BRAVO ZULU

In this memoir, a man chronicles his enthusiasm for warplanes and the remarkable aviation museum that resulted.

Yagen certainly didn’t grow up collecting vintage airplanes—like most of his childhood peers, he amassed piles of comic books and stamps. But he was always fascinated with “warbirds” and spent a considerable portion of his youth constructing model planes and reading about the world’s greatest aviators. His stepfather was an American Air Force officer who had served in World War II, and as a result, Yagen grew up on military bases, surrounded by the planes that he became so enamored with. He ultimately earned a pilot’s license. But it was years later, once he had established himself as a successful businessman, that he decided to start collecting vintage warplanes. After attending a World War II–themed dance at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, he discovered an important pursuit, which he poignantly recalls: “I suddenly knew what I wanted to do—I had found the collection I was supposed to build. I found the meaningful stories I wanted to help tell. I knew in that moment what I was put here to preserve for future generations. I realized I had been preparing for this mission unknowingly for my whole life.” That collection would eventually grow to become the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. Yagen’s love of warplanes is as endearing as it is infectious—readers will pine to visit his museum after seeing the utterly gorgeous color photographs of its planes reproduced here. Photos of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, with its “wicked grin displaying white shark teeth” and a “pair of savage eyes,” are particularly spectacular. The author convincingly makes the case that the planes are testaments to human ingenuity and courage as well as objects of historical insight and edification. In addition, he makes an equally powerful case for the allure of a purposeful obsession.

An uplifting and captivating collector’s account adorned with beautiful photography.