Musée aéronautique et spatial Safran

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Musée aéronautique et spatial Safran is a private aviation museum in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, France. It opened on 31 May 1989 and is run by Safran. The museum holds a large collection of historic and modern aircraft engines from French makers such as Gnome et Rhône and Snecma, now part of Safran. The main displays focus on piston engines, turbojets, and rocket engines used in aircraft and spacecraft. All engines come from companies that later joined Safran.

Background: In the mid-1980s, Snecma and Le Bourget’s Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace coordinated engine restoration. In 1987 Snecma created a new museum to show the restored engines at its Villaroche site in Melun, in a 4,000 m² former seaplane hangar. The museum opened in 1989 and is run by the Association of Friends of the Safran Museum.

In 2013 the museum expanded to include space propulsion. The displays present aviation and aerospace history. Besides engines and aircraft, there are exhibits from Safran’s predecessor companies that cover motorcycles, missiles, submarines and tractors.

Location and access: The museum is in Réau near Melun, in the south of the Seine-et-Marne department. It is open every Wednesday and the last Saturday of the month. Groups of at least 10 can visit on other days by reservation. Admission is free.