Aviodrome

Fokker 50 prototype PH-OSI in front of the main building of the museum

The orange DC-3 PH-ALR (without motors), taken in August 2004

KLM Boeing with an extended upper deck

The Aviodrome museum in the Netherlands Lelystad is an aviation museum, which primarily with the history of the Dutch civil aviation is concerned. The museum is located on the premises of Lelystad Airport and has an extensive collection of various aircraft. It was created in 2003 from the former Aviation Museum named Aviodome (without the "r") at the airport Amsterdam - Schiphol .

Bankruptcy and Rescue

The museum ran into financial difficulties in 2011, had to file for bankruptcy in November 2011 and temporarily close on December 23, 2011. In the event that no investor was found by March 2012, the appointed insolvency administrator had announced that the museum would be closed and the exhibits auctioned.

However, negotiations with the Libéma Group, an operator of several Dutch theme parks, resulted in the successful sale of the museum on March 23, 2012. Libéma announced that it would invest around 5.4 million euros in preserving the entire collection and continuing the museum with a new concept. The reopening took place on April 28, 2012.

Attractions

The aircraft are housed in two hangars , one of which also serves as a workshop. Some larger machines are also outside the halls and some of them can also be viewed from the inside.

One of the main attractions of this museum is the Uiver, the world's last flying Douglas DC-2 . A machine of the same name and the same type won in 1934 for KLM the MacRobertson Air Race from Mildenhall, England to Melbourne in the handicap standings and finished second in the speed rating. The Aviodrome Museum also operates a Lockheed 749 Constellation in KLM colors. An orange Douglas DC-3 is also in the museum's possession, but this machine is not in an airworthy condition. Until the end of May 2006, the DC-3 "Fifi Kate" (in military livery) was a permanent guest in Lelystad.

The following machines are among the other exhibits. However, unlike the ones mentioned above, they no longer fly.

Antonov An-2 (sightseeing flights possible)
Boeing 747-200SUD (KLM colors)
De Havilland DH.104 Dove
Douglas DC-3 (KLM colors)
Douglas DC-4
Fokker Spin
Fokker F-27 (3rd built copy of the best-selling turboprop )
Fokker 50 (prototype)
Wright Flyer ( Replica )

Parts of other aircraft are shown. These include the cockpit of an SE 210 Caravelle and that of a Fokker 100 as well as parts of the prototype of the Fokker F-27.

On December 18, 2004, exactly 101 years after the Wright brothers' flight, the Boeing 747-200SUD " Louis Blériot " acquired by KLM was brought into the museum via canals and streets. Then the machine was rebuilt and can also be viewed inside. This was the first Boeing 747 with an extended upper deck that is in a museum.

Terminal building

Next to the two large halls is a replica of the first terminal building at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. This is where there are ticket counters where tickets for sightseeing flights can be purchased, as well as the café and some rooms in which lectures or films are regularly held.