Royal Army Museum Brussels

Walk through Brussels’ Cinquantenaire Park (Jubelpark in Dutch) and the first things you see are the triumphal arch and the long exhibition wings from the 19th century. That one of these facades hides one of Europe’s great aircraft collections is hard to guess from the outside. Inside opens a huge hall with a glass roof, and beneath it more than a hundred aircraft crowd together: World War I biplanes, Spitfires, a Starfighter, a Caravelle in Sabena colors, and helicopters and gliders overhead under the roof. The air hall is part of the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History – and for aviation fans the real reason to visit.

From exhibition palace to aviation museum

The Cinquantenaire Park – Parc du Cinquantenaire in French, Jubelpark in Dutch – was created for the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence. The architect Gédéon Bordiau planned two large exhibition palaces joined by a semicircular colonnade with the triumphal arch in the middle. The first major show, the National Exhibition of trade and industry, opened in 1880, before everything was finished. The hall where the aircraft stand today served as the machinery hall back then.

After that, the hall was used for trade fairs, balloon festivals and even horse races until the 1970s, as the museum itself writes. It was not until 1972 that the aircraft you see there today moved in. Since then the collection has grown steadily – according to the friends’ association’s collection list, also through donations from other air forces and loans from abroad.

The Army Museum itself is considerably older. Its roots go back to a military history exhibition at the 1910 Brussels World’s Fair; the museum was officially founded in 1911 and initially housed in La Cambre Abbey. In 1923 it moved into the northern part of the Cinquantenaire complex. Some World War I aircraft entered the collection as early as the early 1920s – long before there was a dedicated air hall. Since 2017 the museum has belonged to the War Heritage Institute, a federal institution under the Belgian Ministry of Defense that looks after several military history sites in Belgium.

The hall and how it is organized

According to the museum, the air hall covers around 10,000 square meters and shows more than 100 aircraft and other flying machines. Elsewhere the museum even cites over 130 aircraft and around 100 engines – the difference is probably because not everything is on display at the same time and some pieces are in workshops or storage. The museum describes the hall itself as one of the most important collections in Europe, and once you are standing inside, you understand why.

The friends’ association divides the collection into three eras, which make it easy to find your bearings on your tour:

Parts of the hall also house the departments on the Belgian navy and Antarctic research. The layout is a guide, not a fixed arrangement – aircraft are moved for restorations, and construction work is currently adding to that.

World War I: originals instead of replicas

The most valuable department may be the oldest. Many aircraft from before 1918 survive worldwide only as single examples, and Brussels has a whole series of them – according to the friends’ association, many joined the collection as early as 1920, just after the end of the war. Some of them had previously served in Belgian military aviation themselves.

In this corner you will find, among others, a Sopwith Camel, a SPAD XIII, a Nieuport 23 and a Hanriot HD.1 – fighters flown by Belgian pilots in the war. On the German side, the collection includes a Halberstadt C.V, an LVG C.VI and an Aviatik C.I, several of them under restoration according to the friends’ association. A special piece is the gondola of Zeppelin L 30. Everyone knows the red triplane: the Fokker Dr.I in Brussels, however, is a faithful replica, not an original.

The pioneers get their due as well. The Battaille triplane, a Belgian experimental aircraft from the pioneer era, is a one-of-a-kind machine that was tested in 1912. Add to that the balloon gondola in which the later King Albert I made his first balloon flight in 1907, and a Schreck FBA Type H flying boat. If you want to tell the types of this era apart with confidence, the article Spotting vintage aircraft in the sky is a good foundation.

Interwar period and World War II

The second era is mainly about how Belgium built up its air force after 1918, was overrun in 1940 and started over after 1944. From before the war comes the Fairey Battle, a light bomber that Belgium used until 1940. Alongside it stand trainers such as the Morane-Saulnier MS 230 and the homegrown Stampe & Vertongen SV-4 – the Stampe biplane is still a symbol of Belgian flying today.

