The Musée de l'air et de l'espace (, ) is a French aerospace museum, located at the south-eastern edge of

Paris–Le Bourget Airport Paris–Le Bourget Airport () is an airport located within portions of the communes of Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, Dugny and Gonesse, north-northeast of Paris, France. Once Paris's principal airport, it is now used only for general a ...

, north of Paris, and in the commune of

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...

. It was inaugurated in 1919 after a proposal by the celebrated aeronautics engineer

Albert Caquot Albert Irénée Caquot (; 1 July 1881 – 28 November 1976) was a French engineer. He received the “Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)” (military honor) and was Grand-croix of the Légion d’Honneur (1951). In 1962, he was awarded the Wi ...

(1881–1976).

Description

Occupying over 1.5sq km of land and hangars, it is one of the oldest aviation museums in the world. The museum's collection contains more than 19,595 items, including 150 aircraft, and material from as far back as the 16th Century. Also displayed are more modern air and spacecraft, including the prototype for

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

, and Swiss and Soviet

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

s. The museum also has the only known remaining piece — the jettisoned main landing gear — of '' L'Oiseau Blanc'' (''The White Bird''), the 1927 aircraft which attempted to make the first

Transatlantic crossing Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...

from Paris to New York. On 8 May 1927 Charles Nungesser and François Coli aboard L'Oiseau blanc, a 450-hp Lorraine-powered Levasseur biplane took off from

. The aircraft jettisoned its main landing gear (which is stored at the museum), which it was designed to do as part of its trans-Atlantic flight profile, but then disappeared over the Atlantic, only two weeks before Lindbergh's monoplane completed its successful solo non-stop trans-Atlantic flight to Le Bourget from the United States. Other items of interest range include: *gilded bronze medallion of the

Montgolfier brothers The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the Communes o ...

, created in 1783 by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828) *the Biot-Massia glider (1879) *an 1884 electric motor by

Arthur Constantin Krebs Arthur Constantin Krebs (16 November 1850 – 22 March 1935) was a French officer and pioneer in automotive engineering. Life Collaborating with Charles Renard, Krebs piloted Timeline of aviation - 19th century, the first fully control ...

(1850–1935) *the rear gondola of the 1915

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

LZ 113, equipped with 3

Maybach Maybach (, ) is a German luxury car brand owned by and a part of Mercedes-Benz AG. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'', and it was ...

type HS engines *a 1916 SPAD VII aircraft by Blériot-SPAD and flown by French flying ace Georges Guynemer in World War I *a 1917 Airco DH.9 aircraft by

Geoffrey de Havilland Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965) was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer. De Havilland, The aircraft company he founded produced the de Havilland Mosquit ...

(1882–1965) *a 1918 Junkers D.I aircraft by

Hugo Junkers Hugo Junkers (3 February 1859 – 3 February 1935) was a German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and ...

(1859–1935) *a 1961

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...

C by Marcel Dassault (1892–1986) *an SSBS S3 surface-to-surface

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...

commissioned in 1981 *The original Soyuz T-6 reentry capsule used by the first French astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien in 1982 *a 2002

Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard The Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard (''Étendard'' is French for "War flag, battle flag", cognate to English "standard") is a French carrier-based aircraft, carrier-borne attack aircraft, strike fighter aircraft designed by Dassault Aviation, ...

model

Aircraft on display

Grand Gallery

* Antoinette VII *

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. ...

* Voisin-Farman No 1 * Santos-Dumont Demoiselle

Between the Wars and Light Aviation Hall

* Bréguet 14 * Farman Goliath * Oiseau Blanc *

Nieuport 11 The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 in contemporary sources), nicknamed the ''Bébé'', is a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge in 1 ...

World War II Hall

* Bücker Bü 181 * Dewoitine D.520 *

Douglas A-1 Skyraider The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly designated AD before the 1962 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system, unification of Navy and Air Force designations) is an American single-seat attack aircraft in service from 1946 to the ...

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

cockpit *

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kin ...

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

* Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI *

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

Roundel Hall

* Dassault Mystère IV * Dassault Ouragan * North American F-86D Sabre *

North American F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft designed and produced by the aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation. The first of the Century Series of American jet fighters, it was the first United ...

Republic F-84 Thunderjet The Republic F-84 Thunderjet is an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thunde ...

Prototype Hall

Aérospatiale Ludion The Sud Aviation/Aérospatiale SA-610 Ludion (''Ludion'' - Cadet) is a tiny, unorthodox VTOL aircraft demonstrated at the 1967 Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (, ''Salon du Bourget'') is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris ...

Dassault Balzac V The Dassault Balzac V was a French vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) testbed of the early 1960s. It was built by Dassault Aviation from a prototype Dassault Mirage III, Mirage III aircraft to test the configuration for the Dassault Mirage IIIV ...

* Leduc 0.10 * Nord 1500 Griffon * SNCASO Trident * Sud-Ouest SO.6000 Triton

Concorde Hall

(two, F-WTSS prototype and Air France F-BTSD) *:'' Concorde 001'' is featured in its

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Solar Eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

mission livery, with the special rooftop portholes visible. *

Dassault Mirage IV The Dassault Mirage IV is a French supersonic strategic bomber and deep-reconnaissance aircraft. Developed by Dassault Aviation, the aircraft entered service with the French Air Force in October 1964. For many years it was a vital part of the ...

. The plane number 9 (F-THAH) was used to drop a live nuclear bomb during the '' Tamouré'' nuclear test in 1966. * Dassault Mirage 4000 * Eurocopter X3Airbus Helicopters X3 makes its new home at France's national Air and Space museum
Airbus PR, 19 June 2014. Accessed: 19 June 2014
Archive
/ref> *

Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s, and made its maiden flight on May 27, 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...

forward fuselage

Tarmac/Exterior Exhibit

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

Ariane 1 Ariane 1 () was the first rocket in the Ariane family of expendable launch systems. It was developed for and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), which had been formed in 1973, the same year that development of the launcher had commenc ...

(model) *

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...

(model) *

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USA ...

Canadair CL-215 The Canadair CL-215 (Scooper) is the first model in a series of amphibious aircraft, amphibious flying boats designed and built by Canada, Canadian aircraft manufacturer Canadair, and later produced by Bombardier Aerospace, Bombardier. It is o ...

Lockheed P-2 Neptune The Lockheed P-2 Neptune (designated P2V by the United States Navy prior to September 1962) is a Maritime patrol aircraft, maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. It was developed for the US Navy by Lockheed Corporation, Lockh ...

* Breguet Atlantic *

Dassault Mercure The Dassault Mercure was a twin-engined narrow-body jet-powered airliner developed and manufactured by French aircraft firm Dassault Aviation. According to Dassault, it was the first large-scale European cooperative civil aeronautics programme ...

* Transall C-160 * Dassault Super Etendard * SEPECAT Jaguar * Dassault Mirage 4000 *

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

References

External links

*
Official website in English, currently not fully translated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee de l'Air Museums in Seine-Saint-Denis Aerospace museums in France National museums of France Museums established in 1919 1919 establishments in France Air force museums