The New England Air Museum - NOW and THEN....
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- On October 3rd, 1979, a very rare "F4" tornado struck without warning several towns in north-central Connecticut. It totally wiped out the outdoor display of the "Bradley Air Museum", and barely missed the main terminal of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.
If you wonder what an "F4" tornado (~200 mph = 320 km/h rotating winds) can do to a large aircraft sitting on the ground, like a B17 or B47 bomber, or a giant military transport aircraft, have a look at this video: "The New England Air Museum - Now and Then"
Correction: Wrong first name used for Mrs. Earhart (@1:45). It should read "Amelia Earhart", not "Emilia". My apologies to Mrs. Earhart. To be corrected with next video update.
Excellent video. But can’t help feeling sad for all the aircraft that could not be saved. Well done everyone who worked on this.
Thank you for your kind comment. You expressed my sentiment exactly! What if the tornado had not destroyed all those airplanes? They would have made a wonderful addition to the planes on display now. But then, if those planes had not been destroyed, would we have the beautiful current museum? The destruction of the outdoor Bradley Air Museum certainly gave birth to the "New England Air Museum". Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes...
@@Ruppi3944 Do you know what they didn't save? what became of them? storage? used to piece together other planes?
Thanks for commenting! You question can only be answered by the museum staff. However, knowing the capabilities of the museum's airplane restoration team, my guess is that whatever wrecked airplanes they could not salvage, they stripped off any usable parts, and either kept them for possible future use, or made them available to other restoration sites / museums.
@@Ruppi3944 Ah thanks. I was just inquisitive and yet sad to see those pics. Hoping they were saved somehow!
Wow. Very sad but be proud of what you all achieved. From your motherland. Old England 🏴 ❤ north of London
Hello Dale,
Thank you for commenting on my video. The contrast of what our air museum looked like after the tornado hit, and what it looks like now, is, indeed, worthy of citizen pride. This air museum is not just a storage place for old airplanes, but it is highly educational, with every display identified and explained in detail. The museum staff truly did an outstanding job in making this a first-class exhibition.
Great video, the destruction of that tornado is unbelievable.
Thanks for commenting, John. It appears from pictures on your channel that you are a pilot. I can imagine that any pilot's heart bleeds when he sees airplanes destroyed beyond recognition. That tornado surely did a job on those airplanes!
I visited the museum as a child prior to the tornado. I was a great collection of aircraft and visiting it is was a catalyst for my life long love of aviation. I am glad to see the museum still exists.
Thanks for commenting Scott. I think the old outdoor "Bradley Air Museum" was great, and I hated to see it destroyed, but the current Museum is much better and more interesting because almost every display is identified and explained! Even if you only read the descriptions of the items of most interest to you, you will never finish it in one visit. I know, I sound like I am employed by the museum (not!), but I believe in giving credit where credit is due. This one deserves credit for making new and old aviation items interesting and educational. If you are ever in the area again, you will not regret a visit to the Air Museum behind Bradley International Airport.
my class was suppose to go on a field trip there on the 4th
I spent a day at the Museum helping clean up after the tornado. I’ve long since moved away. It’s amazing to see the changes. What an impressive aircraft collection.
I appreciate you commenting on the museum as it is now. "Amazing" is the right word to describe it!
Yes, me, too. Several. After several years of work on many of those planes. The Corsair still wears the paint job I applied shortly before the tornado.
I visited the museum in the mid 1980's and again a few years ago and it has improved tremendously! Congratulations to all who were part of the transformation over the years!
Thanks for commenting, Scott! Every time I visit the museum, I find it better than the last time. The New England states can be proud of their regional air museum!
What a great video and museum. Sad to see all the planes that were lost in the tornado but the museum looks great now.
Thank you for your comment on my video and our Air Museum. As I pointed out in my video, to really appreciate the New England Air Museum as it is now, one has to take a look at what the museum looked like after the tornado hit.
