The
El Toro Historical Center and Command Museum opened to the public in June 1991 in a squadron aviation building at
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. By 1998, the name of the museum had changed to the
Jay W. Hubbard Command Museum.
Move to Miramar When MCAS El Toro closed in 1999, the museum again changed its name to the
Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum and moved to
Naval Air Station Miramar. The museum's 41 aircraft were loaded onto trailers and towed down highways to the museum's new location, where it reopened on 25 May 2000. There it had a restoration hangar. In 2002, the museum announced plans to construct a building to display its collection. At the same time, however, increased security on the base after the
September 11th attacks made it more difficult for civilians to visit. Separately, plans for a museum at El Toro began in 2008. The Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation was formed to support the museum's efforts and to provide interpretive programs to educate the public on the history and legacy of Marine Corps aviation. These include tours for school field trips, STEM education, the Marine Spouse Award, and annual student essay and art contests.
Return to El Toro In 2021, the Marine Corps announced that it would be permanently closing the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum and transferring the aircraft to other museums. Subsequently, museum supporters began a campaign to move the museum to a new location. The Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation began discussions with the
City of Irvine about a possible relocation of the museum back to the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. The museum would become part of a planned Cultural Terrace at the former air station, now renamed
Orange County Great Park. In December, the museum announced that an agreement had been reached to move the aircraft to the abandoned
Marine Aircraft Group 46 hangars. By March of the following year, aircraft on loan from the
National Naval Aviation Museum were being disassembled in preparation for moves to other museums. Plans and fundraising are currently underway to move the rest of the aircraft to the new location in Great Park, Irvine, California. The museum began moving aircraft to the new location in the Hangar 297 in March 2024. By December 2024, the museum's collections had been moved from Miramar to Hangar 297. The museum received a copy of 525 oral histories from
California State University, Fullerton of individuals connected to El Toro in February 2025. The museum broke ground on a new facility on 28 October 2025. ==Collection==