The Ultimate Tour of the New England Air Museum: Spring 2023 Edition! Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

welcome back to the channel my name is Tom and today I'm at the New England air museum in Windsor Locks Connecticut the last time I was here was about five years ago back in 2018 and since then they have made some changes to the museum they've added some new exhibits there are some aircraft here now that weren't there back in 2018 and they even have a high-tech flight simulator as well so if you're into history Aviation or just looking at shiny aircraft this is the video for you so stay tuned and in case you're wondering the Museum's open every day except for major holidays and adult admission is 21 which I think is well worth the price also just a disclaimer most of the information I'm going to provide in this video is based on the signs at the air museum and Wikipedia so if I get anything wrong I do apologize first up is the Sikorsky ch-54b tar also known as the sky crane it was originally designed in 1962 this is the B variant which is a later heavier Duty version It's powered by two Pratt and Whitney t73p 700 engines which have 4 800 horsepower each and that enables it to carry up to 25 000 pounds or 45 combat troops at once and just to give you a better idea of what kind of carrying capacity that is these are actually able to transport tanks seeing this helicopter brings back a lot of memories to me I don't live too far from here and I distinctly remember back in the 80s see me Sky cranes flying over my house all the time until they finally disappeared around the early 90s which is when they were taken out of service hanging from the ceiling is the Pratt Reed lne1 it's a two-seat glider that was built in 1943 it was originally used to train pilots during World War II but after the war it was sold as Surplus and in 1952 it set the High Altitude record for two seat gliders at 44 255 feet this is the Republic p-47d Thunderbolt the P-47 was produced between 1942 and 1945 this D variant was introduced around 1945 and it was the heaviest single-engine fighter during all of World War II it was used as a Pursuit aircraft and also a fighter bomber and as you can see it carried eight 50 caliber machine guns in the wings and this D variant was the first variant to have a bubble canopy which provided improved visibility over previous designs this particular aircraft served in Italy in 1945. this is the Douglas a20 Havoc G the Douglas a20 was produced between 1939 and 1944 and this variant the Havoc G was the most produced version there's over 2850 of these that were built and it served as a medium bomber a night fighter an attack aircraft and it was finally retired from service by the U.S Air Force in 1949. I believe that's a camera there in the nose of the plane if I'm wrong let me know in the comments now let's head on up and take a look in the cockpit see what's going on inside there foreign and also if you like this video please give me a thumbs up subscribe to my channel leave a comment and hit that notification Bell if you're not familiar with my channel I generally do flea market videos Mall walkthroughs store walkthroughs as well as occasionally videos like this on museums abandoned places and other historical locations thanks here's an alternate nose cone for the plane which as you can see adds additional machine guns I think this one's pretty cool this is a pratt and Whitney j58 after burning turbojet engine this was used in the SR-71 Blackbird as well as its predecessors the a12 and yf-12 this engine can Propel an aircraft at over Mach 3 and it actually help the SR-71 reach the absolute speed record of 2193 miles an hour here's the high-tech flight simulator I was talking about this is an fa-18 simulator and as you can see under the center monitor there they're using a gaming computer to run this I would imagine to run this at the speed they're running at it was built within probably the last couple years probably 2021 or newer I didn't see any specs though but essentially it's running three 55-inch TVs as far as I can tell the only thing that doesn't appear to be off the shelf to me is that chair and controller but let's take a look at it in action yeah you'll see the numbers start to go up so that's 10 degrees nose up 15 degrees push forward and this is the Pratt and Whitney PW 6000 turbofan engine it entered service in 2007 powering the Airbus A318 here's the Westinghouse j34 turbo jet engine it was first tested in 1945 and was the only truly successful turbojet engine built by Westinghouse this is the Rolls-Royce rb41 Neen turbojet engine that was first tested in 1944 and here's the gej-31 it's the first mass-produced jet engine in the United States this is the North American b-25h Mitchell the B-25 was produced between 1938 and 1946. this one was built in 1944 and was the same type of bomber used by General Jimmy Doolittle during his raids on Tokyo the B-25 was powered by two 1 700 horsepower engines had a top speed of about 275 miles an hour and had a range of up to 1 350 miles oh my friends this is the md-22 flight simulator this is the cockpit module of a larger