When you plan to visit an area, a
good thing to do beforehand is request the travel guides for the area.
Not only does it give you lists of places to eat and stay, it’s a good
way to learn about the available attractions. That’s how I heard of this
place. A museum dedicated to the early days of aviation, and WWI-era
planes? Dude, I’m so there! Mum had also (independently) come
across this, and thus suggested it as well. I told her it was already on
my list of things to see.
Located off of Stone Church Road,
west of Route 9 (also known as Albany Post Rd), the Old Rhinebeck Aerodome is
situated next to the Old Rhinebeck Airport.
Rhinebeck is currently a private airport, not something which commercial
flights land at.
The signs leading to the area were very clear, but it was strange
when we pulled into the parking lot that there were no other cars. We
checked the informational printout from the webpage and verified that we
arrived on a day it was listed as being open.
We stepped across to the Airport
area, where there a half-dozen hangars we could look in and see the old planes.
The fronts were roped off, so we didn’t go in and look close at them
though. There was a concession stand which was closed up, and a long set
of bleachers that went along the runway.
Obviously this was designed for
spectators for an air show. The brochures I read had mentioned how those
happened on the weekend, but since this was in the middle of the week, we
expected to see some activity here.
I’d seen another building on the
other side of the parking lot (up a hill and around a corner), so we went up
there, which was the actual museum portion. Ah, now we were where we
wanted to be, but having things marked a little better would be nice. The
Rhinebeck Aerodome Museum
The self-guided tour started in the
hangar next to the gift shop. It was a well-lit area, but could’ve used a
fan or two to move some of the air around. On the edges of the walls were
various displays, and in the center were the airplanes. There were
pictures of famous aviators, which included Eugene Ballard (the first black
pilot, who was featured in the film Flyboys), Howard Hughes, and Amelia
Earhart.
Of
course, no display on the pre- and WWI pilots would be complete with something
on Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron himself. Ignore the politics for
a moment, and think about the skill required for him to have the impressive
record he did. Is it any wonder why his enemies gave him a full-flourish
funeral? It was out of respect for this ace.
One thing which was interesting was
America ’s
first licensed female pilot, Harriet Quimby.
In our modern sensibilities, we
tend to forget the barriers which needed to be broken in regards to gender and
race. Let’s add to that the artwork on
the side of this 1915 Nieuport 10, with its skull and bones.
Many of the other air museums I’ve
been to were associated with working air shows, so the planes present were
still fully operational. It didn’t appear any of these were, although it
probably wouldn’t take much to get them in order.
Another thing to remember when
walking past these early flying machines is that many of these are now over a
hundred years old, and others are getting close. WWI started in 1914, and
that seems like “recent memory” to me (probably because of studying I’ve done
of the period). The majority of the working ones were parked near the
Airport.
We then headed into the aluminum
hangars across the way. These came off as more storage than display.
The planes were parked in a way like they were trying to squeeze as many
in as possible, so it made it difficult to fully look at and admire each one.
Also there was no air moving at all in these hangars, so they were rather
stifling. I tried to spend as much time as possible looking at the
planes, but those buildings were not designed to be comfortable on a summer
day.
Keeping in mind the historical
value of these items, to me it didn’t seem there was much of an effort to
preserve them. I expect some tires to be flat and rubber cracked, some
tears on the canvas of the wings, and paint flaking on the body, as these
things are ancient. What I didn’t expect was the state in which they were
being kept. I have real concern that bird, rodents, or other critters
will decide to nest in these, and ruin them further.
While there was a replica of the
1903 Wright Brother’s flyer (made in 1970), some of the historical pieces was
the 1914 Morane Saulnier. This was the
“modern fighting planes,” as it had a forward machine gun, and steel plates on
the propeller to keep it from being shredded by it’s own bullets.
As I like the Red Baron, of course
I’m going to enjoy a 1917 Fokker
Triplane DR -1.
Von Richthofen might’ve preferred this
when in combat, but it was known to break apart during flight, and eventually
was withdrawn from operations. Only 320
DR-1’s were built, and none survived to today.
Like the Wright Flyer, this was a replica. Considering the planes represented here are
nearing the centennial mark (if not past it already), it’s difficult to find
originals. Perhaps some did exist in Europe , but those were probably destroyed as collateral
damage during WW2.
I noticed this more when looking at
the 1940s era items, but I still get a chuckle out of seeing manufacturer names
that we know today on these early items.
All those Japanese imports we see on our roads now once made weapons
used against us. American companies
(like General Motors) were no different geared up for the war effort. But when the corporation is now involved in
something completely different, I find it interesting to see where they came
from. This 1918 D-III was produced by
the German firm Siemens, who today is involved in the computer industry.
When we arrived, I wasn’t sure if
we were going to have enough time to cover all this, and we were able to cover
everything in just over an hour. That even included me playing with the
cut-out for the photo opportunity. Mum needs to zoom in a bit more when
taking these shots. >grin< You can’t see the goofy expression
on my face.
Inside the gift shop, I did speak a
bit with the person there. Some of the relevant movies they were selling
included the aforementioned Flyboys, and The Great Waldo Pepper
(which I’d pointed out to Mum we saw info about when we were in Elgin , TX
So overall I’m glad I visited here
to see the slice of history, as I’m sure there are few locations which have
anything remaining from the era. But I have to honestly give it three out
of five stars, and most of that was for the historic value of the items on
display. I would really like to see more
preservation of these relics before they’re beyond recovery. Perhaps
that’s something the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) could step in and provide
some guidance on.
For anyone who is a fan of aviation, then this is some place
which should be checked out. For everyone else, you should at least go to
support the efforts of the museum to keep these items on display (especially
for those who aren’t too far from this).
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
Old Rhinebeck Aerodome: http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/
Eugene Ballard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Bullard
Amelia Earhart: http://www.ameliaearhart.com/
Red Baron -- Manfred von Richthofen:
http://www.german-way.com/notable-people/featured-bios/manfred-von-richthofen/
Harriet Quimby: http://www.nationalaviation.org/quimby-harriet/
Commemorative Air Force (CAF): http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/
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