Building on a legend...American Airpower Museum

Flight Journal, Apr 2002 by McMahon, Scott

There remains one place in America where operational vintage warbirds are flying from the very hangars and runways where they were sent off to war some 60 years ago. The American Airpower Museum at Republic in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, is entering its second year on the grounds of the legendary Republic Aviation, and for many, it's as if a time capsule had been opened.

About 35,000 people have come through the histonic complex, including two of its staunchest advocates: New York Gov. George Pataki and U.S. Rep. Steve Israel. Housed in a hangar completed in 1940 to help assemble some 9,000 Thunderbolts, the museum also lays claim to a restored control tower that directed squadrons of Thunderbolts during WW II. Visitors travel between the two facilities in a vintage Army truck and are met by living historians in WW II uniforms or veterans in museum flight suits.

The museum's collection of flight-ready aircraft includes a rare Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, a C-47 Dakota, Gen. Hap Arnold's personal B-25, a P-40 Warhawk, a Corsair, a Grumman-- designed Avenger, a T-6 Texan, a Vietnamera Skyraider and more. Heavy bombers such as Collings' B-17 and B-24 regularly stop there as part of their American tour. Companies such as Avirex Ltd. have sponsored permanent exhibits to honor the Tuskegee Airmen and the WASP.

The facility at 1300 New Highway, south of Conklin Ave., is open year-round, Thursdays through Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $9 for adults, $6 for veterans or seniors and $4 for children. Its website is www.americanairpowermuseum.com.

-Scott McMahon