National Warplane Museum

Last week a friend of ours Amy took her kids to a local hidden gem, The National Warplane Museum.  It is one of those places you hear a little about from time to time.  The museum is dedicated to the restoration, display and preservation of World War II and Korean War era airplanes.  My husband was on days today and decided to take a half day so we could go.  Neither of us had ever been.  BOY were we missing out.

We honestly did not know what to expect.  We were greeted at the road by a nice sign that directed us down a very long driveway.  As we approached we saw another sign.

This was really neat.  Shows us how far away each of these places were.  So we chatted about the different areas.  Recently one of the airplanes made a trip to Normandy for the D-Day anniversary.

We pulled in and the place was a bustle of activity.  We really picked a great day to visit.  They were preparing a few of the planes to take off.  The Rochester air show is this weekend.  So we were invited to come in and walk around.  One of the feature aircraft is a C-47A Dakota.  Also known as the "Whisky 7".  It was one of the first aircraft during the air strike of D-Day, June 6, 1944.  This is not a replica but the actual restored aircraft.

It was really neat to actually see a part of history live and in person.  The people at the airport were so willing to stop and chat with us.  The kids had a great time.  Andrew and his friend were right there climbing into the aircraft when invited to do so.

Inside the C-47.  I thought about the young men who were originally in this aircraft.  How they must have felt on the flight in 1944 knowing what they were headed over to do. 

Starting up.  We were excited when they said they were getting ready to take off.  They got up to the runway and something was wrong with the engine.  Bummer!  But it was neat to see the aircraft up close and personal.

Here we looked at an L-17 aircraft.  Andrew enjoyed looking at this one.  The rest of the pictures are the aircraft displayed.

AN-2 Currently being restored

The aircraft with the Canadian Maple Leaf on it was indeed a part of the Canadian Air Force.  It is a cargo plane.  The museum is currently in the process of restoring it.  We were able to go up inside it.  The guys were willing to chat all about it with us.

As you can see they are in the very early stages of restoring it.  I was in awe of how big this was.  They were getting ready to start painting the outside of it today.

It will be neat to see the progress of this aircraft.  Since the museum is pretty close to us we plan on going back often.

The boys were standing with these 2 gentlemen who were chatting about the "Whisky 7" and the engine troubles. 

Hannah checking out of the museum.  I thought this was cute.

We had such a great day.  I really hope more people go visit this place.  It is amazing!  The staff and volunteers are so knowledgeable about the aircraft.  Each July they host an air show.  We plan on going next year.  I took almost 300 pictures today.  I may have to do another post to share them all with you.  LOL!  I hope I didn't completely put you to sleep.