Royal Thai Air Force Museum

The Royal Thai Air Force Museum 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 was served by the Royal Thai Air Force Museum BTS station since 16 December 2020.[1]

Royal Thai Air Force Museum
Entrance to the museum
Royal Thai Air Force Museum is located in Thailand
Royal Thai Air Force Museum
Location in Thailand
Established1952
LocationDon Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base,
Bangkok
Coordinates13.9198°N 100.6218°E / 13.9198; 100.6218
TypeMilitary Aviation Museum
OwnerRoyal Thai Air Force
Public transit accessRoyal Thai Air Force Museum BTS Station (BTS Sukhumvit line)
Websitewww.museum.rtaf.mi.th

Overview
Grumman F8F Bearcat at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum
in front of the museum

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.

Pro-Japanese, anti British poster at the museum

Renovation

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]

Aircraft on display
Thai TypeForeign ModelRTAF Serial Number
Attacker Type 3[6]Curtiss SB2C-5 HelldiverJ3-4/94[7]
Attacker Type 4[6]Fairey Firefly IJ4-11/94[7]
Attacker Type 5[8]Rockwell OV-10C BroncoJ5-10/14[7]
Attacker Type 6Cessna A-37B DragonflyJ6-12/15[7]
Attacker Type 6[8]Cessna A-37B DragonflyJ6-13/15[7]
Bomber Type 1[9]Breguet 14Replica[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 ProviderL4-6/07[7]
Cargo Type 11Boeing 737L11-1/26[7]
Communications Type 1Fairchild 24...
Fighter Type 7Boeing Model 100E...
Fighter Type 10[9]Curtiss Hawk III...
Fighter Type 11[9]Curtiss Hawk 75N...
Fighter Type 14[11]Supermarine Spitfire XIVKh14-1/93[7]
Fighter Type 15[11]Grumman F8F-1 BearcatKh15-178/98[7]
Fighter Type 16[10]Republic F-84G ThunderjetKh16-06/99[7]
Fighter Type 17[10]North American F-86F SabreKh17-10/04[7]
Fighter Type 17A[10]North American F-86L SabreKh17k-5/06[7]
Fighter Type 18Northrop F-5A Freedom FighterN/A[N 1]
Fighter Type 18[10]Northrop F-5A Freedom FighterKh18-13/17[7]
Fighter and Observation Type 18Northrop RF-5A Freedom FighterTKh18-3/13[7]
Fighter Type 18B[10]Northrop F-5B Freedom FighterKh18k-1/09[7]
Helicopter Type 1[11]Westland WS-51 DragonflyH1-4/96[7]
Helicopter Type 1A[11]Sikorsky YR-5AH1k-1/96[7]
Helicopter Type 2A[11]Hiller UH-12B RavenH2k-4/96[7]
Helicopter Type 3[11]Sikorsky H-19A ChickasawH3-3/97[7]
Helicopter Type 4[11]Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw...
Helicopter Type 4A[11]Sikorsky S-58TH4k-64/30[7]
Helicopter Type 5[11]Kaman HH-43B HuskieH5-2/05[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 SiouxH7-9/15[7]
Helicopter Type 8[11]Bell 206B-3 JetRanger IIIH8-01/38[7]
Helicopter Type 9[11]Eurocopter AS-332L-2 Super Puma II...
Liaison Type 3[6]Piper L-4S3-4/90[7]
Liaison Type 4[6]Stinson L-5 SentinelS4-10/90[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 DogT2-27/15[7]
Observation Type 2Cessna O-1E Bird DogT2-29/15[7]
Trainer Type 6[9]Tachikawa Ki-55...
Trainer Type 8North American T-6F TexanF8-99/94[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 11Lockheed T-33 Shooting StarF11-23/13[7]
Trainer and Observation Type 11Lockheed RT-33 Shooting StarTF11-5/10[7]
Trainer and Observation Type 11Lockheed RT-33 Shooting StarTF11-8/13[7]
Trainer and Attacker Type 13North American T-28 TrojanJF13-106/14[7]
Trainer Type 17[6]RTAF-4F17-3/17[7]
Trainer Type 18RFB FantrainerF18-01/27[7]
Trainer Type 18RFB FantrainerF18k-15/32[7]
Utility Type 1[6]Helio U-10B Courier...
N/A[N 2]Breguet Type IIIReplica[7]
N/A[N 3]Douglas A-1 SkyraiderN/A
N/A[N 4]Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21N/A
...Pazmany PL-2...
...RTAF-2...
...RTAF-5...
  • Tachikawa Ki-36
    Tachikawa Ki-36
  • Boeing 100E
    Boeing 100E
  • Curtiss BF2C Goshawk
    Curtiss BF2C Goshawk
  • Vought O2U Corsair (under the codename V-93S/SA)
    Vought O2U Corsair (under the codename V-93S/SA)
  • Spitfire FR Mk.XIVe SM914. Royal Thai Air Force serial KH14-1/93
    Spitfire FR Mk.XIVe SM914. Royal Thai Air Force serial KH14-1/93
  • Westland Dragonfly WS-51 Mk.1A H1-4/96 (cn WA/H/120)
    Westland Dragonfly WS-51 Mk.1A H1-4/96 (cn WA/H/120)
  • F-5A 97158
    F-5A 97158
  • Retired AV-8S Thai Navy
    Retired AV-8S Thai Navy
  • A-7E Thai Navy
    A-7E Thai Navy
  • L-39 ZA/ART
    L-39 ZA/ART
  • Ex Vietnamese Air Force Mig-21
    Ex Vietnamese Air Force Mig-21
  • Retired Douglas A-1 Skyraider
    Retired Douglas A-1 Skyraider
  • OV-10
    OV-10
  • G-222
    G-222
  • Helio U-10B
    Helio U-10B

See also

References
  1. "ประยุทธ์ กดปุ่มเปิด "รถไฟฟ้าสีเขียว-สีทอง" คูคต-ไอคอนสยาม ยังนั่งฟรี". Prachachat.
  2. Boyne, Walter J. (2001). The Best of Wings Magazine. Brassey's. p. 41. ISBN 1574883682.
  3. Cummings, Joe; China Williams. Bangkok. Lonely Planet. p. 98. ISBN 1740594606.
  4. "พิพิธภัณฑ์กองทัพอากาศ". www.trueplookpanya.com. Retrieved Jun 24, 2020.
  5. "โครงการออกแบบปรับปรุงพิพิธภัณฑ์กองทัพอากาศและการบินแห่งชาติ Museum Renovation design for Royal Thai Airforce Museum RTAFM | FAA". Retrieved Jun 24, 2020.
  6. "Building 1". Royal Thai Air Force Museum. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  7. Darke, Steve (26 December 2016). "ROYAL THAI AIR FORCE MUSEUM, DON MUEANG" (PDF). The Thai Aviation Website. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  8. "Building 3: Aircraft used during anti-communism campaign". Royal Thai Air Force Museum. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  9. "Building 2". Royal Thai Air Force Museum. Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  10. "Outdoor Display". Royal Thai Air Force Museum. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  11. "Building 5". Royal Thai Air Force Museum. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2017.

Notes
  1. This airframe never served with the RTAF.
  2. This aircraft type predates the designation sequence.
  3. This aircraft type was never operated by the RTAF.
  4. This aircraft type was never operated by the RTAF.
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