Warbirds Over the Beach at the Military Aviation Museum and the grass strip in Virginia Beach where the whole war takes off again

Warbirds Over the Beach is an annual living-history airshow held each May at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where World War I and World War II aircraft fly from a grass airfield instead of a paved runway. The museum holds one of the largest private collections of flying WWI and WWII aircraft in the world, and the show puts spectators right against the grass crowd line—close enough to feel the prop wash and smell the hot oil and avgas. If you want to see genuine warbirds operate the way they did in 1943, this is one of the best-kept secrets in warbird aviation.

What Is the Military Aviation Museum?

The Military Aviation Museum is a private collection founded by Jerry Yagen, built on one guiding rule: if it’s an airplane, it should be in the air. Rather than displaying static aircraft with pickled engines and flat tires, the museum restored its fleet to flying condition.

The collection includes a P-51 Mustang, a genuine Focke-Wulf FW 190, a P-40 Warhawk with the iconic shark-mouth nose art, a Grumman F6F Hellcat, and a gull-winged F4U Corsair. The crown jewel is a de Havilland Mosquito that actually flies—one of only a tiny number airworthy anywhere in the world.

The museum didn’t stop at aircraft. It collected the airfield itself. An actual Luftwaffe hangar was shipped over from Germany, disassembled and rebuilt on site. There’s also a British control tower and a Dutch hangar. Walking the grounds feels less like a Virginia parking lot and more like a frontline airfield in 1944.

What Makes the Grass Strip Different?

At most airshows, spectators stand a quarter mile back behind a fence on concrete. Warbirds Over the Beach is the opposite. The crowd line sits directly against a wide grass field—no pavement—exactly the kind of surface these aircraft were designed to operate from.

The airplanes taxi right past the crowd. When a big radial engine catches and settles into its idle, you feel the prop wash and smell the cut grass. That proximity is the entire appeal, and it’s why this show ruins other airshows for a lot of people.

What Happens at the Show?

This is a living-history show, not a choreographed jet demo. Across roughly four hours, the event reenacts a wartime narrative. Allied fighters scramble, bombers pass overhead, pyrotechnics and concussion bursts go off down the field, and reenactors in period uniform fill the ground while an announcer narrates the action.

The highlight is the dogfight reenactment—fighters like a Mustang and an FW 190 turning and burning nose-to-tail directly over the field. Many shows close with a mass flyby, so it’s worth staying through to the end.

Why This Matters for Pilots

These aircraft are irreplaceable, and the pilots who fly them train for years and treat every flight as a responsibility rather than a thrill ride. Beyond the spectacle, the show is a reminder of what keeps warbird aviation alive: volunteers who give their weekends to maintain these machines, and a restoration community whose decades of work make any flying WWII aircraft possible.

For the warbird and general aviation community, events like this are where preservation, mentorship, and living history intersect—and where three generations of a family can stand on the grass together and watch a bomber come over.

How Do I Fly In to Warbirds Over the Beach?

The event is held at Virginia Beach Airport, a private grass strip. During the show the field is dedicated to the warbirds and the surrounding airspace gets busy, so this is time-sensitive planning:

• Check current NOTAMs and coordinate ahead before planning any arrival into the grass field.
• Most visitors fly into a nearby paved airport and shuttle over—the recommended approach unless you’ve made prior arrangements with the field.
• The grass strip is not a casual fly-in destination during show days; treat access as restricted unless coordinated.

Tips for Visiting

• Arrive early and walk the hangars first thing in the morning, before the crowds, when you can get right up next to the aircraft.
• Bring water. The Virginia coastal sun on an open grass field in May is intense.
• Stay to the end for the mass flyby.
• Grab funnel cakes on the field, then find Chesapeake seafood on your way out.

Key Takeaways

• Warbirds Over the Beach runs each May at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, VA, featuring flying WWI and WWII aircraft on a grass airfield.
• The museum holds one of the largest private collections of airworthy vintage military aircraft in the world, including a rare flying de Havilland Mosquito, a P-51 Mustang, an FW 190, a P-40, a Hellcat, and a Corsair.
• It’s a living-history show with reenactments, pyrotechnics, period uniforms, and aerial dogfights—not a standard jet demo.
• The venue includes a relocated Luftwaffe hangar from Germany, a British control tower, and a Dutch hangar, recreating a 1940s frontline airfield.
• The field is a private grass strip (Virginia Beach Airport); check NOTAMs and plan to fly into a nearby paved airport and shuttle over.