New England Air Museum

Last week I was fortunate enough to make a trip to the New England Air Museum, near Hartford in Connecticut. A fantastic museum with three hangars filled with immaculately restored aircraft spanning the full range of US aviation history (at least up until the 70s). We were also lucky to catch a tour with Ed Todd, a former B-47 crew chief full of interesting stories from a lifetime in aviation. Well worth a visit, and only a few hours north of New York (and far larger than the Intrepid collection).

The entrance hall has an impressive collection of models

Including some I did not know you could get in 1:72

A couple of Vietnam veterans

WWII was well covered

Including an Invader that may have dropped the last US bombs of the war in Europe (Czechoslovakia, 2nd May 1945)

Some of the cockpits were lit up, with ladders for viewing. Apparently the day after we were there was an open cockpit day

Former racer. Spot the difference

Local F100 with a spelling mistake due to reskinning

Immaculate B29 (rescued from a tornado damaged museum), with our tour guide to the right

They had a ladder into the bomb bay to give a glimpse into the cockpit

Some Grummans hidden in the corner

A nice section on Sikorsky, who was based down the road, with the hoverfly through to the H-34 and H-51

Nice to see a bit on the R101

One of the highlights is the unique Sikorsky XPBS-1

A very nicely lit Airshsip gondola