Gerald
"Jerry" Yagen, founder of Military Aviation Museum, was born in Hamburg,
Germany, just a few months after the end of WWII. As the son of an American
Army Air Corp commander, he spent much of his childhood on airbases and traveling
to other countries. He continued to travel as an adult, often piloting himself
and his family in one of his collected planes. Jerry logged more than 4,800 hours in twenty-one different
aircraft before retiring from active flying in early 2021.Jerry's passion for aircraft collection and restoration
exploded thirty years ago when he purchased a crashed P-40 Kitty Hawk that had
been discovered in northern Russia. He had it shipped to Norfolk, Virginia, and
later to New Zealand for restoration. That P-40, a fully restored
award-winning, airworthy war plane, is kept in one of seven hangars in rural
Virginia Beach, with over eighty other planes and projects, comprising a world-class
collection of historic artifacts in the Military Aviation Museum.Jerry is also founder and president of Aviation
Institute of Maintenance and Centura College, which operates more than twenty
colleges across the US. He was inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame
in Richmond, Virginia, in 2014. Jerry and his wife Elaine have lived in
Virginia Beach for more than fifty years, raising two children (both married),
and enjoying four grandchildren.
