[5] The departure of the Weeks collection left an aviation historical deficit in the Miami area.

In 2001 four military and classic plane enthusiasts decided to create a new museum to use the facility.

The new museum's board was made up of its founders: Walter Orth, Larry Ploucha, Vincent Tirado and Tom Righetti.

They agreed from the start that Wings Over Miami would be a flying museum, meaning that aircraft from the collection would be airworthy and would be flown regularly.

[5] The aircraft collection that was assembled included representation from a broad range of aviation history, including vintage aircraft, World War II and the Cold War.