Consider the shores of the Old Dominion, specifically, Virginia Beach. There, you’ll find sandy beaches and warm ocean water, plus the added benefit of several aviation/military museums and American history sites.
Hampton Roads
The East Coast of the United States has some of the finest beaches in the world, stretching from New England all along the Atlantic coast south to Miami. The beaches are wide, with clean, white sand and the Gulf Stream keeps the ocean comfortably warm.
Virginia Beach lies about midway, in the southeastern corner of Virginia and at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It’s part of the Hampton Roads area, which includes the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, and several more. It’s a heavily populated area, because of the tourism of Virginia Beach and the military presence at Norfolk, both active and retired.
If arriving from the north, you could fly over the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Look for the Bay Bridge-Tunnel and the ships (usually including a couple aircraft carriers) docked at the Norfolk Naval Station below. Norfolk International Airport, the Navy’s Oceana Naval Air Station, and several other military airfields are in proximity, so it’s a busy airspace. Plan accordingly. For those who want to avoid the hustle and bustle, maneuver to the west of Norfolk to Chesapeake Regional Airport (CPK) or Hampton Roads Executive Airport (PVG).
Virginia Beach
A three-mile boardwalk stretches along Virginia Beach, centered around 21st Street. It’s a typical beach town with oceanfront hotels and vacation rentals, fishing pier, restaurants, bars, mini-golf, and beach arcades.
Drive 11 miles south to Virginia Beach Airport (42VA) and the Military Aviation Museum. It’s slightly inland, about five miles west of Sandbridge, a quiet coastal town with plenty of vacation rentals that makes it a good alternative to the bustle of Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach Airport is a private airport used by the museum for airshows and landing there is not permitted. Most pilots will have to drive here.
The museum exhibits one of the largest collections of airworthy military aircraft and flies many of them during airshows. The latest acquisition is a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. The museum owns many rare aircraft including the only flying Soviet Mig–3 and a Messerschmitt Me–262, the world’s first operational combat jet. World War I aircraft include a Sopwith Strutter and a Nieuport 17. An even earlier airplane is the Blériot XI, the model that made the first crossing of the English Channel in 1909.
Also located at the airport is the museum’s restoration and maintenance facility, known as the Fighter Factory, which is staffed by mechanics with the expertise to maintain these vintage aircraft. The collection was assembled by Jerry and Elaine Yagen, owners of the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, which operates more than a dozen schools in the United States.
Norfolk and Hampton
In Norfolk and Hampton, about 18 miles west of Virginia Beach, you’ll find several aviation and military history museums.
The MacArthur Memorial in downtown Norfolk is dedicated to the legacy of General Douglas MacArthur and those who served during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. The memorial houses the tomb of MacArthur and his wife.
The Hampton Roads Naval Museum celebrates the history of the U.S. Navy in the Hampton Roads area. Exhibits include artifacts from two Civil War shipwrecks: the Confederate Navy’s sloop-of-war, CSS Florida, and the USS Cumberland, a U.S. Navy frigate. Adjacent to the HRNM is Nauticus, another maritime museum whose largest exhibit is the World War II battleship, the USS Wisconsin.
Across the James River is the Virginia Air and Space Science Center in Hampton, Virginia. The museum exhibits the Apollo 12 Command Module, a Mercury space capsule, plus numerous civilian and military aircraft such as a F–4 Phantom, P–39 Airacobra, and DC–9. It also houses an IMAX theater and is the visitor center for NASA’s Langley Research Center.
