Cradle of Aviation Museum Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Cradle of Aviation Museum

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Location	Uniondale, New York
Type	Aviation museum
Founder	George C. Dade
Public transit access	LIRR stations: Garden City, Mineola, Westbury

The Cradle of Aviation Museum is an exciting place in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. It's a museum all about planes and space! It celebrates Long Island's big role in flight history.

The museum is built on land that used to be Mitchel Air Force Base. This area, along with Roosevelt Field and other airfields nearby, was where many amazing flights took off. So many important flights happened here that by the 1920s, people called this area the "Cradle of Aviation." That's how the museum got its name!

Long Island: Where Aviation Took Off
How the Museum Began
Amazing Aircraft and Exhibits
Firefighter Museum
Gallery
See also

Long Island: Where Aviation Took Off

Long Island is famous for many "firsts" in aviation. These events helped it earn the nickname "Cradle of Aviation."

1873 – The first recorded flight over the island happened. A balloon piloted by W. H. Donaldson flew from Brooklyn to Queens Village.
1874 – More balloon flights took place, including one from New York City to Lynbrook.
1909 – Glenn Curtiss flew his plane 25 miles from Mineola. He won the Scientific American Prize for this flight.
1910 – A big event called the International Aerial Tournament was held at Belmont Park.
1911 – Cal Rodgers made the first flight across the United States. He flew his Vin Fiz Flyer from Sheepshead Bay to California.
1916 – The first night flight ever happened here.
1917 – The first flight of a pilotless aircraft, called the Sperry Aerial Torpedo, took place.
1919 – The first airplane to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, the US Navy NC-4, started its journey from Long Island.
1919 – The first airship to cross the Atlantic, the R34 (airship), arrived at Roosevelt Field from England.
1923 – The first non-stop airplane flight across the United States happened. John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly flew from Mitchel Field to San Diego, California.
1924 – The first round-the-world flight finished its journey at Mitchel Field.
1927 – Charles Lindbergh made the first solo flight across the Atlantic. He flew from Roosevelt Field to Paris, France.
1927 – The first transatlantic passenger flight happened. Clarence D. Chamberlin flew from Roosevelt Field to Eisleben, Germany.
1929 – The first "blind" instrument flight was made by Jimmy Doolittle at Mitchel Field. Special instruments from Long Island companies helped him.

William K. Kaiser was the museum's first curator. He was part of an aviation first himself! In 1944, as a young Navy officer, he helped fly the first non-rigid airships across the Atlantic. For his work at the museum, he received special honors in 1986.

How the Museum Began

The idea for the Cradle of Aviation Museum started with William K. Kaiser and George C. Dade. They were the museum's first director. Along with volunteers, they found and fixed up many old airplanes. These planes showed off Long Island's amazing aviation history.

One of the first planes they found was a World War I Curtiss JN-4D in 1973. It was in a pig barn in Iowa! Later, Charles Lindbergh himself said it was his very first airplane. The museum also got a plane similar to the Spirit of St. Louis, a Republic P-47N Thunderbolt, and a Grumman Lunar Module spacecraft.

These aircraft were meant for hangars 3 and 4 at Mitchel Air Force Base. Nassau County got these hangars when the base closed in 1961. The museum first opened in 1980 with just a few planes in these old hangars. A big renovation in the late 1990s made the museum modern and new. It reopened in 2002.

Amazing Aircraft and Exhibits

Today, the museum has over 70 aircraft and many scale models. You can see Charles Lindbergh's Curtiss Jenny plane, which he used for airshows. There's also an A-10 Thunderbolt II, a Grumman F-14 Tomcat, and even an unused Apollo Lunar Module, LM-13. This Lunar Module was supposed to go to the Moon on the Apollo 19 mission. But the mission was canceled, so it stayed on Earth, close to where it was built in Bethpage, New York.

Lobby of the Museum with Grumman F-11F and Fleet Model 2 biplane

Many of the museum's tour guides and workers used to work at Grumman. This company built many important aircraft on Long Island. The museum has eight galleries, each showing planes from a different time period. It's one of the few museums in the U.S. that covers all parts of aviation and space history. This includes early planes, planes from the "Golden Age" of aviation, warplanes, and even spacecraft.

The museum is very popular. It has cool audio-visual displays and unique hands-on exhibits. You can even sit in the cockpit of different aircraft! Joshua Stoff has been the museum's curator since 1985. He is a well-known author about aerospace.

Besides the museum, the building also has the JET BLUE DOME theater. Here you can watch digital movies and visit a digital planetarium. There's also a cafeteria for snacks and meals.

Firefighter Museum

Inside the same building as the Cradle of Aviation Museum, you'll find the Nassau County Firefighter's Museum and Education Center. It's a huge, interactive space, almost 10,000 square feet! Visitors can learn about the history of firefighting in Nassau County. You can also see old and new fire trucks and gear up close.