American Airpower Museum / Boy Scouts / Republic Airport / Eurpoe WWII Battles

Air Lift Veterans gather with Vice Consul Werner-Ciprian Fugel and contemporary witness Elke Mariotti in front of a "candy bomber".

2009-09-16T23:21:00.000-07:00

On Friday, September 4th, the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale held a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. In 1948/49, allied planes brought food, supplies and hope to the blockaded city of Berlin.

The Berlin Airlift was a heroic effort that saved more than two million men, women and children from starvation and death. For 322 days, in more than 270,000 flights, the airlift brought 1.7 million tons of food and supplies to the war-stricken people of Berlin. Fuelled by the will to save human lives and to preserve freedom, Berliners and Americans worked hand in hand. The Berlin Airlift united former enemies that were separated by World War II and also laid the foundation for the strong and trusted friendship between the German and American people.

Planes like the Douglas C-54 were the backbone and the workhorse of the “Big Lift”. Berliners lovingly called them “Rosinenbomber” (“Candy bombers”). One original plane, the „Spirit of Freedom“, now serves as a flying museum and was one of the highlights at the American Airpower Museum.

During the airlift, it took more than 300 aircrafts operating 24 hours a day to save the people of Berlin from starvation. Planes like the “Spirit of Freedom” (a C-54 Skymaster) could carry 10 tons of cargo. It took about 1300 C-54 flights to meet Berlin’s daily needs and almost every three minutes a plane took off to supply the blockaded city with coal and food.

Jeff Clyman, Gary Lewi and Günther Bier from the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale welcomed veterans of the Berlin Airlift and contemporary witness Elke Mariotti, who experienced the heroic efforts as a child in Berlin. On behalf of Consul General Horst Freitag, the German Consulate was represented by Vice Consul Werner-Ciprian Fugel.

For more information, please visit the museum’s website:

www.americanairpowermuseum.com.

An experience of a lifetime

2009-06-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

I took my flt this past Saturday, and just want to say it was a great experience. I could not imagine how the paratroopers felt going over the channel that night. You guys and the other people at the museum are doing a great job. I've never met a more friendly and helpful bunch of people. It's a pleasure every time I visit the museum. Keep up the good work. We can not afford to let what happened back then be forgotten and the sacrifices made by so many.

Thank you again for an experience of a lifetime.
Regards,
Thomas A. Hallock

Boy Scouts of America honors American Airpower Museum with a Certificate of Appreciation!

2009-02-05T04:16:00.000-08:00

A Testimonial from September 19th, 2008

2008-09-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

We were in awe at the wonderful displays and beautiful historic aircraft and memorabilia, and honestly, I had always known that Long Island has a long proud history in aviation, but I had no idea at the mass extent of it, we were truly impressed and will surely plan on another trip very soon.

Thank you for keeping the memories alive of all those who have sacrificed for us all in defence of our country, as well as for sharing your love for aviation with us. Your dedication to this museum and aviation is truly impressive.

Thanks again and we'll see you soon!
Kevin
Fairfield, CT

FLC-NE Event- 9/16 - Thank You!

2008-09-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hi Larry and Jacky,

Thank you for hosting our event on Tuesday, September 16th, everyone had a wonderful time! The museum was very interesting and such a wonderful place for a casual reception. I received many compliments from our attendees about the venue and the volunteers that lead our tour. Everyone was so friendly, inviting and knowledgeable!

Again, thank you so much and I will be sure to keep the American Airpower Museum in mind for future events!

Warm Regards,
AS

Guenter’s Trip Report to European Battle Fields

2008-09-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

My son and I departed JFK on 17 July and had a wonderful flight during the mid-summer night with daylight still present in the north all the way over the North Atlantic. We made landfall near Shannon, Ireland and arrived earlier in Frankfurt. After a 2-day rest at relatives we drove across the Rhein, just about were Patton crossed it near Oppenheim in March 1945. Our journey went through the famous Pfaelzer vine country and we passed Kaiserslautern and a few minutes later the huge U.S. Air Base at Ramstein with the nearby Landstuhl military hospital, the largest hospital outside the U.S. Soon we crossed into Luxembourg and arrived in L.-City. At its suburb Hamm our target was the American Military Cemetery. We found it to be a wonderfully created memorial with chapels, monuments and huge battle maps in ceramic mosaic. Sadly the main part are the many grave sites with white marble crosses and Star of David, all fallen heroes from the big battle of the Ardennes Offensive. Patton’s site is now up front between two flag poles and it seems he speaks to his troops. We left, I thinking back to 1945 what might it have been like in that area. One month later the 1st Army occupied our city east.

