Established | 1952 |
---|---|
Location | Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base, Bangkok |
Coordinates | 13°55′11″N100°37′18″E / 13.9198°N 100.6218°E |
Type | Military Aviation Museum |
Owner | Royal Thai Air Force |
Public transit access | Royal Thai Air Force Museum BTS Station (BTS Sukhumvit line) |
Website | www.museum.rtaf.mi.th |
The National Aviation Museum of the Royal Thai Air Force is located in Don Mueang District, Bangkok, Thailand. It is located on the Phahonyothin Road just to the south of Wing 6 of the domestic terminal of the Don Mueang Airport. It has been served by the Royal Thai Air Force Museum BTS station since 16 December 2020. [1]
The museum was established in 1952 to collect, preserve and restore different airplanes and other aviation equipment used by the Royal Thai Air Force. In addition to one F11C and other rare aircraft, [2] the museum's collection also includes one of only 2 surviving Japanese Tachikawa Ki-36 trainers, the last surviving Vought O2U Corsair, one of 3 surviving Curtiss BF2C Goshawks, a Spitfire and several Nieuports and Breguets. [3]
The museum provides details of Thailand's role in World War II. Imperial Japanese forces landed at various points in Thailand on 8 December 1941, and after resisting for one day, the Thai forces were ordered to cease fire and allow Japanese forces to pass through the kingdom. The Thai government of Field Marshal Pibun Songkram would also declare war on both Britain and the United States in January 1942 (though the declaration was never delivered to the US by the Thai ambassador), and Thailand remained technically a Japanese ally until the Japanese surrender in August 1945, despite the existence of a large anti-Japanese underground. The museum contains several paintings of Thai fighter aircraft intercepting attacking US B-29s, P-38s and P-51s.
Since 2012, the Royal Thai Air Force Museum has received basic repair. [4] In 2020 Royal Thai Air Force Museum has renovated the museum to renovation of the Air Force Museum building area to prepare for the Royal Thai Air Force Academic Seminar 2020. The objectives of the renovation is for create an understanding of the RTAF Strategic Direction / Position, which recognizes the national defense industry in accordance with government policy which will lead to concrete Thailand 4.0 and raise awareness in the development of Sustainable and Smart Air Force with transparency and also enhance knowledge in every dimension (All Domains) in the development of the Air Force and listen to opinions from relevant parties to be a guideline for mobilization of national forces For the development of the Air Force. [5]
Thai Type | Foreign Model | RTAF Serial Number |
---|---|---|
Attacker Type 3 [6] | Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver | J3-4/94 [7] |
Attacker Type 4 [6] | Fairey Firefly | J4-11/94 [7] |
Attacker Type 5 [8] | Rockwell OV-10C Bronco | J5-10/14 [7] |
Attacker Type 6 | Cessna A-37B Dragonfly | J6-12/15 [7] |
Attacker Type 6 [8] | Cessna A-37B Dragonfly | J6-13/15 [7] |
Bomber Type 1 [9] | Breguet 14 | Replica [7] |
Bomber Type 2 [6] | Boripatra | ... |
Cargo Type 1 [10] | Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor | ... |
Cargo Type 2 [10] | Douglas C-47 Skytrain | ... |
Cargo Type 4 [10] | Fairchild C-123B Provider | L4-6/07 [7] |
Cargo Type 11[ citation needed ] | Boeing 737 | L11-1/26 [7] |
Communications Type 1[ citation needed ] | Fairchild 24 | ... |
