men and women who built, maintained, and flew them during WWII, helping to preserve their stories and legacy. This weekend event provides that platform while thrilling audiences as these historic planes roar through the skies.”
For air show tickets, visit the event website at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
If you have any questions, please call (757) 721-7767 or visit https://
About the Military Aviation Museum:
A 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the Military Aviation Museum is home to one of the world’s largest collections of airworthy military aircraft from the first 50-years of flight. Truly a living museum, its aircraft are in restoration at facilities around the world. Besides the main Museum the Virginia Beach complex features additional exhibition spaces, including a mid-1930s Luftwaffe hangar, originally from Cottbus, Germany, which now serves to house the Museum’s collection of WWII-vintage German aircraft. Additional structures include the WWI Hangar, and the original control tower from RAF Goxhill built in England in 1942. Visit www.
