A Beechcraft T-34 Mentor, a Boeing F/A-18 Hornet and a Chinese-made MIG 15 traveling the 5 Freeway caused some excitement and lots of rubbernecking from motorists.
The convoy of trailers drove 85 miles on Tuesday from the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar to the aircrafts future home at the Irvine’s Great Park.
The three military aircraft are the first of 40 to “land” at Hangar 297, a renovated hangar that was once part of Marine Corps Airstation El Toro and, during its heyday, was the home of an aerial tanker transport squadron.
The aircraft are all Marine fixed-wing or rotary, and as they arrive over the next few months will be stored at the hangar, where restoration work will be done for the next two years in preparation for the opening of the new Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum in early 2026.
“The Marines have landed and have the situation well in hand,” said retired Gen. Mike Aguilar, CEO and president of the museum, using a quote made famous by correspondent Richard Harding Davis. “It’s a milestone for us of nearly two years working with the city of Irvine and the Marine Corps getting these aircraft transported.”
Once the museum is completed, the aircraft and other artifacts and exhibits will become a tribute to Southern California Marine aviation history that marked its 100th milestone in 2022. The museum – planned as a 100,000-square-foot facility that will be built close to the old hangar – is a private-public partnership between the Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation, the city of Irvine and the Marine Corps.
In 2020, the Marine Corps announced plans to close the museum at MCAS Miramar because of a lack of funding. While most of the costs to operate and maintain the museum were funded by the Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation, the aircraft and facilities belonged to the Navy and Marine Corps.
With the impending closure, the foundation’s board of directors considered other locations. The city of Irvine reached…
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