Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum

The Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum is a United States Marine Corps aviation museum currently located at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. The museum contains exhibits and artifacts relating to the history and legacy of United States Marine Corps Aviation. The outdoor exhibits include 31 historical aircraft, multiple military vehicles and equipment. Indoor exhibits feature photographs, artifacts and artwork from the early days of aviation to the present.

History

The El Toro Historical Center and Command Museum opened to the public in June 1991 in a squadron aviation building at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. By 1998, the name of the museum had changed to the Jay W. Hubbard Command Museum.

Move to Miramar

When MCAS El Toro closed in 1999, the museum again changed its name to the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum and moved to Naval Air Station Miramar. The museum's 41 aircraft were loaded onto trailers and towed down highways to the museum's new location, where it reopened on 25 May 2000. There it had a restoration hangar. In 2002, the museum announced plans to construct a building to display its collection. At the same time, however, increased security on the base after the September 11th attacks made it more difficult for civilians to visit.

Separately, plans for a museum at El Toro began in 2008.

The Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation was formed to support the museum's efforts and to provide interpretive programs to educate the public on the history and legacy of Marine Corps aviation. These include tours for school field trips, STEM education, the Marine Spouse Award, and annual student essay and art contests.

Return to El Toro

In 2021, the Marine Corps announced that it would be permanently closing the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum and transferring the aircraft to other museums. Subsequently, museum supporters began a campaign to move the museum to a new location.

The Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation began discussions with the City of Irvine about a possible relocation of the museum back to the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. The museum would become part of a planned Cultural Terrace at the former air station, now renamed Orange County Great Park. In December, the museum announced that an agreement had been reached to move the aircraft to the abandoned Marine Aircraft Group 46 hangars. By March of the following year, aircraft on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum were being disassembled in preparation for moves to other museums. Plans and fundraising are currently underway to move the rest of the aircraft to the new location in Great Park, Irvine, California. The museum began moving aircraft to the new location in the Hangar 296 in March 2024.

The museum received a copy of 525 oral histories from California State University, Fullerton of individuals connected to El Toro in February 2025.

Collection

Aircraft on display

* Beechcraft T-34B Mentor ''140688''
* Bell AH-1J Sea Cobra ''157784''
* Bell 214ST ''28166''
* Bell UH-1L Iroquois ''157824''
* Boeing Vertol CH-46E Sea Knight ''154803''
* Douglas A-4C Skyhawk ''148492''
* Douglas A-4F Skyhawk ''154204''
* Douglas A-4M Skyhawk II ''160264''
* Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk ''158467''
* Douglas F3D-2 Skyknight ''124630''
* Douglas F4D-1 Skyray ''139177''
* General Motors TBM-3E Avenger ''53726''
* Grumman A-6E Intruder ''154170''
* Grumman F9F-2 Panther ''123652''
* Grumman F9F-8P Cougar ''141722''
* McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee ''124988''
* McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet ''161749''
* McDonnell Douglas F-4S Phantom II ''157246''
* McDonnell Douglas RF-4B Phantom II ''151981''
* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 ''81072''
* North American SNJ-5 Texan ''90866''
* North American Rockwell OV-10D Bronco ''155494''
* Sikorsky CH-53A Sea Stallion ''153304''
* Sikorsky HRS-3 Chickasaw ''130252''
* Sikorsky HUS Seahorse ''150219''
* Vought F8U-2NE Crusader ''150920''
* Vought RF-8G Crusader ''144617''

Other exhibits

* AAI RQ-2B Pioneer – This aircraft is mounted to the M927 Truck on display.
* BMP-1 – This vehicle was captured from the Iraqi Army during Desert Storm.
* D-20 – This vehicle was captured from the Iraqi Army during Desert Storm.
* MT-LB – This vehicle was captured from the Iraqi Army during Desert Storm.
* Landing Signals Officer (LSO) Shack
* M1097 Avenger
* M927 Truck

In storage

* Bell HTL Sioux ''64-15338''
* Bell UH-1N Twin Huey ''159198''
* Stinson OY-1 Sentinel ''42-14918''
* Douglas A-4B Skyhawk ''142879''
* Ford M151A2
* Kaman HOK-1 Huskie ''139990''
* Lockheed TO-1 ''33840''
* North American PBJ-1J Mitchell ''44-86727'' – Under restoration
* Piasecki HUP-2 Retriever ''128596'' – Under restoration
* Vought RF-8G Crusader ''146858''

MCAS Miramar Post Exchange

The following items, being located away from the museum complex, are available only to visitors who have access to the post exchange.

* Douglas R4D-8 ''50835''
* Douglas R5D Skymaster ''90392''
* Fairchild R4Q Packet ''131708''

Formerly on Display

The following items were at one time displayed at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum but have since moved on to other collections.

* Douglas SBD-1 Dauntless ''1612'' – Under restoration. Now at the Air Zoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan
* General Motors FM-2 Wildcat ''16278''. Now at the Hickory Aviation Museum, Hickory, North Carolina
* Hawker Siddeley AV-8C Harrier ''158387''. Now at the Fort Worth Aviation Museum in Fort Worth, Texas
* McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet ''163152'' Now at the Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa, California
* Northrop F-5E Tiger II ''741564''. Now at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona
* Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler ''161882''. Now at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California

See also

* Marine Corps Museums
* United States Marine Corps Aviation
*Naval Aviation Hall of Honor (including USMC)
*United States naval aviator

References

Footnotes

Notes

Bibliography

*

External links

Official website

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Aerospace museums in California
Marine Corps museums in the United States
Military and war museums in California
Museums in San Diego
United States Marine Corps aviation
United States Marine Corps pilots of World War II