Brief History

The RMAF Museum was officially opened to the public on the 2 Jun 85 -- coinciding with the 27^th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Malaysian Air Force -- by the Chief of Armed Forces Staff, Gen Tan Sri Ghazali bin Dato Mohd Seth. It was a simple beginning for the Museum at the Sungai Besi Air Force Base. The inventory then consisted of only five aircraft as exhibits:

one Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer one Scottish Aviation Single Pioneer one Hunting Piston Provost one De Havilland Dove, and one CAC Avon-Sabre jet, plus a few old Leonides and Gipsy engines plenty of photographs

For two years the Musuem occupied half a hangar belonging to No 2 Sqn. So when the new base at Subang became operational in 1987, many units moved to Subang. The Museum quickly laid claims to the Engineering Support Unit hangar next door and the building complex next to it, which used to accommodate the Heli FTS.   With such "luxurious" facilities, the Museum started its acquisition plan to bring back to the Air Force aircraft that were phased out since the early 1960s. Success followed success and the following aircraft were brought into the collection:

Cessna 310F	donated by Antah-Sedgewick-Chartered
DH Chipmunk	donated by Royal Thai Air Force
DH Tiger Moth	donated by British Aerospace
Canadair Tebuan CL41G	ex-RMAF Kuantan
NA Harvard	acquired from Fred W. Patterson III in exchange for a Tebuan
DH Heron	donated by Sri Lanka Air Force
HU-16 Albatross	ex-RMAF Subang
A-4PTM Skyhawk	ex-RMAF Kuantan
BAe Scottish Aviation Bulldog	ex-RMAF Alor Star
Bell 47G-5A	ex-RMAF Kluang

Only one aircraft, the Handley Page Herald 401 is yet to be acquired. Sadly, the Museum's effort to acquire A Herald from Channel Express (Air Services) Ltd who phased out their Herald fleet in 1999 was not successful. To date the Museum's collection consist of 17 aircraft.