Royal Saudi Air Force Museum

Royal Saudi Air Force Museum or Saqr al-Jazira Aviation Museum is a museum that specializes in displaying aircraft, and the historical documents and holdings of the Royal Saudi Air Force. It was opened on January 24, 1999, coinciding with the centenary celebration of the capture of Riyadh.

The museum is affiliated with the Ministry of Defense. It is located in the capital, Riyadh, east of the Riyadh Air Base, specifically on the East Ring Road (Airport Road). It is considered one of Riyadh City’s tourist attractions.

The museum aims at preserving the historic legacy of the Royal Saudi Air Force, since its establishment by the Founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud up to the present. It contains real aircraft, aircraft models, photographs, and documents.

The exhibits of the Royal Saudi Air Force Museum are divided into five phases, namely: the pre-founding phase beginning with the first appearance of aircraft in the Arabian Peninsula (1914-1925), the founding phase (1925-1954), the development phase (1954-1963), the progress phase (1963-1982), and the modernization phase (1982).

The museum contains several sections, which are: a section displaying the Dakota DC3, the first civil plane that carried King Abdulaziz on September 30, 1945 from Afif to al-Hawyah, and a section for iconic photos, where the historical eras of the Royal Saudi Air Force are displayed through display screens as well as some aircraft models and military uniforms for leaders. Another section is dedicated to air bases, displaying all the air bases in the Kingdom, a section for the C-130 plane, which showcases a collection of photos, historical documents, and display screens that play some of its operations, and a section for the Wapiti to highlight the role of Wapiti planes in protecting camps and transporting mail and medicines to remote areas. Moreover, there is the section of the F-15 plane, which contains a simulation device for the F-15 plane and a display screen to give visitors insights into the tasks carried out by the plane, and finally a section of the Typhoon plane; it includes a flight simulation device that mimics the plane and a display screen to introduce its features.

The museum also includes a section for the King Faisal Air Academy, which displays the academy's history and its leaders, and introduces the academy and its stages of study. There's also a section for the Technical Studies Institute, which presents its history in Dhahran through a film narrating the institute's beginnings and its stages of study. Additionally, there's a space section dedicated to astronaut Prince Sultan Bin Salman, and a section for the history of military clothing, which collects and classifies military uniforms according to their names, types, and the periods in which they were used.