VIPs At Airforce Museum Singapore: Very Important Persons, Planes And Processes

VIPs At Airforce Museum: Very Important Persons, Planes and Processes

The VIPs who greeted my wife, youngest daughter and myself when we visited Singapore’s Airforce Museum on a recent Saturday afternoon impressed me. These Very Important Persons, Planes and Processes were prominent displays and exhibits housed in a two-storey bulding at Airport Road, just an airplane length away from Paya Lebar Airport.

Who Are The Very Important Persons
The men who toil in the skies to protect our nation are evident in the many photographs, write-ups and pin-ups that decorate the 8 gallery walls of the Airforce Museum. What tops it all are vintage photographs of Singapore’s political leadership with their quotes of wisdom highlighted for generations to appreciate. These are obvious signs of the important function and expectation that the nation places on these elite Airforce units to safeguard Singapore’s security interests.

Where Are The Very Important Planes
On the ground floor of the Museum is a large hangar-like space where decommissioned planes and helicopters have found a new lease of life. These original fighter planes and training aircrafts prove to be crowd pleasers, as visitors can get up close and personal to them.

My girl enjoyed the opportunity to touch the planes and peep into the intricate innards of aircraft bellies and cockpits. This intimate engagement stands out as a positive public relations act for the museum, as compared to the recent do-not-touch-me exhibits of the Singapore Airshow 2008.

At the second level entrance, visitors are greeted by a breathtaking floor to ceiling glass panel containing miniature models of all the aircraft, air defence and surveillance systems that ever existed in the arsenal of our Airforce.

A life-sized mock-up cockpit is a popular hangout for museum visitors. Complete with a seat, belts and a two-handed joystick, this cockpit is magnet for the young kids and little children who linger around like bees to honey.

What Are The Very Important Processes
While not all command and control details in the Airforce are elaborated in the displays due to obvious security concerns, there is enough information to assess the processes that make the airforce tick.

The training of a Hunter fighter pilot, which amounted to S$800,000 each in fiscal year 1970, is given prominence and due recognition in the exhibits. In particular the history of the Black Knights since inception, occupies a large footprint in the exhibition corridors. The cable car accident of 1983, that involved helicopter pilots from the Force, is told through lighted panels surrounding a large replica model of the actual location.

One can feel assured, after a visit to the Airforce Museum, that national security by the men, machines and method of the Airforce is in excellent VIP hands.

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