Every time my family would visit my great uncle (who lived across the street from the museum) I would plead with my parents to go to the museum and they would always say "Next time". After that storm, there was no next time for me. From our house in Enfield, I remember seeing that storm develop and how it turned the sky GREEN. I knew something terrible was gonna happen. All those priceless one-of-a-kind wooden planes are GONE. The museum is still a shadow of its former self (IIRC, it was the 2nd or 3rd largest air museum in the country before the tornado) but they've done an impressive job of rebuilding. Bravo Zulu.
Thanks for your comment. The way you described the sky looking green when the tornado hit, was exactly what my wife saw that day looking towards North from an upper floor office window of the "Gold" Building in Hartford. She saw the eerie green color and what seemed to be "layers" in the clouds. She, too, sensed that something really bad is going to happen. And it did.....
Awesome video,what a fine accomplishment!
Mark, thank you very much for your very generous comment! Compared to many "professionally-created" videos, mine is certainly not in their league, however, and if I may say so myself, not bad for a 79-year video-editing beginner and novice to UA-cam. Your comment encourages me to learn more about video editing and sharing my humble efforts on UA-cam!
Wow, looks so much better now. I had visited the Bradley Air Museum a few times, the last time I was there was two weeks after the tornado hit. I sat in the McDonald’s across the street staring in disbelief.
Somewhere I have a bunch of photos that I took that day. Such a shame so many aircraft got destroyed.
So happy to see it’s come back. If I’m ever up that way again, I’ll be sure to stop in.
Loved your video.
Thank you for commenting, Richard. The first version of my video about the Air Museum (it is still on UA-cam) does not feature the tornado damage, just the museum, as it is today. Although the view rate was okay, it was nothing special. It is too similar to many other videos on UA-cam about that topic. So I thought about what I could do to differentiate my video from the others, and I remembered my 1979 photos of the tornado aftermath. That made all the difference as you can see. So, don't EVER lose any of the pictures you took, even if it was 45 years ago. You never know when they may come handy to make you "famous". But the most important thing photos do, is to document a split second of your life. Memories are priceless.....
OMG! Heartbreaking Carnage from 1979. Superb Recovery from that catastrophic Event and Loss.
That's the first pod i've seen for the Sky Crane.....
Thanks for your comment. The pod is open to visitors. It is huge!
Really enjoyed this. I have the same pics from "79 'cause we went up that day. What a shame. I have the pamphlet/booklet they prepared for contributions to help in the rebuild. Went to the car shows they have had up there, don't know if they still do, but it was good pr for them.
Thanks for your comment, Ray. Save those pictures, as they are unique because they were "custom-made" by you.
CT native and been there before and after. You'll notice the absence of VF-143's F-14B. Most of us in the Tomcat community have blacklisted this museum as they will not let veterans even see her in storage - "storage" is a violation of the US Navy lease. Visited back in 2009 on behalf of VFA-143 as a Defense Contractor and couldn't get the time of day from the staff. Never going back.
Thanks for commenting, Ed. Sorry to hear about your issues with NEAM.
I remember the disaster very well, I had just gotten out of the Marine Corps just a few months ago and was and still am a Air Classic subscriber and they had the whole thing in their magazine. I had heard of it getting hit but had no idea it was so bad. The 5 engine B-17 was badly damaged but was restored but was again almost destroyed, it's coming along in its new restoration and hopefully will be back in the air again. Thanks for the great video and I hope to come an visit your great museum.
I appreciate your comments, Kenny! Thank you! You may have noticed that one of the photos of the destruction shows the B17 with its tail section at about 90 degrees to the fuselage. That tornado snapped that bomber in half.
What an amazing selection of planes this museum has. Truly excellent variety and appear to be in such great shape! Can't wait to hit CT and visit.
Thank you for commenting on the museum. If you do come to CT, or pass through, be sure to stop and visit the New England Air Museum. I have seen many other air museums in other parts of the country, but our NEAM is something special. Fun and educational!
The museum prior to the tornado was great. One could walk among the aircraft and in some cases board the aircraft, like the C-124 Globemaster. It further educated and bolstered this present day aviator’s dreams. It was fun. The present day museum also is great. It is thrilling to see children tour the museum, learn and have fun. Well done.
