page_title: Military Aviation Museum
section_title: The Fighter Factory
hierarchical_section_title: Military Aviation Museum / Restorations and Reproductions / The Fighter Factory
caption_attribution_description: English: Maintenance hangar at the Military Aviation Museum
context_page_description: The Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is home to one of the world's largest collections of warbirds in flying condition. It includes examples from Germany, France, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, from both World War I and World War II, although the complete collection ranges from the 1910s to the early 1950s.
  Its mission is to "preserve, restore and fly these historic aircraft and to allow a new generation to experience and learn from what [their forebears] might have endured ... in the skies so very far from home."
  Unlike most other collections, which are displayed in a static museum environment, almost all of the historic aircraft at the Museum have been restored to flying condition. In twice-yearly major airshows, as well as other special events, the aircraft fly again for the public to view and experience.
  The collection also includes a large reference library, along with artifacts and materials to illustrate the historic context of the aircraft in the collection.
context_section_description: Associated with the museum is an aircraft restoration and maintenance organization, called The Fighter Factory, started in 1996 to restore the collection's first aircraft (the P-40E).
  It was originally located at Norfolk Airport, and later moved to premises at the Suffolk Municipal Airport in Suffolk, Virginia. It currently operates two facilities: the one in Suffolk, and a new facility (in the purpose-built hangar) at the museum.
  Visitors to the museum can take a guided tour of the Fighter Factory hangar during weekdays, and view the team of maintenance technicians performing tasks such as regular maintenance and minor restoration work.
caption: Fighter Factory facility in the maintenance hangar at the Military Aviation Museum
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