Museum History

The Kendall location of Wings Over Miami Air Museum is a hanger facility that traditionally has been used as an aviation museum. In 1986, pilot Kermit Weeks housed his growing collection of vintage aircraft in such a way that it could be shared with the community in a museum setting. In 1992, Weeks Air Museum was crushed by Hurricane Andrew and severely damaged almost all the planes. The museum was rebuilt and remained there until Mr. Weeks moved his ever-growing collection to Polk County, Florida, where he was able to expand onto 1300 acres and create his "Fantasy of Flight".

Weeks Air Museum moving left a void in the air museum community in South Florida. As a result, in late 2001, four military and classic plane enthusiasts came together and decided to transition the existing hanger into "Wings Over Miami Air Museum". The museum's new board and founders; Walter Orth, Larry Ploucha, Vincent Tirado and Tom Righetti envisioned a "flying" museum. They worked with Kermit Weeks make a smooth progression into the facility.

A new collection was acquired including vintage aircraft, military trainers, and jet aircraft from the Cold War era. The museum's collection of aircraft is almost entirely in flying condition, and some are flown regularly, mainly on the weekends. Additionally, there is recurrent plane maintenance and renovation activity on site which the public may notice as they walk through the museum. This too, is keeping with the museum's mission of being an active flying museum.

As 2009 reaches a midpoint, a new chapter of history is being written for the museum. They are starting to look towards growth and development of a permanent collection and have had some very exciting donations of aircraft in the past few months. The Museum’s Board of Directors is looking for 2010 as the year to make Wings Over Miami an educational resource for South Florida and truly reflect the gem that it is.