and more complex f-100c super saber simulator I didn't see a date on this but the f-100c was produced between 1953 and 1959 so this would have been from that time period and I actually remember this being here when I was a kid and I'm pretty sure I got in it I think you can still go in it today but I didn't feel like getting stuck so I didn't get in here's the Pratt and Whitney j57 turbojet engine from 1950 which at the time was the most powerful turbojet engine in the world and these are the M39 20 millimeter guns from the next jet we're going to look at the F-100 Super saber and here it is the F-100 Super saber it was produced between 1953 and 1959 it was powered by a single Pratt Whitney j57 turbojet Engine with an afterburner it had four 20 millimeter cannons and had a payload capacity of between six thousand and seven thousand five hundred pounds it entered service in 1954 and was the world's first production supersonic fighter originally designed for use against Soviet aircraft during the Cold War it ended up seeing quite a bit of action during the Vietnam war and it wasn't retired by the U.S military until 1979. now this jet has to be in my top five favorite of all time this is the Lockheed f-104c Starfighter the first prototype flew in 1954 and it was in service with the U.S Air Force from 1958 to 1969. and then it ended its career with the National Guard when it was retired in 1975. it's powered by a single GE j79 after burning turbojet and the thing that makes it very unusual are the wings as you can see they're very narrow they're only seven and a half feet long each which is very short for a jet like this and this is actually the first combat jet able to fly at Mach 2 for an extended period of time this particular one here actually set the altitude and speed record in 1962 when it flew at Mach 2.5 at 92 000 feet and this is without a doubt my favorite aircraft of all time this is the Fairchild Republic a10a Thunderbolt 2. it's named after the P-47 Thunderbolt which we looked at earlier however today it's better known as the A-10 Warthog it first flew in 1972 and entered service in 1976 later versions are still in service to this day it has a maximum speed of 460 miles an hour and it's powered by two GE tf-34 GE 100 turbofans the A10 was designed to provide close air support to ground troops and to destroy tanks and pretty much any other type of vehicle you can imagine its primary Armament is the 30 millimeter Gau A8 Avenger rotary Cannon which you can see here and here's an example of that iconic gun sound [Music] I think one of the reasons I like this aircraft so much is that it was probably the first military jet I'd ever seen in person as they used to be stationed right here at the local Connecticut Air National Guard base and they would fly over my house all the time this is a cockpit Simulator for a Grumman e1b tracer they actually have an e1b Tracer outside so we'll take a look at that later but this is what it looks like on the inside all right this is the command sh2fc Sprite it first flew in 1959 and was in service with the U.S Navy from 1962 until 1993. it was manufactured by command aircraft which is located just about 10 minutes from here in Bloomfield Connecticut its primary use was for search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare it's powered by two GE t58 ge8f gas turbine engines and has a maximum speed of 143 miles an hour and it's got a range of 500 nautical miles it's a ship-based helicopter and its primary armaments include M60 machine guns depth charges and MK 4650 homing torpedoes this is the command hh-43f husky this model first flew in 1953 and was retired in the early 1970s this particular aircraft was built in 1960 and its primary purpose was to reach downed aircraft and it had the equipment necessary to put out fires and rescue flight Crews this specific aircraft was actually used as a plane guard for Air Force One which means that escorted takeoffs and landings of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington DC during the time of presidents Kennedy Johnson and Nixon and it also has the distinctive twin intermeshing rotors that many command aircraft have to this day and here we have the command hok1 which was later redesignated as the oh-43d Husky it's essentially a variant of the helicopter we just looked at its primary use was for scouting and observation whereas the other one was primarily used for firefighting and here we have the command k225 this is actually the fifth helicopter ever built by command and it's currently command's oldest surviving aircraft it was first flown in 1948 and it's basically an improved version of the k-125 which was command's first helicopter and it's also one of the first helicopters to use the twin intermeshing rotors and as you can probably see this helicopter led to the development of the hok-1 and hs-43 huskies that we just looked at while the A-10 Warthog is my favorite airplane at this Museum this is definitely my favorite helicopter this is the Bell ah1s cobra the Cobra was first flown in 1965 and was in service with the U.S army from 1967 to 2001. however the U.S Marine Corps