Warbird Information Exchange

Yesterday I had the chance to visit the Empire State Aerosciences Museum for the first time. Being only roughly; 2.5 hrs away from home, it's kind of shocker to me its taken me this long to get up here and see this museum.

Former GE Hangar.





Not one but two C-130s now on display!









The Air Park































Exhibits:

















GE Hangar: I was rather surprised at how much space there was inside. I figured they'd want to stuff and pack as many planes in there as possible to protect them from the elements. But it appeard there were a few flyable private aircraft as well.



























Was neat to see this privately owned BT-13 there.



But then I noticed these two P-40B/C / P-36 projects... Anyone have any info on them?









All in all it was a really interesting museum with alot of cold war era jets on loan. I thought some of the displays were well thought out, but as a graphic designer, I found some of them a bit busy and difficult to read. When I was there I saw a concept rendering of the museum on an easel, showing the rear windows in the hangar opened up to let alot more light in, and it looked like the interior of the concrete hangar was packed with alot more aircraft, being suspended as well. (Think of the American Air Museum in Duxford.) So maybe they do have a new plan moving forward? When I went back at the end to take a picture, they had removed it, so I didn't get a chance to take a pic of it.

I think considering just how much hardware they have now, they should consider building a new hangar / building onto the side of the GE Hangar so they can get more of there collection indoors. See below for a quick mockup I made.



I think it would in EASM's best interest in dismantling the two storage bldgs, and overhauling them and reassembling them so they can be used for storage for decades to come. With that space cleared, they can then pour a pad and build a new hangar attached to the side of the GE Hangar. But instead of just making a generic looking hangar, I think they should consider making a somewhat interactive exhibit, designed to look like the deck of an US aircraft carrier, complete with Island. This way, they have a built in space to showcase the entire fleet of Navy / Marines aircraft in an appropriate setting.

New Navy Hangar:
Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II
Douglas F3D Skyknight
Grumman A-6E Intruder
Grumman F-14A Tomcat
Northrop F-5E Tiger II (used as a "MiG-28" in Top Gun) (suspended above F-14)
Grumman S-2 Tracker (arrived in 2009)[2]
LTV A-7E Corsair II
North American RA-5C Vigilante
North American T-2C Buckeye

British Exhibit
Supermarine Scimitar
Harrier Jump Jet
Folland Gnat F.1 (suspended above Harrier and Scimitar)

GE Hangar:

2nd Floor Mezzanine Area:
Fisher FP-303
Mooney M-18LA Mite
Peterson J-4 Javelin
Rand Robinson KR-2
Rensselaer RP-1
Stits SA-7D Sky-Coupe
DePischoff "flying motorcycle"

WWI Exhibit
Nieuport 17s (x2)
Curtiss Jenny (1/2 scale replica)

1st Floor (underneath mezzanine)

Korea Exhibit
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15

WWII Exhibit:
Beech 18 Fuselage (Earhart Electra Movie Mockup)
Aeronca 65LB Chief
BT-13 (privately owned)

Main open floor area in GE Hangar

Vietnam Exhibit
McDonnell-Douglas F-4D Phantom II
McDonnell F-101F Voodoo
Republic F-105G Thunderchief
Convair F-102A Delta Dagger
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
Nanchang CJ-6
Hughes OH-6A Cayuse
Bell UH-1 Iroquois

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

Air Park:

Gulfstream
C-130
C-130

Hope you enjoyed!

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
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Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

Thanks for the pics! Cool museum. I visited on a road trip east in 2019 and particularly enjoyed the Vigilante, Scimitar and Skynight. Glad to see more of the aircraft have moved inside.

I thought they had some long-term plans for the hangar in the works when I visited, but perhaps I'm confusing it with another museum.

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Matt

Interesting collection.
Good to see a Mooney Mite...and a A-5!

Also nice to see a Gulfstream (3?) preserved.
Appropriate since Grumman was headquartered in New York (though the jets were built in Savannah).

Over the course of a few years, I watched as a GII was dismantled at Falcon Field. Like airliners, old bizjet don't get much love.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Is that the Eagle Claw prototype that used to be at Robins AFB?

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Cheers!

Lance Jones

Looks like a III. GIIs and GIIIs were always my favourite bizjets, GVI is an amazing piece of kit but doesn't have the looks of its older siblings.

The Strat M-21 N74106 is a nice thing, a one-off I presume.

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

With the amount of aircraft on display outside it reminds me of the MAPS Air Museum. They both need another hangar badly. At least ESAMs is concrete so its both fire- and - as unfortunately demonstrated by NMUSAF - tornado proof.


Yep, it's YMC-130H, 74-1686, which was moved there in 2018.

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Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant

Warbird Philosophy Webmaster