What started off as a hobby for 12 combat veterans has grown into a 1500-member-strong club and fascinating museum, which celebrates the region's aviation heritage with an impressive stock of more than 45 classic planes. A memorabilia hall kicks off the tour, then you’re free to roam through three hangars, one a restoration workshop and the other two housing vintage aircraft from WWII, the Vietnam War and the Korean War.
The VAC’s flagship, the Tico Belle, a 1942 C-47A that dropped paratroopers at the D-Day landings, sits combat ready next to a restored Top Gun–style Grumman Wildcat that took more than 30,000 hours to restore.
In March or April the museum hosts a family-friendly air show when combat veterans put on a three-hour aerial display and offer the next generation of ace pilots a chance to fly in a unique piece of history. Alternatively, drop by on the second Saturday of the month to enjoy a fly-in breakfast ($12; available 8am till 10:30am) and ask about 'champagne flights,' which fly the coast in a WWII C-47 about once a month ($250 per person).