continued to use a variant of this the ah1w Super Cobra until 2020 and the Marine Corps continues to use the ah1z Viper to this day surprisingly some of the US Army's retired Cobras were given to the usda's forest service this version is also called the tow Cobra because of its eight tow anti-tank missiles it's powered by a Lycoming t-53l703 turbine engine has a top speed of 205 miles an hour and a range of 342 miles I thought this was interesting right next to the Cobra they have some old computers set up running Microsoft flight simulator these appear to be computers from the late 90s early 2000s maybe up to 2005 or so I would guess their Pentium fours and I think they're running flight simulator either 98 2000 or 2002 most likely so they're pretty out of date but you know I guess they still get the job done next up we have the Bell uh-1b Iroquois aka the Huey the Huey first flew in 1956 and was in service with the U.S military from 1959 to present this particular model was built in 1962 I think today most people would associate this helicopter with the Vietnam War it's powered by a Lycoming t-53 gas turbine engine and was primarily used as a utility aircraft a Medevac and a gunship and it could also carry about six fully equipped troops though here we have the Hughes oh 6A Caius this is a light observation helicopter that was used primarily by the US Army and was first flown in 1963. this particular aircraft was built in 1967 it's powered by a 411 horsepower Allison 250 turbine engine and has a top speed of about 152 miles an hour during the Vietnam war this helicopter would work with the cobra attack helicopters as a kind of hunter killer team and variants of this helicopter actually continue to be built to this day in fact the helicopter flown by TC and the TV show Magnum PI was a civilian variant of this helicopter this Museum also has a great collection of scale models and this is probably my favorite aircraft of all time the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird I've never seen one of these in person but I hope to someday you know a pretty gifts and here's the Lockheed yf-12a which is essentially an early version of the SR-71 Blackbird here's another famous aircraft this is a Lockheed 10A Electra the electorate was first flown in 1934 and was an all-metal twin engine airliner built to compete with the Douglas dc2 and the Boeing 247 it could carry up to 10 passengers and a crew of three and this is actually the same type of plane flown by Amelia Earhart when she disappeared in 1937. one of the easiest ways for me to identify this aircraft is by that circular antenna above the flight deck I could be wrong but I haven't seen too many other aircraft that have an antenna that looks quite like that so here's one of the more unusual aircraft at the Museum this is the bernelli cby3 load master this aircraft is one of one as it never went into commercial production it was built in 1944 and first flew in 1945. it's a lifting body aircraft which means that the fuselage actually acts as a lifting body like the wings do and this aircraft flew regularly as a commercial airliner in South America and Northern Canada and ended its days flying out of Baltimore Maryland where it was eventually abandoned it's been with the museum since 1972 or 1964 depending on what source you look at the airplane was already damaged by the time the museum got it and it was damaged even more in 1979 during a tornado they started restoration on it in 2012. that was finished in 2020 and since then it's been on display inside the museum I'm not sure what this aircraft is here if anybody knows let me know in the comments the museum also has this amazing collection of old airplane paintings that I mean yeah this is the Nixon special it was hand built by John Nixon in 1918. it was flown until 1926 and was then put into storage it wasn't flown again until 1958 then was put back into storage and was eventually acquired by the museum here we have the Sikorsky h-52a sea guard the h-52 first flew in 1958 and was in service with the U.S Coast Guard from 1961 to 1989. this particular helicopter was built in 1967. it's an amphibious search and rescue helicopter and this one was stationed at the Detroit coast guard air station until 1989 what makes it amphibious is that it can not only fly but it can float in the water as well as you can see the underside is shaped like a boat's Hull and the landing gear pods also serve as pontoons foreign this is the Douglas DC3 the DC3 first flew in 1935 and was introduced in 1936. this specific aircraft was built in 1942 and is powered by two Curtis Wright r1820 Cyclone engines it had a cruising speed of 207 miles an hour in a range of 1 500 miles and this particular DC-3 was originally ordered by American Airlines but was taken over by the U.S Army Air Force in 1942 it was completed as a c-49j and was used to transport troops during World War II but after the war was converted back to a DC-3 and was initially operated by Eastern Airlines and then a few other carriers this is a billu11 it's a French monoplane that first flew in 1909 a plane of this type was actually the first heavier