Spitfire, Hurricane and Mosquito

For many visitors this is the high point. The collection has two Supermarine Spitfires: an LF IXc and an F.XIV with the larger Griffon engine. Both flew with the Belgian Air Force after the war, and both were reconstructed for the museum. Seeing the variants side by side, you quickly notice the longer nose and the five-blade propeller of the late version.

Next to them stands a Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc, which according to the friends’ association flew first with an Allied squadron and then with the Belgian Air Force. Rarer in museums is the de Havilland Mosquito in the NF.30 night fighter version, which Belgium used from 1947 to 1956. The Tiger Moth recalls pilot training, and a Harvard the advanced training of the postwar years.

Transports and German types

Two classics represent the transports: a Douglas C-47 Dakota of the Belgian Air Force and a Junkers Ju 52/3m – a type that Sabena also flew in the 1930s and 1940s. The stories behind them are told in the articles on the Douglas DC-3 and the Ju 52. Add a Fieseler Storch, a Bücker Bestmann whose wreck was found near Ostend and restored by the friends’ association, and a Douglas A-26 Invader.

Cold War: the Belgian Air Force in fast-forward

From 1946 on, the hall becomes a chronicle of Belgian military aviation. It is rare to be able to trace the type sequence of a NATO air force so well in one place. The British jets include the night fighter Gloster Meteor NF.11 and a Vampire trainer. Next come the American types Belgium received under the NATO buildup: the F-84G Thunderjet, the F-84F Thunderstreak and the RF-84F Thunderflash reconnaissance aircraft. A F-86 Sabre completes the row; according to the friends’ association it came as a gift from the Portuguese Air Force.

The Hawker Hunter F.4 plays a special role. According to the friends’ association, the aircraft in the museum flew with the Diables Rouges, then the Belgian Air Force’s aerobatic team. More exotic is the Canadian Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck, a two-seat all-weather fighter that Belgium used for only a few years.

Starfighter, Mirage and F-16

With the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, the age of Mach 2 fighters began in Belgium in 1963; the museum’s example joined the collection in 1983. The French line is represented by a Mirage 5BA, which Belgium flew from 1968 to 1994, as well as a Mirage F1C donated by the French Air Force and a Dassault Ouragan. The finale is the F-16A Fighting Falcon, the jet that has been the backbone of Belgian fighter forces since 1979.

If you want to compare East and West, you will find both under one roof: next to the NATO types stand a MiG-23BN and an Mi-24 attack helicopter, which according to the friends’ association was handed over by the German Air Force. A Phantom in the RF-4C reconnaissance version is on loan from the US.

Transports, trainers and helicopters

It is not only the fighters that deserve a look. The Fairchild C-119 “Flying Boxcar” with its twin tail is one of the most striking aircraft in the hall; Belgium used the type from 1952 to 1975. The Fouga Magister trainer flew with the Belgian Air Force from 1960 to 2007 – almost half a century. Add the Lockheed T-33, the Percival Pembroke, a Britten-Norman Islander and a DHC-3 Otter that served on the Belgian Antarctic expedition of 1959/60.

Among the helicopters, the range runs from the Bristol Sycamore via the Sikorsky HSS-1 and the Alouette II to the Westland Sea King Mk 48, which flew Belgian rescue missions until 2019, as well as the Agusta A109.

Civil aviation: Sabena and the Caravelle

Even though the building is an army museum, airline fans get their money’s worth. The largest aircraft in the hall is a Sud Aviation Caravelle VI-N, which flew for Sabena from 1961 to 1974 and has been in the museum since 1977. With its rear-mounted engines and triangular cabin windows, the Caravelle was one of Europe’s first short- and medium-haul jets – and in Sabena colors a piece of everyday Belgian history.

At the Sabena stand, run by volunteers of the friends’ association, memorabilia recalls the former national airline, which collapsed in 2001. A highlight is the cockpit section of a Boeing 707, plus an engine. The friends’ association’s collection list includes a 707-329 that flew for Sabena from 1960 to 1976 and then until 1981 for the charter airline Sobelair. How the 707 changed long-haul travel is covered in the article on the Boeing 707.

