Aviodrome

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Entrance of the Museum
Entrance of the Museum

The Nationaal Luchtvaart-Themapark Aviodrome (short also Aviodrome) is a large aviation museum in The Netherlands located on Lelystad Airport since 2003.

Contents

[edit] History

Replica of the old Schiphol terminal building
Replica of the old Schiphol terminal building

In 1955 it was decided by several organisations such as the airline KLM and aircraft manufacturer Fokker to put together a foundation called "Stichting voor het Nationaal Luchtvaartmuseum" with as goal to create a national aviation museum.

The first aviation museum in the Netherlands opened its doors in 1960 on Schiphol airport and was called the Aeroplanorama and had only seven aircraft on display. It closed in 1967 and a new museum called the Aviodome was opened in 1971 on Schiphol. The main building was a large aluminium dome, the largest in the world at the time, which housed most of the aircraft on display.

The location started to become too small for the growing collection and in 2003 the museum was moved to a new location on Lelystad Airport. The building at Schiphol was demolished and the name was changed to Aviodrome. On the current location, it has three buildings: the main building where most of the aircraft on display are located and where there's a restaurant and a cinema, a replica of the old Schiphol terminal building from 1928 and a hangar for aircraft storage with limited access for visitors.

[edit] Collection

Note that not all aircraft listed are currently on display or even present at the museum. The museum also frequently houses or is visited by aircraft that aren't owned by the museum.

The Catalina at the museum
The Catalina at the museum
The Lockheed Constellation at the museum
The Lockheed Constellation at the museum

[edit] Noteworthy projects

[edit] Jumbo's touchdown

The Louis Blériot being lifted from a barge
The Louis Blériot being lifted from a barge

In 2004 the last of KLM's classic Boeing 747-200's named Louis Blériot was sold to the Aviodrome for the symbolic amount of 1 euro. Though the aircraft could still fly, Lelystad Airport was too small to handle such a large aircraft so the aircraft was partially disassembled and moved over water on a barge. After the journey over water that attracted a lot of attention the aircraft was lifted from the barge at Harderwijk and the last bit of the trip took place over land. At its final location the aircraft was re-assembled and opened to the public.

[edit] Connie's comeback

Perhaps one of the most spectacular pieces in the collection of the Aviodrome is the Lockheed L-749 Constellation, often just called Connie. After several years of restoration work it was flown over to the Netherlands in 2002 from the United States where it had been in storage. More work, including a new paintjob, was done to the aircraft in the Netherlands but sadly the aircraft suffered from engine problems in 2004 and hasn't flown since. Two replacement engines coming from the Korean Air museum have been fitted however and it is hoped that the aircraft will be airworthy again some time 2006.

[edit] De Uiver

DC-2 - De Uiver
DC-2 - De Uiver

De Uiver was the name of a Douglas DC-2 that placed second in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race, only being beaten by a purpose built de Havilland DH.88 racer Grosvenor House. The real Uiver, which is an old Dutch word for Stork, no longer exists. The Aviodrome owns one of the last still airworthy DC-2 in the world. This DC-2 is a former US Navy aircraft painted in the Uiver's original KLM colors. Sadly, due to an unexpected gear collapse the aircraft suffered some minor damage and is currently awaiting repair.

[edit] Fokker Friendship

The Fokker F-27 Friendship was Fokker's best selling aircraft model of all time. Production of this first post-war Fokker airliner started in 1955 and many of them are still in service today. The Aviodrome purchased the oldest still flying series produced F-27 from its Australian owner in 2004 and painted it in the colors of the no longer existing Nederlandse Luchtvaart Maatschappij (NLM). Exactly fifty years after the first flight of the first F-27 on 24 November 1955 this aircraft made a memorial flight as a tribute to fifty years Fokker Friendship.

[edit] External links

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