than air aircraft across the English Channel this massive aircraft is the Sikorsky vs44a flying boat excambian it was built in 1942 for Non-Stop commercial transatlantic passenger service during World War II this aircraft flew regular flights across the Atlantic carrying passengers and freight and after the war it flew for various shuttle services in California and the Virgin Islands there were only ever three vs 44as ever built and this is the only one to survive it was restored between 1988 and 1998 and it's been here ever since this is the North American P-51 Mustang the Mustang first flew in 1940 and was introduced in 1942 it was a long-range fighter and fighter bomber that was mainly used during World War II in the Korean War to escort bombers this Pacific aircraft was built too late to see combat in World War II so it was purchased as Surplus and was eventually converted into a racing plane and actually won the Thompson trophy in 1948 during the National Air Races restoration was completed on this airplane in 2015 and it's currently in its 1949 air race configuration this is the Marco Bromberg special it was originally built in 1933 as the rider R3 it then got sold and was modified by the Marco Bromberg team in 1934 and as a racing plane it placed high in numerous races and won the 1936 Golden Gate Trophy and it also appeared in the 1938 Clark Gable movie test pilot this is the Laird lcdw300 solution it's a racing plane that was built by em Laird in 1930 it was built with the sole purpose of racing in the first ever Thompson trophy race and amazingly it won the race here's another racing plane this is a replica of the GB super Sportster R1 the original plane was built in 1932 with the sole purpose of racing and it won the Thompson trophy in 1932 it also set some speed records this replica was built here at the Museum using the original plans however from what I've read this replica is not airworthy this is the Sikorsky s39b this particular plane first flew in 1930 and it's actually the oldest Sikorsky Aircraft still in existence it's an amphibious plane which means it can take off from both land and water and during World War II it was used by the Civil Air Patrol in Delaware for air CE rescue missions it ended its career in 1957 as an Alaskan bush plane when it crashed and it's been here since 1963. here we have the domen yh-31 which later became known as the lz-5 this helicopter was delivered to the US Army in 1955. it was a utility helicopter and only three of them were ever built it uses a gimbaled rotor head system which eliminated the need for rotor hinges and dampers the tail rotor was also handles and the engine was cooled by exhaust ejectors which increased the payload by about 800 pounds this is the Sikorsky R6 it's a two-seat helicopter that first flew in 1943 it included a new streamlined body and the boom carrying the tail rotor was straightened and lengthened it was later Modified by domen helicopters they were originally flown by the U.S Navy and the Royal Air Force but eventually made it into the Civil aircraft Market in the late 40s but none are currently operational next up is the Republic rc3 CB this is another amphibious aircraft and was designed to be a low-cost aircraft for sportsmen this particular aircraft was built in 1948 and has a top speed of about 120 miles an hour it kind of reminds me of those personal aircraft of the future they used to talk about in the 1950s where they imagined people flying planes to the office in order to avoid traffic jams the seats even look like they're from a car here's the Sikorsky s59 also known as the xh-39 it's basically a conversion of the s52 helicopter from piston to turbine power only three were ever produced and it set a world speed record for helicopters at 156 miles an hour and the altitude record at 24 500 feet this particular one was used by Sikorsky for demonstration purposes next to the s59 we have the s51 it was built in 1947 and was sikorski's first civilian helicopter this one was originally flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force here's the last helicopter of the day this is the Sikorsky r4b this one was delivered in 1943 and was the first mass-produced helicopter in the world it was also the first helicopter to be used by the U.S Army Air Force U.S Navy U.S Coast Guard in the UK's Royal Navy and Air Force and R4 was also used in the first U.S helicopter rescue when it carried blood plasma for casualties following the sinking of the USS Turner in 1944. this is a cockpit Simulator for a Boeing 707 and I actually remember this very clearly being here in the 1980s when I came as a kid and I think back then you could get inside it that's my recollection the 707 first flew in 1957 and was the first jetliner produced by Boeing commercial airplanes and in my opinion the 707 was the first modern appearing jet aircraft in fact if you were to see one today being flown by American Airlines or Delta most people would just assume it's a modern aircraft and also a 707 was used as Air Force One from 1962 all the way up into 2001 believe it or not I think this is probably one of the most unusual exhibits at