New England Air Museum

The New England Air Museum (NEAM) is an American aerospace museum located adjacent to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The museum consists of three display hangars with additional storage and restoration hangars. Its collections include aircraft ranging from early flying machines to supersonic jets, as well as engines, and other pieces of flight-related equipment. Significant aircraft include

* the Silas Brooks balloon basket - the oldest surviving American-built aircraft
* the Sikorsky VS-44A - the sole remaining American-built commercial trans-oceanic four-engine flying boat
* the Goodyear ZNPK-28 Blimp Control Car - one of only two surviving K-class control cars in the world.

The museum library has approximately 6,000 aviation books, approximately 20,000 periodicals, approximately 10,000 technical manuals, approximately 21,000 photographs, nearly 8,000 slides, over 200 pieces of artwork, over 1,200 prints, and approximately 500 engineering drawing and blueprints.

The mission of the New England Air Museum is to present the story of aviation, the human genius that made it possible and the profound effects that it has had on the way in which we live.

History

The museum began when a group of Pratt & Whitney employees formed the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association to save a biplane built by Louis Bancroft. While the airplane would later be destroyed in a fire, the group continued. The first display building, an inflatable dome, was erected in 1967.

In 1981, the first current building was built after a tornado destroyed the museum's previous location by Route 75 in 1979. The museum has since added a restoration hangar in 1989, a storage building in 1991, a military hangar in 1992, a 58th Bomb Wing Hangar in 2003, and a storage hangar in 2010.

The museum was renovated in 2017 with the addition of a mezzanine in two of the hangars to provide views of the aircraft from above. At the same time, a new heating and air conditioning system and LED lighting were installed.

Exhibits

Exhibits include the history of Sikorsky Aircraft, computer-based flight simulators, and the 58th Bombardment Wing Memorial with the centerpiece being a restored B-29A. Additionally, there are exhibits on early French aviation, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Kosciuszko Squadron, New England Women in Aviation, and the 57th Fighter Group.

Aircraft on display

* AeroVelo Atlas – Partial section
* Bell AH-1S Cobra
* Bell UH-1B Iroquois '' 62-02550''
* Blériot XI
* Boeing B-29A Superfortress '' 44-61975'' ''Jack’s Hack''
* Burnelli CBY-3 Loadmaster
* Chanute Herring Glider – Replica
* Chance Vought XF4U-4 Corsair ''80759''
* Curtiss Model D – Replica
* de Havilland C-7 Caribou ''62-4188''
* Doman LZ-5
* Douglas A-3B Skywarrior ''142246''
* Douglas A-26C Invader ''43-22499'' ''Reida Rae''
* Douglas DC-3
* Goodyear ZNP-K blimp control car
* Gee Bee Model R replica
* Grumman E-1B Tracer ''147217''
* Eastern FM-2 Wildcat '' 74120''
* Grumman F6F-5K Hellcat ''79192''
* Grumman HU-16E Albatross ''7228''
* Heath LNB-4 Parasol
* Kaman HH-43F Huskie
* Kaman K-16B
* Kaman K-225 ''N401A''
* Kaman SH-2F Seasprite ''161905''
* Laird LC-DW 300 'Solution'
* Lazor-Rautenstrauch LR-1A
* Lockheed Model 10-A Electra ''1052''
* Lockheed F-104C Starfighter ''56-901''
* Marcoux-Bromberg R-3 Special
* Martin RB-57A Canberra ''52-1488''
* McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II '' 66-0269''
* Nixon Special
* North American B-25H Mitchell ''43-4999'' ''Dog Daze''
* North American F-100A Super Sabre ''52-5761''
* North American P-51D Mustang ''44-72400'' – Racer configuration
* Northrop F-89J Scorpion ''52-1896''
* Pioneer Flightstar MC
* Pratt-Read LNE-1
* Republic P-47D Thunderbolt '' 45-49458'' ''Norma''
* Republic RC-3 Seabee
* Rutan Quickie
* Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly ''43-46503''
* Doman LZ-1A ''43-45480''
* Sikorsky S-39B
* Sikorsky S-51 ''9602''
* Sikorsky XH-39
* Sikorsky HH-52A Seaguard ''1428''
* Sikorsky CH-54B Tarhe '' 69-18465''
* Sikorsky VS-44A ''Excambian''

Under restoration

* Douglas DC-3
* Fairchild-Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II
* Lockheed TV-2 Shooting Star ''138048''
* Kaman HOK-1

See also

*List of aerospace museums

References

Bibliography

* Hunt, Leslie. ''Veteran and Vintage Aircraft''. New York: Taplinger Publishing Co., Inc., 1971. .
* Ogden, Bob. ''Great Aircraft Collections of the World''. New York: Gallery Books, 1986. .
*

External links

NEAM Official Site


Photos of aircraft and aviation related exhibits at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT

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Aerospace museums in Connecticut
Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Museums in Hartford County, Connecticut
Museums established in 1959
1959 establishments in Connecticut