I'm feeling much better and decided I need to write something. I'm currently reading, The Astronaut Maker, by Michael Cassutt, and picked up on a a reference in the book to the H-13 helicopter built by Bell at the beginning of the 1940s. I would have thought nothing of this information but I visited the Niagara Aerospace Museum this past summer and now I feel a connection to the Bell helicopter.
I woke up this morning thinking about the museum and knew I needed to write about it.
I have two little boys who love all things airplanes and anything to do with flight. When we discovered there was an aerospace museum down the street, we couldn't get there fast enough. What was odd to me was when I asked people I knew with kids if they had visited the museum before, I got a resounding "no." I'm not sure why. This museum is a gem. From the outside one would think it might be small but once inside, it spreads out to include lots of displays, replicas, and actual airplanes and helicopters.
Western New York has a rich aerospace history, this is something I didn't know before visiting the museum. Bell Aircraft Corporation, among many other notable things, built fighter airplanes for World World II and the famous Bell X-1, the first airplane with a pilot to break the speed of sound.
The Niagara Aerospace Museum is packed full of material to learn more about the Bell X-1, as well as other fascinating moments in history like the Bell Rocket Belt, which was tested at the old Bell factory next door. There is an actual rocket belt in the museum which sent my kids into a frenzy. There are also videos and lots of photographs of the rocket belt in action. It's amazing to me that someone actually put that thing on and shot themselves into the air. They were much braver than I will ever be.
Another piece of history at the museum is an actual Bell P-39 Airacobra that was discovered at the bottom of a lake in Russia, brought to the surface, and nows resides in the museum. We watched footage of the airplane under water and then we were able to go stand beside it. It was a bit surreal. Here is more information on this airplane at the museum, https://wnyaerospace.org/collections/p-39-miss-lend-lease/.
We also enjoyed learning about Bell's involvement in the lunar landings. The museum has an actual control panel used by mission controls during the Apollo moon missions. How cool is that?!
The staff was very knowledgable and friendly, and talked to my kids about Chuck Yeager, a world famous test pilot, and some of the other artifacts in the museum. The kids had a hundred questions and the gentleman was patient and answered almost all of them.
The museum is definitely worth the trip and the money. When we went this summer it cost me $8 and my kids $3 each. We spent about two hours in the museum and my kids have been asking to go back.
The building the museum is located in is an old terminal but it's easy to look past the roughness. I sincerely hope this museum is able to stay in the area as I think it has so much to offer and so much knowledge to be shared with the community and visitors. Western New York and the Niagara Falls/Wheatfield area should be proud of it's contribution to aerospace history.
Here is a link to the museum: https://wnyaerospace.org/