the air museum this is the control car from a Goodyear znpk non-rigid Airship or blimp this one was designated k28 it was built in 1942 and was powered by two Pratt and Whitney r-1340 wasp engines which gave it a top speed of about 68 miles an hour and this specific one was used as an anti-submarine Convoy escort during World War II then after the war it went back to Goodyear to become one of the Goodyear blimps and was renamed the Puritan and then it was finally retired in 1948. as you can see this one still has a machine gun in it which I would assume almost certainly was removed when it was being used as one of the Goodyear blimps foreign before this I think the only control car to a blimp for Zeppelin I've seen before was the one in Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade which obviously was for a much larger blimp and was of course fictional but this is much much smaller than the one depicted in the Indiana Jones movie so I'm not sure if the control car is actually got as big as the ones in the Indiana Jones movie or if that was just you know for the movies we're only and of course the reason for all the glass is that this was used as an anti-submarine Convoy escort during World War II so you'd want to be able to see out the windows basically to see if there are any submarines down below and here's a scale model of what it would have looked like back during World War II here we have the star of the show the Boeing B-29 super Fortress the B-29 first flew in 1942 and was introduced in 1944 which was towards the end of World War II it's a four engine heavy bomber and was used mostly during World War II and the Korean War it was one of the largest aircraft of World War II and included new technologies such as an analog computer controlled fire control system which allowed the Gunner and fire control officer to use four remote 50 caliber Browning M2 machine gun turrets it also had a pressurized cabin which allowed it to fly at much higher altitudes than its predecessor of the B-17 also modified versions of the B-29 were used to drop the atomic bombs on Japan during World War II this particular B-29 Jax hack never served overseas during World War II but served with training units until the late 1940s during the 50s it was based in the UK and Libya and was then put into storage in 1956 it was actually set to be used for target practice but thankfully that never happened here's one of those remote control turrets and you can tell it's remote controlled because there's no window or bubble in it like you would have seen in a B-17 for example outside there's the Bombay doors here's an observation bubble and with what I believe is a camera mounted in it and it's a little bit hard to get an idea of scale in this video but that tail is enormous there's the tail gun and you can see actually right above it there's a little window where the tail Nutter would have sat now let's get a little bit better view from above here's the Clark tour 6 airport tug from the 1940s and this would have been used to move aircraft around military installations and also to pull trailers like that this is the Grumman fm2 Wildcat it first flew in 1937 and was the primary fighter plane of the U.S Navy Marines and Royal Navy at the beginning of World War II here we have the vat xf4u4 Corsair it was designed as a carrier-based aircraft and was one of the best fighter bombers of World War II and also the Korean War it can be easily identified by the inverted Gull Wing which was designed to provide extra ground clearance for its huge propeller and this one was actually the first Corsair ever produced this is the Grumman F6 F5 Hellcat which is the successor to the fm2 Wildcat that we looked at earlier it went into service in 1943 and was designed to be maneuverable enough to take on Japan's Fighters as a result it ended up being responsible for the majority of Japanese Fighters shot down during World War II this biplane is the Stearman pt-17 while it looks like something out of world war one it was actually built in 1941 as a trainer aircraft for the US Army and Navy as well as its allies this particular aircraft served at the Tuskegee Army Airfield from 1943 to 1945 which was the main training facility for African American Pilots at the time next up is this Grumman 150 se2 turret which is from a Grumman TBM 3E Avenger it's from 1943 and was one of the first powered ball turrets that could work in a single engine aircraft it has a 50 caliber machine gun and used one and a half inch thick glass to protect the Gunner and this is a scale model of the Boeing B-29 super Fortress I wouldn't mind having this in my collection that's for sure might be a little bit out of my price range though now we're going to head outside where they have some additional aircraft on display most of these aircraft have been outside for decades and are not in the best condition hopefully they'll all be fully restored someday also I seem to remember when I came here as a kid back in the 80s that there used to be a lot more aircraft out here and I also remember being able to go inside a lot of them but I might be misremembering that first up we