Cradle of Aviation Museum

A couple of months ago, Drew and I spent a Saturday morning at  the American Airpower Museum.  That's a small museum in Farmingdale, on the grounds of a Republic Airport.  American Airpower Museum focuses on the planes made by Republic Aviation, but gives a nice overview of aviation history and its connection to Long Island.

When Drew heard that I had never been to The Cradle of Aviation Museum, he suggested we go.

The Aviation Museum is part of a complex which includes a Firefighters Museum, a Children's Museum and Nunkey's Carrousel -- Nunley's was a small amusement park, and when the park closed, the county acquired the antique carrousel.  All of the museums are hands-on, very good for children, but Aviation has a lot to offer adults as well.

Hempstead Plains, located in central Nassau County, was known as "The Cradle of Aviation" because so much of early aviation history happened there.  The museum celebrates Ling Island's role in aviation, from early development through the Golden Age, from WWII through the development of jets, and the space program, of course.  Long Island was home to Republic Aviation and Grumman.  The lunar module for the Apollo missions was developed here.

The collection is considerable for a local museum.

In addition to the galleries filled with aircraft and artifacts, the museum houses an IMAX theater, a planetarium and a flight simulator.   The flight simulator is like an amusement park ride -- the theater is a small vehicle that moves about, you watch a film while you shift up, down etc.

A fun afternoon, it's definitely an experience I'd recommend.

A few of the treasures here

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