If you’re the type who gets goosebumps at the sound of a Pratt & Whitney engine or still mourns the loss of Pan Am like it was a favorite uncle, the Aviation Museum on the Beach in Juno Beach is a must-visit.
Just across from Juno Beach Pier, the 2,750-square-foot aviation wonderland opened in April and serves as a love letter to the glory days of commercial flight. The museum houses more than 1,000 model airplanes—some one-of-a-kind—curated by Palm Beach Gardens resident David Marx, a lifelong collector and former logistics entrepreneur.
Marx, who once owned a toy company with his brother, has been building and collecting planes since he was 22. “It’s in my blood,” he says. His models span decades, from a 1950 Boeing Stratocruiser he snagged from a collector in France (possibly the only one of its kind in existence, he says), to a 1970s Braniff Airways-Air France Concorde model that is so rare, Marx says he’s aware of only two in the world. He paid a guy $6,000 to drive it down from Syracuse, New York, and honestly? Worth. Every. Penny.
What really sets this museum apart is its fierce devotion to commercial aviation—99 percent of the collection is dedicated to civilian flight. Shelves made from TWA Lockheed Constellation aircraft. Vintage ticket jackets showing the seat assignment—smoking or non. A tin replica of the B-29 bomber that dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima. It’s part curated collection, part time capsule. “They’re like artwork,” Marx says of his models. “The museum aims to preserve a precious era, from the 1950s to the 2000s.”
Marx designed the space himself, drawing on years spent creating displays for his toy company. Some model planes are just 2 inches long, while others span 4 feet. Marx is also working on adding interactive exhibits and simulators to inspire future aviators…