Thanks for commenting, Chris. I agree with you 100% on the virtues of the old Bradley Air Museum. It was, indeed, fun to tour. But it was "outside", and it probably did not get too many visitors during the cold winter months. I don't remember if it was even open to the public in winter.
In contrast, our new, (mostly) "indoor" museum can be visited year-round. Great opportunity to beat the winter doldrums...
I remember driving down from the Worcester area days after the disaster. It was heartbreaking to see the devastation. I remember seeing the F4U Corsair demolished. I've been back in later years to witness the great work of all the donors and volunteers. Amazing recovery.
Thank you for commenting, Robert! I visit the Air Museum every few months, and I have yet to get bored going through the displays and reading the descriptions for each item. And not to forget the absolutely wonderful job the museum's restoration teams do. When one looks at the shiny airplanes on display, and reads the "before and after" restoration signs, it is hard to believe what pieces of junk many of the shiny aircraft were before the museum's restoration teams got their hands on them.
The Corsair was not demolished. It was in the big hangar and only suffered a few minor dings to the horizontal stabilizer which was made of Metallite. The plane was an XF4U-4, the first -4 that was built as such from the ground up and not converted form an existing -1. Probably in the top two most original Corsairs in the world even today.
love the A10 and B25 facing each other like they’re facing off…two different generations doing the same things on the battlefield
Thanks for commenting! The B25G Gun Ship with its 75 mm canon was a unique WW2 aircraft. UA-cam has actual WW2 combat videos about it. And who does not like the A10 Warthog? Another unique combat aircraft with its 7-barrel, 30 mm auto-canon. Designed decades apart, both planes feature tremendous firepower.
Very sweet collection
Thank you for commenting! You said it all...
Yes, indeed, the collection is absolutely great! Even the P&W piston-engines on display are amazing. What intricate engineering and manufacturing!
I had been working on the B-29 prior to and after the tornado. It was actually picked up, moved and put back down with only slight damage compared to the rest of the collection. I recall helping to replace an engine nacelle that had been bashed up.
Thank you for your comments, Chris. That B29 sure is a "looker" now. Wow!
It is my understanding that it almost ended up as "canon fodder" at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, but got "saved" at the last minute and trucked to Connecticut.
Excellent video I last visited mid-70's how many planes have survived?
Thanks for commenting, Robert. The NEAM webpage neam.org/pages/windsor-locks-tornado (copy and paste this to your browser) has this info: "In just a few minutes, it was all over. Of the 30 aircraft in the outdoor display, only 4 escaped serious damage. Of the remainder, 16 were destroyed, and 10 were deemed damaged but salvageable. The roof of the display hangar was torn to pieces, with numerous aircraft inside also substantially damaged.
i remember this sad day all to well . we had a class trip planned for the 4th to go there . if my memeory is correct i believ it was a total of 7 tornadoes ..
Thanks for your comment! It did not even occur to me that schoolkids could have visited the museum that faithful day. That would have been an even more unthinkable disaster.
Btw: Do I detect a little Deutsch in your ID name?
A terrific video. Sure is a shame what happened back in 79 but looks like an awesome museum again. Pretty good music too btw :-)
Thanks for commenting, Steve, and thanks for liking the video and the music. It is hard to find good music that is not copyrighted, but I was lucky.
I have photos I took when I was a kid at the Bradley Air Museum of the Corsair, Wildcat, B-47, the cargo plane c-154? In 1971.
Thanks for commenting. I am sure that your photos are records of precious childhood memories!
I still have photos that I took when I was a child many decades ago. It's all about documenting memories, isn't it?
Great Museum
Thank you for your comment! It certainly is a great museum AND a great restoration site!
that's an amazing amount of devastation. it's almost unreal that they could come back from that.
it's also unreal that it seems the museum is using a pirated version of windows for their F-18 sim....
