A weekend-long celebration of National Aviation Day will take place from Friday, August 18, 2023 until Sunday, August 20th at the Empire State Aerosciences Museum, in Glenville, Schenectady County, NY. The weekend will feature a variety of aviation activities, including tours of the museum’s extensive and unique collection of exhibits and historic aircraft, as well as special presentations and displays.
Guided tours will be conducted each day into some classic aircraft, including a UH-1 Huey and the museum’s recently acquired C-130 Hercules.
On Friday, the museum will host an evening screening of the World War One aviation movie Flyboys (2006, PG-13) in the Community Room. The doors will open at 6 pm and at 6:30 pm museum staff will host a special tour of the museum’s World War One exhibit. The movie will start at 7 pm; popcorn and ice cream treats will be available.
On Saturday, the day will begin with the museum’s monthly breakfast from 8:30 – 10:30, which will feature a talk by aviator and author Beverly Weintraub at 10 am. Weintraub is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who will talk about her book Wings of Gold: Wings of Gold: The Story of the First Women Naval Aviators (Lyons Press, 2021), the true story of six women who made history as the first female naval aviators, in an experiment by the Navy in 1973. The story is particularly timely as the Navy is marking 50 years of women in naval aviation this year. A book signing will follow her talk.
Discovery flights will also be available by Five Star Flight. Call Bill Faulkner to schedule a flight at (914) 406-0376, or e-mail flyboybill02@gmail.com.
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum is located at 250 Rudy Chase Drive, in Glenville, NY.
Pilots: Tower Frequency 121.3; Ground 121.9. Land at Schenectady County Airport and taxi to Richmor Aviation North. Tell them you are going to ESAM.
For more information visit their website.
Read about aviation history in New York State here.
Photo of Grumman F-14 Tomcat courtesy Empire State Aerosciences Museum.
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