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 |
| Founder | Carl Battaglia, Ernie Tetrault, James Delmonaco and Steven Israel |
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum (often called ESAM) is a special place where you can learn about air and space travel. It's a non-profit museum, which means it's run for public benefit, not to make money. Its goal is to "educate, entertain and excite with experiences in air and space."
ESAM started in 1984. It is located on a large piece of land, about 27 acres (11 hectares), right next to the Schenectady County Airport in Glenville, New York, United States. This museum also hosts an exciting annual air show at the Schenectady Airport.
Contents
Cool Aircraft on Display
The museum has an amazing collection of aircraft, especially military planes. Many of these are outside in a special area called the Agneta Airpark. You can see many different types of planes that were used for various missions!
- Bell UH-1 Iroquois (a famous helicopter)
- Convair F-102A Delta Dagger
- Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II
- Douglas F3D Skyknight (moved from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum)
- Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (known as the "Warthog")
- Grumman A-6E Intruder
- Grumman F-14A Tomcat (a very famous fighter jet)
- Grumman S-2 Tracker (arrived in 2009)
- LTV A-7E Corsair II
- McDonnell-Douglas F-4D Phantom II
- McDonnell F-101F Voodoo
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (USSR) (another plane 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 (a "Wild Weasel" version, used for special missions)
- Supermarine Scimitar (also from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum)
Indoor Exhibits and Restoration
Inside the museum, there are two main galleries. These areas display aircraft that are more delicate, along with detailed models, old artifacts, cool souvenirs, and photographs. You can also find special exhibits like the one about Amelia Earhart, a famous pilot. There's even a unique "flying motorcycle" called the DePischoff!
One amazing item is a huge 32-foot (9.8 m) model of a Japanese World War II aircraft carrier called the Akagi. This model was actually used in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora! The museum also has many interactive displays where you can learn by doing.
The Wallace Holbrook Restoration Center is part of the museum. Here, experts work to fix and restore old aircraft. You can often see planes being worked on! Some examples of aircraft displayed indoors include:
- 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
The Janz Vander Veer Research Center/Library at ESAM is a great place for learning. Its main job is to help the museum's education, exhibit, and restoration projects. But it's also open to the public! If you're working on a school project, building a model, or just curious, you can find lots of information here.
The library has a huge collection of books, brochures, photos, technical manuals, magazines, and old scrapbooks. It's especially strong in materials from the early days of flight, World War I, the "Golden Era" of aviation, and World War II (from about 1910 to 1950).
Some special collections include:
- The Attil Pasquini Collection: Over 2,100 photos that you can search through on a computer.
- The Frank Coffyn Collection: This collection has about 200 photos of early Wright Flyers aircraft. Frank Coffyn worked for the famous Wright Brothers and took these pictures himself!
- The Rick Allen Collection: This collection has added many books and research materials to the library.
The library is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 am to 12 noon. If you need to do special research, you can contact the library office to make arrangements.
Empire State Aviation Hall of Fame
Right on the museum grounds, you'll find the Empire State Aviation Hall of Fame. This special place honors people from New York State who have made important contributions to aviation. It's a way to remember and celebrate their amazing achievements in flying!
Plan Your Visit
Want to visit the museum? Here's what you need to know about hours and prices.
Hours of Operation
During the summer, from Father's Day until Labor Day, ESAM is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. For the rest of the year, the museum is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you have a group of 10 or more people, you can arrange a private tour by making a reservation.
Admission Costs
Here are the general ticket prices:
- Adults: $8.00
- Senior citizens and military personnel (with ID): $6.00
- Children aged 6 to 16: $5.00
- Children under six years old: Free!
- If you are an ESAM Member, you get in for free with your current membership card.
The museum also has a cool virtual reality ride. This ride costs an extra $5.00 per person, on top of the admission fee.
See also
- North American aviation halls of fame
- List of aerospace museums