Thanks for your comments, Aidan. Our grandson enjoyed working the simulator, although watching him "piloting" that thing, I thought the stick movements were not too realistic. Too jerky. But, hey, it's a fun toy for future fighter pilots.
@@Ruppi3944 no, no... the "activate windows" watermark on the screen. it's normally an indication of a cracked version of windows. speaking from experience. there are ways to get rid of it without actually activating windows. it just looks unprofessional, but I realize that a flight sim attraction isn't a super high priority for an air museum that is tasked with the care of things like a B-29 and similar.
The music is not needed and is way too upbeat considering what happened.
Thank you for sharing your opinion.
I feel bad for that B-17
Thanks for watching my video. No need to feel bad about the B-17. One of the other commenters reported that the B-17 was restored to flying condition, had a crash, and is being restored again.
Did they save any of the airplanes after the 1979 tornado?
Thanks for commenting. Yes, although many aircraft on display were wiped out, several survived the ordeal in various levels of damage. The museum website has more info on that.
from what i could make out in the debris pile they lost a fair bit , i tell ya id be crying
Thank you for watching my video and for your comment.
reminds me to make my annual pilgramage.... i happen to pass by there when im on my way to visit with some friends a little furthur north
Thanks for watching my video. If that contributes to making up your mind to visit the New England Air Museum, I would be very pleased. You will not be disappointed with what you will see.
I think the NEAM got an SH-2F seasprite from my old squadron. it was one of the last ones painted that dark grey. every other one we had was standard navy grey.
if you go back into the tail from the inside you can see 5-6 patched bullet holes where it had been shot at rescuing a downed pilot in Vietnam.
Thank you for commenting.
Very sad to see the demolition drive that the tornado did, were the aircraft tied down or just sitting around and not, hard to believe that the aircraft got flipped, wrecked and demolished with them being tied down
Thanks for your comment, Chris. I do not remember seeing the planes tied down. Even if they were, my guess is that it would have made little difference for the tornado. Most of these planes weight tons! That did not matter much to the F4-strength Tornado. Any tie-downs would have had to be with heavy steel cables, and I doubt even that would have made much of a difference. The cables would have been left on the ground, with the plane ripped off anyway. I did not see any cables.
What what kinds of aircraft were lost?
Thanks for commenting. I do not have a list of aircraft that were lost in the tornado, but have a look at this article that describes the history of the museum, and the effects of the tornado. Copy this link to your browser: neam.org/pages/windsor-locks-tornado
I would definitely decided to go to 1979 instead of 2023
Thanks for commenting!
How would insurance companies even begin to come up with values for artifacts like that?
Thanks for commenting, Mark. Good question. Don't know if individual display items are insured, but if they are insured, my guess would be that the insurance companies covering them did not go broke because of this disaster. They rarely go broke for having to pay out too much.
It’s criminal that the Corsair, hellcat and wildcat are buried in the back
Thanks for commenting! Yes, it is a real shame that these planes were ruined by Mother Nature in a matter of seconds. That was "then", but, "now" we can be glad that we, once more, have an extraordinary air museum to visit.
“Criminal”?
i hope that b17 was fixed
Tanks for commenting. As you saw in my video, the B17 was basically twisted in half. If it was restored, I have not seen it displayed in the museum hangars open to the public.
@Ruppi3944 this b-17 became liberty belle which flew til it burned up a few years ago in a crash. It's being restored again.
Surely the B17 was saved?? I've seen worse than that being hauled of of a lake after seventy years and returned to flight!
Thanks for your comments. After reading your question, I did a quick Internet search, hoping to find some info on the severely damaged B17 of the old Bradley Air Museum. Sorry to say that I did not find anything. Obviously, the museum staff may know what became of it.
That B-17 was returned to flight status as the "Liberty Belle." It had an if-flight fire and landed in a field. It is being rebuilt again. Check out the Liberty Belle Foundation and Wikipedia for more info.
@@rickcentore2801 Good news!
Trim the tree??
Thank you for commenting! I agree that the tree is not in a good location since it obscures the museum sign. When planting a small tree, people forget that the small tree will grow up to be a tall tree.