Gangshan Naval Air Base (Aviation Education Exhibition Hall)

Gangshan Naval Air Base (Japanese: 岡山飛行場) was established in the late 1930s on the Gangshan Plain in southern Taiwan, then under Japanese colonial rule as Takao Prefecture. The Imperial Japanese Navy constructed the Okayama Airfield with three intersecting runways, taxiways, dispersal areas, and revetments.

The airfield came into use on December 1, 1939. The Takao Air Group (高雄海軍航空隊), formed on April 1, 1938, was based here and from April 1941 belonged to the 11th Air Fleet; the 61st Naval Air Arsenal (第六十一海軍航空廠) was established at the base in October 1941. The 61st Naval Air Arsenal was the largest Japanese naval aviation maintenance and manufacturing facility in Taiwan, employing over 10,000 workers. Extensive dormitories were built nearby to house this massive workforce — the postwar settlement known as Xing Village (醒村) originated from these wartime worker quarters.

The base played a critical role in Japan's southern advance strategy, serving as a staging point for naval air operations across Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Aircraft repaired and assembled at the 61st Arsenal supported operations ranging from the Philippines campaign to convoy escort duties in the South China Sea.

In mid-October 1944, during the Formosa Air Battle (台湾沖航空戦), American B-29 Superfortress bombers — about 130 sorties — attacked the 61st Naval Air Arsenal and surrounding installations; Chinese-language accounts give the bomb load variously as about 590 tons or as 859.75 tons over six days from October 12. The factory complex and surrounding neighborhoods were engulfed in fires, and of some 80 buildings only six are said to have been left standing. It was among the heaviest raids on any single location in Taiwan during the war. American bombing missions continued targeting the base from late 1944 through June 28, 1945.

After Japan's surrender in August 1945, the Republic of China Air Force took over the base, re-establishing the ROC Air Force Academy (空軍官校) at Gangshan in 1949. The former Japanese naval facilities were repurposed for pilot training.

The Aviation Education Exhibition Hall (航空教育展示館) was inaugurated on September 19, 2015, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Taiwan's retrocession. President Ma Ying-jeou attended the opening ceremony. The museum occupies approximately 3 hectares. Its collection of over 40 aircraft includes: the Boeing 720-051B presidential transport (Air Force One), F-104 Starfighter, F-100 Super Sabre, F-86 Sabre, F-5 Freedom Fighter/Tiger II, F-CK-1 Ching-kuo indigenous fighter, MiG-15 and MiG-21 defector aircraft, A-26 Invader, C-47 Skytrain, AT-6 Texan, PT-17 Stearman, and various helicopters. An F-104 is displayed with panels removed to expose its internal structure. Interactive cockpit experiences allow visitors to sit in actual fighter aircraft.