have the de Havilland c7a Caribou originally called the dhc4 Caribou it first flew in 1958 and was introduced in 1961. this is a canadian-built aircraft and was designed as a military transport and later used as a utility and cargo aircraft it has a short takeoff and Landing capability which enables it to use runways as short as 1 200 feet a few of these are still used today as Bush aircraft next we have the Douglas a3b Sky Warrior it was a strategic bomber this is the main production variant which entered service in 1957 it operated from aircraft carriers and was the largest and heaviest aircraft to do so at the time it was also used for reconnaissance mid-air refueling and electronic warfare it was finally retired in 1991. this is the Grumman hu-16e Albatross originally called the sa-16b and uf-1g it was designed by the U.S Navy as an amphibious utility aircraft that was also capable of using skis to take off from ice and snow as you can see by the shape of it it could also take off and land in water it first flew in 1949 and this one was built in 1953 it was mainly used as a search and rescue aircraft and was retired by the U.S Coast Guard in 1983. but there are still many of these being used today in civilian operations here we have the Martin rb57a cambera which was built in 1954. the b-57a was a tactical bomber and this variant the rb57a was a photo reconnaissance aircraft and was actually a modified version of the British English electric Canberra this version was taken out of active military service in 1958 and most of them were transferred to the U.S national guard where they were used to complete photographic surveys of the U.S until 1971. it was replaced in military use by the U2 and the SR-71 and last but not least we have the Grumman e-1b Tracer it was the first aircraft specifically designed for Airborne early warning it first flew in 1956 and was eventually retired in 1977 it features folding wings so that it can easily be stored on aircraft carriers and as you can see had an enormous radar system mounted on top this particular aircraft is dedicated to Lou Rel who flew the aircraft when he was a U.S Navy pilot and also amazingly helped to restore it and before we leave we have to check out the gift shop I would say this is probably the best gift shop I've ever seen at a museum if you're into Aviation or anything military you definitely want to come out here because they have some amazing stuff here that you really can't find anywhere else and also a lot of this stuff you can find it online but you know this is an easy place to find it all in one spot and also you do not have to pay admission to get into the gift shop so if you want to just come out to the gift shop and you know not look at the aircraft you can do that too these flight helmets are pretty cool if I was a kid I would have picked one of these up I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit my head nowadays but um really cool now in addition to toys and souvenirs they actually do have historical documents here these are various manuals textbooks you name it all kinds of Random material on aircraft and also if you're into scale models of aircraft this is definitely the place to come because they have an enormous selection I was really tempted here to pick up one of each Airline but I was able to control myself luckily I only live about 10 minutes away from here so if I ever change my mind I can just drive on down and pick some up and they were priced well these were only 10 bucks each so that's good in addition to the brand new Scale Models they have for sale they also have these vintage ones here from what I understand these were part of some guy's collection and he donated them to the museum and now they're selling them they're definitely not cheap that's for sure but they're pretty awesome so if there's an aircraft scale model you're looking for odds are they probably have it here we grew up in London cart right in front of weapons B-52 bomber was very tempting just a little bit more than I can afford at this point we've got a crowd down there and experience yeah they also have a nice selection of Cups and mugs and if you've seen any of my other videos especially my flea market videos you may know I'm into character glasses and these aren't exactly character glasses but they're close so I did end up picking up one of these Air Museum glasses here they were decently priced I think it was six dollars which is about what I would pay for a glass like that at a flea market I was at another Museum not too long ago and they were selling similar glasses you know not the same subject but similar for I think like 25 so these are priced very well there you have it that's the New England air museum in Windsor Locks Connecticut I hope you liked the video if you did please give me a thumbs up subscribe to my channel leave a comment and hit that notification Bell thanks for watching and I'll see you next time foreign

Channel: Fleabitten Adventures

Views: 45,985

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Id: KLD0nQGiMuo

Length: 47min 18sec (2838 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 12 2023