The museum was founded by Steve Snyder, the president of Steve Snyder Enterprises and a former Air Force reservist, in 1989, with the goals of "airpower advocacy", "education" and "honoring the winners".[1] The previous year, he had purchased the South Jersey Regional Airport at a bankruptcy auction.[2]
In 1994, the museum began construction on a 48,000 sq ft (4,500 m2) hangar, which was to be the restoration and storage portion of an eventual 400,000 sq ft (37,000 m2) facility.[3][a] The museum began acquiring additional aircraft and on 25 February 1995 an A-7 and an F-4 arrived by helicopter from Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst. A third aircraft, an RA-5C, was destroyed when the crew of the helicopter was forced to drop it.[5] After four years of work, the museum opened to the public.[6]
Then, on 19 June 1999, before construction could begin on additional buildings, Snyder was killed in the crash of his F-86 at the airport.[7] As a result of the crash, plans for expansion of the museum and the airport were opposed by local residents.[8]
^In the meantime, Snyder organized a project to restore a Me 262 that had been on display at NAS Willow Grove for the U.S. Navy in exchange for the ability to use it as a template for flying replicas. After Snyder's death, what had become known as the Me 262 Project was completed by another organization.[4]
