I’ve always been fascinated by old aircraft so when my friend, Ken suggested a trip to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut I enthusiastically agreed.

According to its website the Museum is:

…committed to presenting 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.

We achieve this by:

Preserving and presenting historically significant aircraft and related artifacts
Engaging our visitors through high-quality exhibits that help them understand aviation technology, history and the stories of the men and women who built, flew and made history with these famous machines
Inspiring students through our innovative and hands-on education programs delivered on-site and in schools that allow them to discover and reflect on aviation technology and history and its ties to social studies, science, geography and technical advancements

A History section describes the museum as follows:

The Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Society, the parent organization of NEAM, was founded in 1959 and the Museum has been at its present location since 1981.

That year, the first of the Museum’s existing six (6) buildings (Civilian, Military, 58th Bomb Wing Memorial, and Restoration Hangars and two storage buildings) was erected after a tornado destroyed the Museum’s former location along Route 75 in 1979.

Today, the Museum houses one of the world’s most outstanding collections of historic aviation artifacts: more than 80 aircraft and an extensive collection of engines, instruments, aircraft parts, uniforms and personal memorabilia.

Within this collection are the last remaining four-engine American flying the Sikorsky VS-44A, donated by its previous owner, actress Maureen O’Hara and restored to original condition; an expertly restored B-29 Superfortress; Silas Brooks Balloon Basket (1870) believed to be the oldest surviving aircraft in the United States; the Bunce-Curtiss Pusher (1912), the oldest surviving Connecticut-built airplane; the Sikorsky S-39, the oldest surviving Sikorsky aircraft; and a Kaman K-225 helicopter, the oldest surviving Kaman-built aircraft.

It certainly has a large collection of vintage aircraft and in all we spent a very pleasant 2-3 hours there. The picture above was taken with a Sony RX-100 M3 in the Museum lobby. Once upon a time, when I was a child, my bedroom looked something like this.