Hadn't been in a while so I took my plane-crazy five year old son for his first visit. A pretty nice collection for a smallish museum located in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Unhappy with most of my shots. I'm still finding too many out of focus, too grainy efforts. Still learning how to get the most out of my Canon 7D, a piece of equipment I'm not worthy of yet. Maybe I'll bring a tripod with me next time. My son pulling on my coat and yelling "Daddy! Daddy!" everytime I had a shot lined up didn't help either.


Despite the shiny jets, this was my son's favorite plane:


The F-86 might be my personal fave from this collection:



The Mig-15 is quite the good looking little plane:



One of the newer pieces of the collection now has it's own hangar:


The grain, the grain...
Could have rested it on the floor and used a slower shutter speed but my little guy was freaking out and running off on me.


Had fun doing carrier landings with this guy in IL-2 Sturmovik: Pacific Fighters




A very interesting piece of history, if true, in a very inconspicuous display case in a side room:


That face says it all!

Excellent shots considering you had to keep one eye on an excited small boy.
Reminds me of our first visit with small children to Cosford RAF Museum. Sons seemed to be irresistibly attracted to the oil drip trays under the exhibits and emerged from the visit looking like happy tar-babies.

Great stuff they got there. Your son looks very happy to be sat in that cockpit

My own son was also an aviation nut when he was little. He even had his own Red Arrows flying suit,bless him.

Very nice pictures, and a great pilot you have. Thanks for sharing

Wow, did you get a close up of the F-105? Great looking aircraft

Nice shots and thanks for sharing. Your son has great taste in planes too. Love the Jug!

Awesome shots!

And Threads like this are excellent examples why Cell phone cameras just don't cut it.

That said, in the first F-86 shot, I'm curious what the USCG bird is in the background.

It looks like a Falcon, which have pretty much all but gone away and replaced by the Casa.

yeah, that's a Falcon, they're stationed at Cape Cod USCG base. The old Otis ANG base.

'twas a quick visit and we didn't get to see the planes outside, but I did not see an F-105 while we were there. If they had one previously, they may have sold/traded it unless it's being restored and not on display currently.

isn't that plane behind the F-86 a F-105?


Nope, looks like it's the F-100

Correct, it's the F-100. Sorry, I should have identified it.

NEAM has changed some exhibits there in the past 10 yrs or so. They used to have a USAF 105 in Camo. The Mig 15 may have replaced the 105.
If you have a chance, head down to Cradle of Aviation on Long Island. They have a lot of good spacecraft exhibits, and the F14!
Great pics.

I love the Thunderbolt. It's so big and heavy looking and yet so powerful, fast and manoeuvrable

Took my little guy back to the air museum today to find that the Mig-15 and F-86 were gone. A Cobra helicopter was in the Mig's spot, and the F-105 was back!



Turns out they are having a summer long tribute to aircraft of the Vietnam War. I do hope that they have not gotten rid of the Mig-15 and F-86, iconic air warriors that any museum should be proud to have on display.

In any case, even though it was not one of their official open cockpit days, the cockpits of the P-47 and F-100 were open to the public. Shine an LED flashlight into the bottom of the P-47 gunsight and crosshairs appear, still looking for a target after 70 years.


My five-year old was thrilled to sit in the Thunderbolt, but had no interest at all in the Super Sabre. Interesting that he loves WWII prop planes much more than sleek modern jets.

Really worth a trip with many exhibits though they could use more display space for their military collection.
There are many other aircraft and interesting displays there, including a Lockheed 10-A Electra similar to Amelia Earhart's ill-fated craft:



A fairly unique item- the control car from K-28, a WWII US Navy blimp used for antisubmarine patrols. The airship this belonged to was 252 feet in length. This is the only surviving control car from one of these craft. 134 K-category airships were built by Goodyear in Akron, Ohio between 1938 and 1944.


Again, wish they had more space for their collection.
For photography, it was low lighting- next time I may come with a mono or tripod and without the energetic five-year old!
Some odds and ends:







Sitting off in the weeds, an F-89J:


Reproduction only: