Visit to the Belgrade Museum of Aviation: April 25, 2009

Yesterday we toured the Museum of Aviation located on the grounds of the Nikola Tesla International Airport in Belgrade. The kids loved it and we spent an entertaining two hours in the museum. I highly recommend a visit to anyone with a interest in flight, military history, and with children.

Ollie and Owen are shown above in a cockpit of one of the planes. They were impressed with being able to move the tail and wings with the controls. The building is very cool and upon entering, is like going back into a time warp of the early 70’s. I told Owen, “This is what it was like when I was a kid.” They still had that 70’s fake wood paneling, credit card stickers from long ago, and the funky desks and furniture from the era. They had an impressive amount of planes with many having English descriptions. On display was also a tail of an US F-16 that was shot down during the NATO bombing (the pilot ejected and was rescued) and a British unexploded bomb found in Kosovo, also from the NATO bombing. Here is a link about the history of the building.

All eras of flight are on display including the World War I fighters, World War II, Communist Yugoslavian Air Force, and the history of JAT Airlines. As I said, a very impressive and complete collection! The boys were totally punped and were running around outside on the planes and helicopters, pretending to be James Bond.

I think the visit will generate an interest in aviation for the boys. We may buy a model plane and put it together for them. We also have to watch the ultimate in fighter jet movies, Top Gun with the boys.