The Museum's Exhibits  Restoring the Museum's Aircraft

Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History (Air & Space Department) (Musée Royal de l'Armée et d'Histoire Militaire, Bruxelles) Brussels Looking Back (to my pre-digital camera days) 1982 and 1995

July 1995

Douglas A-26B Invader (N67160 ex D-CAFY, during its restoration to its former markings as 44-34765 'AN-J').

Left to right: Supermarine Spitfire LF.9c (SM15 painted as 'MJ360 GE-B' really ex MJ783 RAF). de Havilland DH-98 Mosquito NF.30 (MB24 'ND-N' of Belgian Air Force). Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar (CP-46 'OT-CEH' of Belgian Air Force ex 53-8151). P.66 Percival Pembroke C.51 (RM-4 'OT-ZAD').

Left to right: Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (FT-34 ex 55-3043). Gloster Meteor NF.11 (NF11-3). Gloster Meteor F.8 (EG-224 'K5-K'). de Havilland DH-115 Vampire T.11 (XH292).

Left to right: North American F-86F Sabre (5316 Portuguese Air Force and ex 52-5242). Dassault MD.450 Ouragan 'Hurricane' (320 'UQ') of GE.314 AdlA. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F-13 'Fishbed-C' (F-2157 Indonesian Air Force, marked '77 red'). Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis 'Fagot-B' (3911 Czech Air Force).

Left to right: Let C.11 (1317 Czech AF painted '1706'). McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II (68-0590 'SW'). de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth (previously T7238, G-AMJD and OO-SOI c/n 83728 painted as 'T-24/UR-!') transferred on loan to Lallemand Museum (Spitfire Museum), Florennes AB by 2005.

July 1982

Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc (LF658 marked 'LF345 ZA-P').

Left to right: SV-4B Stampe (V-28 c/n 1170) ex Elementary Flying School (EVS) in white-black-red "Les Manchots" colours and modified to a single seat. SV-4B Stampe (V-64 c/n 1206) ex Belgian Air Force Elementary Flying School (Elementaire Vlieg School or EVS) in yellow-black "Les Manchots" (French for Penguins) aerobatic team colours. It was no longer on display by December 2009. SV-4C Stampe (OO-CLH c/n 28 ex F-BFZC and 28 AdlA) Registered in Belgium in 1962. Although it originally served with the French Air Force (Armée de l'Aire) as No.28, before becoming F-BFZC, it has been painted in a spurious French Navy (Aeronavale) scheme as '102/5.S.25'. Stampe SV-4D (OO-SRS c/n 1208) Registered in March 1967 to Stampe and Renard SA at Gosselies and became Jean Renard's personal aircraft. It was donated to the museum in 1978.

Left to right: Stampe-Renard SR-7B Monitor (OO-SRZ c/n 1003) Registered to Stampe and Renard SA in April 1954, its C of A expired in 1978. SAI KZ III (OO-MAA c/n 72). Scandinavian Aero Industry (SAI) built eleven KZ types from the KZ I to KZ X between 1937 and 1953 in Denmark. The example on display was first registered in Belgium in 1946 and was flying until 1971. Following its donation to the Museum it was dismantled and stored. In 1998 it was reassembled and put on display. de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter (OO-SUD). Following on from the small but very successful DHC-2 Beaver, the Otter first flew in 1951. 450 aircraft were built. This aircraft was formally with US Navy. It was later used by the 'Centre National des Recherches Polaires' until its retirement in 1972.

Left to right: Percival P.40 Prentice T.1 (VS613 registered OO-OPO). After its retirement by the RAF its was sold to Belgium and used for banner towing. By 1963 it was engineless and stored outside at Grimbergen. Acquired by the musemu it was on display complete with engine by 1978. Later it was transferred to the museum storage facility at Vissenaken, by 2016 it was in the Landen museum store. Percival P.31C Proctor 4 (P-4). The Percival Proctor was a development of the pre-war Vega Gull. Six surplus RAF aircraft (P-1 to P-6) were delivered to 367 Squadron of the Belgian Air Force, between 1947 and 1948. They were withdrawn from service in 1954. P-4 which is on show (ex RAF NP171) crashed in May 1949. Another Proctor V (OO-ARM) was displayed in the museum in the 1970s. Percival P.66 Pembroke C.51 (RM-4 'OT-ZAD'). The Pembroke entered service with the Royal Air Force as the Percival Pembroke C.1 in 1953 to replace the Avro Anson for light transport duties. Belgian Air Force operated 12 C.51s from 1954 to 1976.

Left to right: Dornier Do-27J-1 (D04). The first flight was made in 1954 and 626 were built up to 1965. Twelve Do-27s entered service with the Light Aviation branch of the Belgian Army in 1960. They were utilised as a six 6 seat communications hack and as a platform for free fall parachute training. In March 1977 the final Dornier Do-27 flight was made. D04 was transferred to the museum in August 1977. Fairchild UC-61K Forwarder/Argus III (OO-LUT and marked as 43-14987 c/n 951). The Museum's Argus was originally USAAF UC-61K (43-14987) and is displayed as such. Following its military career it was registered in France as F-BAMB before moving to Belgium in 1962 as OO-LUT. It was retired in 1970. Another Argus, OO-LMV c/n 1069, was also on display at the Museum for many years from 1979. North American AT-6D Harvard III (H21 ex 42-84169 (USAAF), ex EZ256 (RAF), ex 7630 (SAAF). The example on display served with the RAF before being transferred to the Belgian Air Force in 1947. The museum had another AT-6 (B-67 RNAF) which was exchanged for the Yak-11 in 1992 at the Prague Museum.

Left to right: de Havilland DH-115 Vampire T.11 (XH292). The T.11 on display, following a period of storage at Woodford, UK. was transferred to the Museum in 1973. Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (FT-34 ex 55-3043). From 1952 till 1956 the Belgian Air Force received 39 T-33As (serials FT-1 to FT-38), eight were later transferred to the Dutch Air Force. They were needed to train pilots on the new F-84s that were now being delivered. They remained in service until 1979 as jet trainers. Dassault MD.450 Ouragan 'Hurricane' (320 'UQ' of GE.314 AdlA). The Avions Marcel Dassault MD.450 Ouragan was the first mass-produced French built jet fighter, taking to the air for the first time in February 28, 1949.

Left to right: SAAB J35A Draken 'Dragon' (35067 Swedish Air Force). The Draken on display arrived on November 20, 1978 and wears the RSAF markings of F16 wing and is coded '34'. It was no longer on display by December 2009. Avro Canada CF-100 Mk.5 Canuck (18534 RCAF). The Belgian Air Force received 53 (AX-1 to AX-53) Canucks, these being operated by 1 Wing from 1957. They were withdrawn in the early 1960s, all being scrapped from 1964. The Museum's aircraft is an ex RCAF machine which did not actually serve with the Belgian Air Force. Fouga CM.170 Magister (MT-24 of Belgian Air Force). The Magister serials were MT-1 to MT-50 with some serials being used twice following write-offs. The example on display (MT-24) was withdrawn after landing accident at Solenzara in November 1978, transferring to the Museum in 1979.