My Kind of Field Trip

[David LaPell]

Tuesday was my son and his school's last field trip of the year and I got to chaperone, and we went to the Empire State's Aerosciences Museum in Glenville, NY. The museum is full of exhibits from all over the world, and has a flight simulator as well, hundreds of models, displays. Lot's of things for the kids to see and experience. The staff opened the museum early for the kids, they normally don't open until July.

An original Curtiss No. 2 from 1910 is the oldest plane on display.

A piece of one of the aircraft from Werner Voss' famous last dogfight.

A UH-1B gunship that the weapons pods were removed from.

Grumman A6E Intruder

Grumman S-2 Tracker sub hunter

Supermarine Scimitar

North American T-2 Buckeye

Republic F-84 Thunderstreak

McDonnell F-101B Voodoo

F-4 Phantom

A-10 Thunderbolt

My son under the business end of the Thunderbolt (Warthog)

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

Republic F-105 Thunderchief

North American RA-5C Vigilante

One of the most fascinating airplanes there, and one that's not seen everywhere, an original Mig-15. It's amazing to see how small this plane is, mainly because it was designed to be flown by Asian pilots, who were smaller in build. The canopy was maybe only 7-8 feet from the top to the ground. All the kids got to sit in the Mig-15, something I wonder how often is afforded to everyone.

The cockpit of the Mig-15.

My son in the Mig.

A Mig-17 Fresco

A Mig-21 Fishbed

F-14 Tomcat

Douglas F3-D Skyknight

Vought A7 Corsair

Inside the WWII display is a 32 foot long model of the Japanese carrier Akagi.

There were lots of models everywhere of all sizes, planes and periods of time from WWI to today.

My son in the "Loach", the OH-6 Cayuse

This is an experimental airplane called the Huntington Chum.

My son in the Chum.

 

[ancient-one]

That is an amazing display. Brought back some memories.

 

[kraynky]

Very neat photos, and a day your son will never forget in a lifetime. Thanks for sharing them!

 

[Rustyt1953]

There aren't many places cooler than air museums.

 

[soFlaNative]

Nice, esp. labeling the photos.
Any chance of some lessons in the T-2?

 

[sureshotbob]

Thanks for the great pictures I'm sure the kids really enjoyed the air museum .
It looks to have a lot of planes to learn about the history.
A few years ago I took my granddaughter to the Bradley Air Museum in Windsor Locks CT. that was rebuilt after a tornado in the late 80's or so.
I was very impressed at there display's of all the aircraft and as a bonus they were also sponsoring a car show that day.

 

[jscheck]

Sounds like a great trip! I worked on F-4E's and G's while I was in. I always enjoy seeing them again.

 

[6518John]

When I was his age we got to take a field trip to the sewer plant (back before it was "waste water treatment") and to the county jail (three people in my class got to see relatives).

Field trips have improved by leaps and bounds!

 

[onebadvet]

Thanks for sharing with all of us on the forum.

 

[wood714]

There aren't many places cooler than air museums.

Can't believe I never went to the one at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. It was about 55 miles from my house when I lived in Ohio.

National Museum of the USAF