Collections & Exhibits

Restoration Hangar

The restoration hangar was completed in 1989. It contains 11,200 square feet of open space. This has been organized into working areas for machining, sheet metal fabrication, engine restoration, welding, and storage of aircraft parts, fasteners, sheet goods, paints and chemicals. Space is also provided for housing museum vehicles and equipment. 

The restoration hangar is staffed with approximately 85 volunteers and one paid staff member to oversee the operation. Work on all projects is done during museum hours on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Volunteers can also be found working late on Tuesday nights.         

The center of the hangar is kept open for aircraft restoration projects. The largest project to date was the (click) restoration of the B-29. The fuselage was separated into three major sections at the production joints, the largest being the forward fuselage and wing center section.

Restoration Projects

Current projects include the restoration of a Navy Regulus I cruise missile. This 1950’s era submarine launched nuclear-armed missile will be completely disassembled and restored for display in the military exhibit hangar. Click here for more on the Regulus.

Our Douglas A-26 has been brought in after being displayed outside for over 30 years. Details on this project can be found at (click) this web page. This aircraft saw combat in Europe during World War Two.

The outside display aircraft are brought to the restoration hangar ramp where they are inspected, cleaned, and preserved before going back out on display. This is an ongoing project as the New England weather is hard on aircraft kept outdoors. Currently the Douglas F4D Skyray and DeHaviland C-7 Caribou are undergoing this process.

Our Lockheed F-104C Starfighter served with the USAF through the 1960’s at the height of the Cold War. In 1961 it deployed during the Cuban Missile Crisis and in 1962 set the altitude and speed record for an operational F-104C while stationed in Hahn, Germany with the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing. It later served in Viet Nam providing cover for air combat missions. Our Starfighter was heavily damaged in the 1979 tornado which devastated the museum and had been in storage until November of 2009 when the restoration project began. It will soon wear the colors of the 479th when it made its record breaking flight.

Lockheed F-104C Starfighter (USAF SN 56-0901) Restoration Project
Designed by the legendary Clarence “Kelly” Johnson in the early 1950’s the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter  was to provide the USAF with a lightweight, high performance fighter powered by the new General Electric J79 engine with afterburner.
Prototype aircraft first flew in March 1954. A striking feature of the Starfighter was its extremely short, thin, straight wings as opposed to swept or delta wing designs of the time. The wings were only 3 inches thick and the leading edge so sharp that ground crews had to install protective guards to avoid injury while servicing the aircraft. Each wing is only 7 ½ feet long and canted downward into a 10 degree anhedral.
The Starfighter was the first combat aircraft capable of sustained Mach 2 flight, and its speed and climb performance remain impressive even by today’s standards with an operational speed of 1328 MPH and a rate of climb of 48,000 feet per minute. It was powered by a single General Electric afterburning turbojet delivering a combined 15600 pounds of thrust.
Basic armament included a 20 mm M61 Vulcan 6-barreled gatling gun with 725 rounds. It could also be equipped with Aim Sidewinder missiles and a variety of bombs and rockets.
The Starfighter served with the USAF from 1958 until 1969, and then with the Air National Guard until it was phased out in 1975. Some aircraft were later operated by The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Later models of the F-104 were flown by 14 countries in addition to the United States. The last operational military Starfighters were retired by the Italian Air Force in 1994.
The Museum’s Starfighter (USAF SN 56-0901) set the speed and altitude record for an operational F-104C during the Cold War when it was flown to 92,000 feet at a speed of 2.5 Mach while stationed at Hahn Air Force Base in Germany in 1962. This flight demonstrated that the Starfighter was capable of meeting the threat of the newly deployed Soviet MIG 21 fighter. “901” was also deployed during the Cuban Missile Crisis and before its retirement saw limited duty in Viet Nam flying air cover for AWACs and attack aircraft.
“901” incurred significant damage in the tornado that devastated the museum in 1979 and had been in storage until November of 2009 when the current restoration project began. The aircraft will be restored to the colors it wore while assigned to the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing when it flew its 1962 record setting flight. Our goal is to have the aircraft ready for display in early 2012. 

For more on the K-28 blimp car project click here.

January 2011 /06