Sabena’s successor in scheduled service is Brussels Airlines, which today flies from Brussels Airport. If you want to see the step from the Caravelle to today’s jets on the same day, it is not far.

The civil department is rounded out by sport and light aircraft, including several types from the Belgian manufacturer Tipsy. Add one very special exhibit: the gondola of the stratospheric balloon FNRS 1, in which Auguste Piccard rose to an altitude of about 15,800 meters in 1931.

The friends’ association: Brussels Air Museum

Behind many exhibits is the work of an association. The AELR asbl, which operates under the name Brussels Air Museum, was founded in 1970 to support the aerospace department of the Army Museum. The museum provides space and materials, and volunteers do the rest: they restore historic aircraft in their own workshops, maintain the library and photo archive, and run the Sabena stand and the museum shop.

The association also runs the Sky Café right in the air hall – handy, because you don’t have to go outside for a break. The association has published its own magazine since its founding. If you want to lend a hand yourself, the article Volunteering in aviation museums gives an overview of how such projects work.

Photography in the hall

The air hall is a dream for type collectors and a challenge for photographers. The aircraft stand wing to wing, many smaller types hang under the roof, and the light is a mix of daylight through the glass roof and artificial lighting. On overcast winter days some corners get really dark.

Lenses and settings

Unlike at the airport fence, you don’t need a long telephoto here but rather short focal lengths. A wide-angle lens helps with big aircraft like the Caravelle or C-119, and a standard zoom covers most exhibits. Tips can be found in the article Wide-angle and standard lenses for plane spotting. Fast prime lenses or image stabilization help keep the ISO in check.

Planning your visit: getting there, hours, admission

The museum is in the middle of the city, in the Cinquantenaire Park east of the European Quarter. It is easy to reach by public transport: Metro lines 1 and 5 stop at Merode station on the eastern edge of the park, and tram 81 and bus 61 stop there as well. Schuman station is at the western end of the park. For general tips on reaching spots and museums without a car, see the article Getting to your spot.

According to the museum, it is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last admission at 4 p.m. It stays closed on Mondays, as well as on some public holidays. The friends’ association gives different hours on its website: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check the current information shortly before your visit.

For admission, the museum lists (as of October 2026) €12 for adults and €9 for young people aged 6 to 18; children under 6 get in free. On the first Wednesday of the month, admission is free from 1 p.m. – so it is correspondingly busier on those afternoons. A family ticket costs €36, and there is a combination ticket for the Army Museum, Autoworld and the Art and History Museum in the Cinquantenaire Park.

Brussels as a spotting destination

The air hall combines ideally with spotting. Brussels Airport in Zaventem lies only a few kilometers northeast of the city center, and at the Steenokkerzeel spotting area you can watch the current traffic afterward. For a compact overview of vantage points, runway operations and getting there, see the plane spotting guide for Brussels.

If you have more time in Belgium, you can plan in more airports: Brussels-Charleroi is the low-cost airport in the south, and Liège Airport a major cargo hub with its own spotting spot. For a museum tour through the neighboring countries, consider the Aviodrome in Lelystad and the Nationaal Militair Museum in Soesterberg in the Netherlands, and in France the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace in Le Bourget. In Germany, the Flugausstellung Hermeskeil and the Technik Museum Speyer are within reach, and if you also want to see historic aircraft in the air, head to England for IWM Duxford.

Conclusion

The air hall of the Royal Army Museum is not a museum you tick off on the side. Under the glass roof of an exhibition hall from 1880 stands more than a century of aviation history – with World War I originals you can hardly see elsewhere, an almost unbroken line of Belgian military jets and a piece of Sabena history for airline fans.

The crowding in the hall makes photography demanding, and the roof work may close individual areas. Still, if you arrive early, bring short focal lengths and take your time, you will come away with a long list of new types – and can photograph the current traffic in Zaventem in the afternoon.