Museo del Aire (Madrid)

Museo del Aire

Museo de Aeronáutica y Astronáutica
Image of the museum
Established	Built in 1979
Location	Madrid
Coordinates
Type	Aviation museum
Public transit access	Line 10 (Madrid Metro)
Website	website

The Museo del Aire, full title in Spanish Museo de Aeronáutica y Astronáutica o Museo del Aire, is an aviation museum located in the outskirts of Madrid at Cuatro Vientos Airport, Spain. The museum was founded in 1981, and offers six exhibition galleries and it has about 150 aircraft on display.

Cuatro Vientos was inaugurated in 1911 and is Spain’s first military airfield. The airfield, although surrounded by construction, is still in use.

Museum displays

The museum facilities extend over a surface of more than 66,000 m², including outdoor displays and seven hangars. There are mainly planes and helicopters, many of which have previously served in the Spanish Air Force. Visitors will also find hundreds of miniature aircraft models, uniforms, engines, weapons and many other aviation related objects.

Aircraft on display include a Vilanova Acedo, Spanish version of the Blériot XI built in 1911, the Jesús del Gran Poder, a special version of the Breguet 19 used on the transatlantic flight to Asia and America between 1928 and 1929, a few aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force, as well as the famous de Havilland Dragon Rapide used by Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands to Tétouan at the start of the military rebellion which began the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

Of special interest are also the Spanish versions of the Heinkel He 111 and the Junkers Ju 52.

Visitors

• The entrance and camera usage fee: none, free admission.
• Timetable: Tuesday to Sunday: 10 am to 14 pm. The museum is closed all Mondays and special days.

Ways to get there

There is no access from the airport to the museum, and this is surrounded by a confusing number of roads.

• By bus: It is better to take any of the Madrid-Alcorcón-Móstoles green buses of the BLAS company at Príncipe Pío station and ask the driver where to drop off. Busses pass here frequently.
• Nearest metro (Madrid metro) and commuter rail (Cercanías Madrid) station: Line 10 (Madrid Metro). Cuatro Vientos Metro station falls a bit short from the museum, about 1 kilometre.
• By car: autovía A-5, 10,5 km. Parking is free in front of entrance to the Museum.

Aircraft exhibits

Source: Odgen 2009

The museum has over 150 aircraft exhibited in outdoor and indoor displays. Over 50 others are not on display, but can often be seen around the site.

List of selected aircraft on display (individual examples already noted or illustrated in Wikimedia projects)

Designation	Displayed identity	Notes	Image
Aerotécnica AC-12	Z.2–6		commons
Aerotécnica AC-14	Z.4-06		commons
Boeing KC-97G	TK.1-03	'123-03'
Bolkow Bo.105LOH	HR.15–21	'ET-140'	commons
Breguet 19GR	-	'Cuatro Vientos'	commons
Breguet 19TR Bidon	72	'Jesus del Gran Poder'	commons
Bristol F.2B	B21
CASA 2.111E (Heinkel 111H)	T.8B-97	'462-04'
CASA 352L (Junkers Ju.52)	T.2B-211	'911-16'	commons
CASA C-101 Aviojet	XE.25-01		commons
CASA C-207 Azor	T.7-6	'405-15'	commons
CASA C-212 Aviocar	XT.12-1	'54-10'	commons
Caudron G.3	BC-6		commons
Cierva C.6	C.6-B		commons
Cierva C.19	EC-AIM		commons
Cierva C.30A	XVU.1-1
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina	DR.1-1
de Havilland Dragon Rapide	G-ACYR		commons
de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou	T.9–25		commons
Dornier Do 24T-3	HD.5-2	'58-2'	commons
Douglas C-47 Dakota	T.3–36	'721-9'
Farman F.402	SF-002		commons
Fieseler Fi 156 Storch	L.16–23		commons
Grumman HU-16B	AD.1B-8
Heinkel 111E-3	B.2–82	'25–82'
Hispano HS-34	EC-AFJ
Hispano HA-1112K1L Tripala	C.4J-2		commons
Hispano HA-1112M1L Buchon	C.4K-158		commons
Hispano HA-200 Saeta	A.10C-104		commons
Lockheed F-104G Starfighter	C.8–15	'104-15'	commons
McDonnell F-4C Phantom II	C.12–37	'12–29'	commons
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17	42		commons
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21	22–26	E German AF	commons
Mil Mi-2	CCCP-23760	Icona '34'	commons
Nieuport IV	M.N.N.5
North American T-6G	E.16–90	'793-6'	commons
North American B-25J Mitchell	130338	'74-17'
North American F-86 Sabre	C.5-175	'1–175'	commons
Polikarpov I-15	CA-125		commons
Slingsby T.34 Sky	EC-RAT
Transavia PL-12 Airtruk	VH-TRQ		commons
Vilanova Acedo (Blériot XI)	-		commons
Westland Whirlwind 2	ZD.1B-22	'803-4'	commons

Gallery

• Vilanova Acedo (Blériot XI).jpg

  The Vilanova Acedo built in 1911, is the oldest aircraft in Spain.

• Br19sb cuatrovientos.jpg

  Cuatro Vientos (replica); this aircraft flew in 1933 from Spain to Cuba.

• Jesus del gran poder.jpg

  Jesús del Gran Poder, historical Spanish aircraft.

• Farman F 402.jpeg

  Farman F.402 of the Spanish Republican Air Force.

See also

• List of aircraft of the Spanish Air Force
• List of aerospace museums

Bibliography

• Ogden, Bob. (2009). Aviation Museums and Collections of Mainland Europe. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd ISBN 0-85130-375-7

External links

• Museo del Aire, the official website (2011) (Spanish)
• Asociación Amigos del Museo del Aire, Spanish association (2011) (Spanish)
• Visit to Museo de Aeronáutica y Astronáutica (2009)
• aviationmuseum.eu: Museo del Aire (2010)