Vintage Aero Flying Museum


Vintage Aero Flying Museum, formally LaFayette1 Escadrille Flying Museum, is Colorado's international aviation museum at Platte Valley Airpark, northwest of Hudson, Colorado and northeast of Denver, Colorado.
Andy Parks, son of the last World War I Lafayette Escadrille member who 'flew west', James Parks², maintains the legacy and history of the LaFayette Escadrille pilots. The collection of each of these pilots' original uniforms and memorabilia is on display in custom cabinets in a secured hangar of World War I aircraft. There is no other collection of this magnitude in the world today. The Parks have created a museum in a rural setting, much like a French rural World War I air field.
VAFM is a 501 non-profit organization and its foundation was created by James Parks in 1984 as a historical and educational foundation.

Flying aircraft on display

There are two different usages of Lafayette and LaFayette. The capital F comes from the French spelling as written on the French Air Corp certificates as presented to each flyer of the Escadrille. The LaFayette Foundation decided to use the capital F in many of their documents and writings. Other authors and the general public will use the small F for their writings and general reference to L.E. The French General, LaFayette was the origin name when the French Air Corp renamed the Americana Escadrille to LaFayette Escadrille in honor of General LaFayette who helped General George Washington in the American Revolution.