The National Aeronautics Museum "Brigadier Edmundo Civati Bernasconi" (Spanish: Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica) is an Argentine museum located in the city of Morón, Buenos Aires. Established in 1960, the museum is dedicated to the history of aviation, in particular the Argentine Air Force.
Its collection includes some unique aircraft, like the Pulqui I and Pulqui II jet prototypes, the Urubú flying wing glider, the I.Ae. 22 DL trainer, and a Latécoère XXV flown by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
History
The museum was created on January 13, 1960, by decree 264/60 of the President of the Republic, its first director and main supporter being Brigadier Edmundo Civatti Bernasconi.
It was initially located at the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, where the aircraft were displayed in the grounds without protection from the weather. In the 1980s it was proposed to relocate the museum to provide protection to the aircraft, a new facility close to the Ezeiza airport was suggested.
In February 2013, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81 (ex-Austral, LV-WFN) was donated to the museum, for restoration and exhibition. This aircraft is notable for having the highest number of flight hours worldwide for its type (70,444 hours in 60,350 cycles) as of March 2012, when it was retired.[1]
Facilities
The museum is divided in different halls, dedicated to specific themes:[2]
^"Una nueva aeronave para el MNA" [A new aircraft for the MNA]. Aeroespacio (in Spanish). Argentina: Fuerza Aerea Argentina (Argentine Air Force). 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
Cicalesi, Juan Carlos; Rivas, Santiago (2009). Núñez Padin, Jorge Felix (ed.). Junkers F13 / W34 / K43 / Ju 52. Serie en Argentina (in Spanish). Vol. 3. Bahía Blanca, Argentina: Fuerzas Aeronavales. ISBN978-987-20557-7-6. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
Ogden, Bob. Aviation Museums and Collections of the Rest of the World. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2008. ISBN978-0-85130-394-9.
Riega, Gilberto (March 1971). "A Buenos Aires, El Museo Nacional de Aeronautica de la Argentina" [At Buenos Aires, the Argentine National Museum of Aviation]. Le Album de Fanatique de l'Aviation (in French) (20): 16–17. ISSN0757-4169.
Rivas, Santiago. "Pioneers & Prototypes: Pulqui, Pulqui II and IA-37/48." International Air Power Review, Issue 25, 2008, pp. 162–173. Westport, CT: AIRtime. ISSN1473-9917.
"El Pulqui vuelve a sobrevolar la historia" [The Pulqui overflies history again] (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: La Nacion. 2001-10-08. Retrieved 24 Apr 2019. (Article about Pulqui I restoration and history, and when the MNA reopened at Moron)