Fighter Type 7[ citation needed ] | Boeing Model 100E | ... |
Fighter Type 10 [9] | Curtiss Hawk III | ... |
Fighter Type 11 [9] | Curtiss Hawk 75N | ... |
Fighter Type 14 [11] | Supermarine Spitfire XIV | Kh14-1/93 [7] |
Fighter Type 15 [11] | Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat | Kh15-178/98 [7] |
Fighter Type 16 [10] | Republic F-84G Thunderjet | Kh16-06/99 [7] |
Fighter Type 17 [10] | North American F-86F Sabre | Kh17-10/04 [7] |
Fighter Type 17A [10] | North American F-86L Sabre | Kh17k-5/06 [7] |
Fighter Type 18 | Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter | N/A [N 1] |
Fighter Type 18 [10] | Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter | Kh18-13/17 [7] |
Fighter and Observation Type 18[ citation needed ] | Northrop RF-5A Freedom Fighter | TKh18-3/13 [7] |
Fighter Type 18B [10] | Northrop F-5B Freedom Fighter | Kh18k-1/09 [7] |
Helicopter Type 1 [11] | Westland WS-51 Dragonfly | H1-4/96 [7] |
Helicopter Type 1A [11] | Sikorsky YR-5A | H1k-1/96 [7] |
Helicopter Type 2A [11] | Hiller UH-12B Raven | H2k-4/96 [7] |
Helicopter Type 3 [11] | Sikorsky H-19A Chickasaw | H3-3/97 [7] |
Helicopter Type 4 [11] | Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw | ... |
Helicopter Type 4A [11] | Sikorsky S-58T | H4k-64/30 [7] |
Helicopter Type 5 [11] | Kaman HH-43B Huskie | H5-2/05 [7] |
Helicopter Type 6 [11] | Bell UH-1H Iroquois | ... |
Helicopter Type 6A [11] | Bell 212 | ... |
Helicopter Type 6B [11] | Bell 412 | ... |
Helicopter Type 6C [11] | Bell 412SP | ... |
Helicopter Type 6D [11] | Bell 412EP | ... |
Helicopter Type 7 [11] | Bell OH-13H Sioux | H7-9/15 [7] |
Helicopter Type 8 [11] | Bell 206B-3 JetRanger III | H8-01/38 [7] |
Helicopter Type 9 [11] | Eurocopter AS-332L-2 Super Puma II | ... |
Liaison Type 3 [6] | Piper L-4 | S3-4/90 [7] |
Liaison Type 4 [6] | Stinson L-5 Sentinel | S4-10/90 [7] |
Liaison Type 5 [6] | Beechcraft Bonanza 35 | ... |
Liaison Type 6 [6] | Grumman G-44A Widgeon | ... |
Mapping Helicopter Type 1 [11] | Bell 206B JetRanger | ... |
Mapping Helicopter Type 2 [11] | Kawasaki KH-4 | ... |
Observation and Attacker Type 1 [9] | Vought V-93S | ... |
Observation Type 2 [6] | Cessna O-1A Bird Dog | T2-27/15 [7] |
Observation Type 2 | Cessna O-1E Bird Dog | T2-29/15 [7] |
Trainer Type 6 [9] | Tachikawa Ki-55 | ... |
Trainer Type 8 | North American T-6F Texan | F8-99/94 [7] |
Trainer Type 8 [6] | North American T-6G Texan | ... |
Trainer Type 9 [6] | de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk | ... |
Trainer Type 10 [6] | de Havilland Tiger Moth | ... |
Trainer Type 11[ citation needed ] | Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star | F11-23/13 [7] |
Trainer and Observation Type 11[ citation needed ] | Lockheed RT-33 Shooting Star | TF11-5/10 [7] |
Trainer and Observation Type 11[ citation needed ] | Lockheed RT-33 Shooting Star | TF11-8/13 [7] |
Trainer and Attacker Type 13[ citation needed ] | North American T-28 Trojan | JF13-106/14 [7] |
Trainer Type 17 [6] | RTAF-4 | F17-3/17 [7] |
Trainer Type 18[ citation needed ] | RFB Fantrainer | F18-01/27 [7] |
Trainer Type 18[ citation needed ] | RFB Fantrainer | F18k-15/32 [7] |
Utility Type 1 [6] | Helio U-10B Courier | ... |
N/A [N 2] | Breguet Type III | Replica [7] |
N/A [N 3] | Douglas A-1 Skyraider | N/A |
N/A [N 4] | Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 | N/A |
... | Pazmany PL-2 | ... |
... | RTAF-2 | ... |
... | RTAF-5 | ... |
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