Empire State Aerosciences Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1984 |
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| Location | 250 Rudy Chase Drive Glenville, New York, 12302 United States |
| Type | Aerospace museum |
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The Empire State Aerosciences Museum (often called ESAM) is a special place that teaches about air and space. It's a non-profit museum that wants to "educate, entertain and excite with experiences in air and space." The museum started in 1984. It is located on 27 acres (about 109,000 square meters) of land. You can find it near the Schenectady County Airport in Glenville, New York, United States.
ESAM also hosts an exciting annual air show at the Schenectady Airport.
Contents
History of the Museum
The museum is built on the land where the General Electric Flight Test Center used to be. This means it has a cool history connected to flying.
In August 2024, the museum received an F-15C aircraft. This was a great addition to their collection. The museum's president, Dan Wilson, passed away in late July 2025.
Exploring the Exhibits
The museum has many amazing things to see. You can find aircraft both outside and inside the main building.
Outdoor Aircraft at Agneta Airpark
Outside the main building, in the Agneta Airpark, there is a large collection of military aircraft. You can see many different types of planes and helicopters that were used by the military.
- Bell UH-1 Iroquois
- Convair F-102A Delta Dagger
- Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II
- Douglas F3D Skyknight (This plane came from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum)
- Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
- Grumman A-6E Intruder
- Grumman F-14A Tomcat
- Grumman S-2 Tracker (It arrived in 2009)
- LTV A-7E Corsair II
- McDonnell-Douglas F-4D Phantom II
- McDonnell F-101F Voodoo
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (USSR) (This plane also came from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum)
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F (USSR)
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (USSR)
- North American RA-5C Vigilante
- North American T-2C Buckeye
- Northrop F-5E Tiger II (This type of plane was used as a "MiG-28" in the movie Top Gun)
- Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
- Republic F-105G Thunderchief (This is a special "Wild Weasel" version)
- Supermarine Scimitar (This plane came from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum)
Indoor Galleries and Displays
Inside ESAM, there are two main galleries. These areas hold aircraft that are more delicate. You can also see detailed models of planes, old artifacts, and many photographs.
Other cool exhibits include one about Amelia Earhart, a famous pilot. There's also a "flying motorcycle" called the DePischoff. You can also see a huge 32-foot (about 9.75 meters) model of a Japanese World War II aircraft carrier called the Akagi. This model was used in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora! The museum also has fun interactive displays where you can learn by doing.
Wallace Holbrook Restoration Center
The museum also has a special place called the Wallace Holbrook Restoration Center. Here, experts work to fix and restore old aircraft. You can often see planes being worked on.
Here are some examples of aircraft you might see on display indoors:
- Aeronca 65LB Chief
- Fisher FP-303
- Folland Gnat F.1
- Hughes OH-6A Cayuse
- Mooney M-18LA Mite
- Peterson J-4 Javelin
- Rand Robinson KR-2
- Rensselaer RP-1
- Stits SA-7D Sky-Coupe
Research Library for Learning
The Janz Vander Veer Research Center/Library is an important part of the museum. Its main job is to help with the museum's education, exhibits, and restoration projects. It's also a great place for anyone to find information about air and space history. For example, students working on a school project or authors doing research can use it.
The library has a huge collection of books, brochures, photos, and technical manuals. It also has old magazines, scrapbooks, artwork, and videos. It's especially strong in information from the early days of flight, World War I, the "Golden Era" of aviation, and World War II (from 1910 to 1950).
Special Collections in the Library
- The Attil Pasquini Collection: This collection has over 2,100 photographs. You can search through them using a special computer program.
- The Frank Coffyn Collection: This collection was given to the museum by the Green family. It has about 200 photos of Wright Flyers aircraft. These pictures were taken by Frank Coffyn, who worked with the famous Wright Brothers.
- The Rick Allen Collection: Rick Allen has added many books and a lot of research materials to the library's catalog.
Empire State Aviation Hall of Fame
The Empire State Aviation Hall of Fame is located right on the museum grounds. This special hall honors people from New York State who have made important contributions to aviation.
See also
- North American aviation halls of fame
- List of aerospace museums
