New England Air Museum update

[PropsRule]

I had a chance to visit the museum back in September. Glad I had the opportunity to see the old Caravelle one last time.

[whistlingdeath77]

gee that sucks. what's the motive behind this? I was there this past summer a few times and she seemed pretty beat up from the weather, but didn't look like junk.

[Joe Scheil]

Tragic

[Chris Brame]

I saw a documentary on TV a while back about the guy who wanted to kill Nixon by flying a hijacked jetliner into the White House; the plane used for the recreation scenes was a Caravelle. Anyone know which one was used?

[Jerry O'Neill]

I don't kmow which Caravelle was used for that, but I've used NEAM's assets many times for TV and Video work. I used the Caravelle for the local news station to shoot some "airliner" cockpit close-ups for a piece they were doing on TWA Flight 800. I even spumn the altimeter so they could get a close-up.
I even won a Vision Award for a TV commercial that utilized the museum's C-7 Caribou!
Jerry

[rayar3]

I posted what's available for sale in the classified section. Please contact me with any questions!

[whistlingdeath77]

why are they getting rid of this? I remember going in it as a kid for open cockpit days. I also remember seeing that old b-29 sitting out there too. That darn tornado did a job in 79

[John Dupre]

why are they getting rid of this? I remember going in it as a kid for open cockpit days. I also remember seeing that old b-29 sitting out there too. That darn tornado did a job in 79

One of the things you have to admire NEAM for is making the decision to rationalize a rather eclectic collection of airframes concentrating primarily on aircraft with a historic connection to New England aviation. That allowed them to dispose of a number of aircraft in sale or trade for other aircraft or restorations that actually made the over all collection better. Considering the lack of connection New England has with the Caravelle it made sense to dispose of it. Since no one was interested in purchasing it for museum purposes then scrapping unfortunately became the only affordable choice. The museum gets some needed cash, more room to display or store aircraft and loses what frankly, had become an eyesore. It would have been great to keep the wreck of the B-17 or Catalina or the Machhi 200 but none of those aircraft were built in New England and unlike the B-29 none of them had a dedicated group of volunteers willing to undertake and underwrite much of the preservation and restoration effort. Trading the B-17 for the restoration of the B-25 gives the museum a restored aircraft on display rather than two semi abandoned wrecks half covered in tarps outdoors in all weather. Tough decisions to make for a group that loves all aircraft but necessary and ultimately beneficial.

[whistlingdeath77]

thanks for the update. But my question is that was there a need for it to be scrapped? The yard is big enough and i don't seen any other aircraft thats going to be sitting in it's place. Lets hope that the a-26 goes indoors where it should be when completed.

[Jerry O'Neill]

The eventual plan is to erect a new building in the area that most of the aircraft are displayed outside. It was a plan for many years to get all the aircraft indoors and I think the Caravelle is the last step.

The Caravelle does have a slight New England connection. United Air Lines had 10 or 12 of them and they spent many of their time with United flying a first class passenger only flights from Bradley to Chicago. This Caravelle was one of those that flew into and out of Connecticut many time before United sold them off.
Jerry

[whistlingdeath77]

thanks jerry for the update

[Larry Wielgosz]

Just some thoughts. Approx. 18 years ago I spoke to the man in charge of aircraft acquisitions about obtaining an aircraft built in Connecticut. It was a general conversation with no official action by the museum or myself but I could have gotten the ball rolling. I'm not speaking on behalf of the NEAM officialdom but the man wasn't interested. "It'll take up too much room" was one of the remarks I remember. At the same time the museum was building (or had) a replica Gee Bee racer, never to fly. I'm not knocking the Gee Bee racer by any means but... The day has always remained in my mind. Good museum. Plan a trip to visit it.

Side note: the National Museum of the USAF dedicated an example of this aircraft last week. By the way, the dedication went great. The amount of attendees that were awarded the Air Force Cross & Silver Stars using this aircraft was amazing. All that history.

[JBoyle]

For what it's worth there is a nice Caravelle at the Nice, France airport.
I doesn't look like a museum piece, just parked.

[RMAllnutt]

For what it's worth there is a nice Caravelle at the Nice, France airport.
I doesn't look like a museum piece, just parked.

I remember seeing that a couple of years ago, and wondered what the situation was with it. Anyone know?

Cheers,
Richard