Come eye to eye with classic aeroplanes in the Aviation Museum
Often smaller museums offer most fun for families and the Aviation Museum Seppe is such a museum. Its collection is well-organised and varied, and capable of sparking children’s interest (and their parents’ energy).
Impressive vessels
Of course the museum is all about aeroplanes. The Aviation Museum has some very photogenic classic vessels with cool names such as Piper Cub and Tiger Moth, Boeing Staerman and Saab Safir.
These are not the regular jets you travel with when going on a city trip or holiday. These are light aircrafts for just 2 or 4 persons. Biplanes, low wing and high wing aeroplanes. Visible welding seams and pop rivets, instruments and buttons. Propellors behind engines and cylinders in sight. Everything you see here breaths adventure!
Take a look in the cockpit
For the full experience we recommend taking a tour with one of the volunteers on site. They know everything about the vessels, will point out interesting details and make children (and their parents) think about what they see. You’ll discover where the aeroplanes came from, what they were used for and how they work.
You can take a look at all the instruments and will be able to see the cables running. Because that’s the beauty of these old propeller aircrafts: their technology is visible and easy to understand. In the museum, you’ll be able to get a closer look at the aeroplanes AND the flying.
Watch them fly
What’s really special about the Aviation Museum is that the old aeroplanes still work and regularly take flight (and land safely afterwards). Especially during summer months you’ll be able to see this with your own eyes at events and airshows. The annual Classic Cars & Aeroplanes Event is renowned among enthusiasts.
Isn’t it cool that you can take a really close look at these vessels in the museum and then come back later to see your favourite aircraft take flight? With their roaring engines, moving flaps and rotating propellers these classic aeroplanes will show you what they’re capable of!
Moving fast
What’s also nice about the Aviation Museum is that it clearly shows how fast aviation has evolved. In less than 100 years, the world went from the Wright brothers to the turbojet.
Upon arrival, you will see the vessel of the Wright brothers hanging above you. Or well, a replica of the aircraft in which they made the first ever flight in 1903. Just a few steps further are cross-sections of jet engines. In less than a century, aviation went from one thing to another.
The name ‘Seppe’
The Aviation Museum is located along the runway of Breda International Airport. The airport was previously named Seppe (and many people in Halderberge still call it by that name). This historic name reflects the long tradition of travelling to and staying in Halderberge.
In the 19th century, Jacobus Sep ran an inn in Bosschenhoofd. In 1854 and 1855 the men working on the Roosendaal-Breda railway stayed here and would eat, drink and sleep there. The inn was their home and they enjoyed it. They lived, as they would say in Brabant dialect ‘at Seppe’.
The Belgian engineer who was assigned to build the small station in Bosschenhoofd, enjoyed his stay at Seppe so much that he named the station after the owner of the inn. Then when Adrie van Campenhout opened the airport in 1949, which at that time was just a 600 meter long grassy track for gliders, he also used this historic name.
Everyone in the region knows the airport as Seppe. It’s a tribute to the hospitality of Jacobus Sep and his wife Ida Ossenblok. And it’s with this same hospitality that the volunteers of the Aviation Museum will welcome you in their hangar.
Time for a fun trip!
During school holidays, the Aviation Museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday between 1 and 5 PM. Airshows and events will be announced on the website vliegendmuseumseppe.nl.