Our next visit was at the German Military Cemetery only about a mile away in Sandweiler. Soon we continued our trip across the next border into Belgium and arrived late afternoon in Bastogne. There we were expected by our friend and Tour Guide Henri who took us the next day into the former battle fields of the Battle of the Bulge. Surprisingly we viewed the fox holes of ”Easy Company”, now slightly grown over with moss in the dense Ardennes Forest. We also joined a group of 50 American students on a 21-day tour where Henri had a tour arranged. The bus took us up to Mardasson Hill, overlooking Bastogne with its huge monument. Down below inside the rocks we entered the Crypt and listened to Henri’s stories. The walls are decorated murals in colored mosaic, one for each faith. Henri asked me also to speak to the students about my experiences during WWII in Germany, located nearby where the Russian Armies were met on 20 April 1945. The entire area is filled with tanks, American and German, reminding all today of a terrible battle in December 1944. The local citizens will never forget the siege of the town when the 101st paratroopers defended the town against German takeover. We also visited the former convent where the 501PIR set up their Command Post during the siege. The last nun died about 2 years ago at age 100.

Soon we departed again and went back to Germany and on to Austria far east to Vienna. In this wonderful city we walked most of the attractions and on our way back to Germany we stopped in nearby Krems along the Danube and went up through the vineyards into its suburb Gneixendorf where STALAG 17B was located from 1938 to 1945. It has now become an aerodrome for small airplanes and parachute jumping. At the corner into the airfield some stone monuments remember of this famous prison camp. Then we went on to Linz along the Danube and back into Germany.

This completed a 2000-mile car trip, enjoying the scenery, history and lucrative food.

Kumano MS Euro's letter to American Airpower Museum

2008-08-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

I and my child have visited your museum on July 26. I am a old Japanese and my son is a German/Japanese. We were interested (with deep impression) for showpieces and records and movies very much. If I will have a chance to go to U.S.A, I want to come again,

Regards from Germany___M.Kumano

Open Fire

2008-08-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

The burned spot on the floor where the nuns cooked on an open fire. I had transmission problems.

- Guenter

Murials inside the sunken Crypt below the Mardasson Hill Monument

2008-08-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

This was one of the Murials inside the sunken Crypt below the Mardasson Hill Monument where Henri and I spoke to the students.

Greetings,

Guenter

Arrival of the "Red Arrows" by Guenter

2008-06-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Salute to All,

Today marked us being outsourced to our landlord, providing logistic support and enjoy ourselves in witnessing the arrival of the world renowned ambassadors for the Royal Air Force and British excellence, THE RED ARROWS. Their arrival was well organized, in my view, and enough docents were on hand to be placed around the ramp area, guarding the parking space for those aircraft. At sharp 1400 hours theirs imminent arrival was announced by Gary and all eyes looked south. An airport fly-by followed before they scrambled apart to enter into their landing spot. Eleven pure red aircraft then parked along the ramp. Logbooks were filled out first before leaving and they conquered the N. Atlantic via Iceland, Greenland and Canada with their last stop today in Quebec. They were made by BAE and have a range of about 1000 miles. The British left Long Island long ago and today they returned again in pride to celebrate their 90 years of the R.A.F. One disappointment for me was that none of the invited British veterans were from the R.A.F. during WWII, the big one. It seems the time has not stood still and changes are in place.Another day that our red-hats were of service to the public and history.

Guenter

Letter from Joseph Cunnigham

2008-05-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Dear American Airpower Museum

I assume it was you that sent me the copy of Flightline which I received today. I do thank you for thinking of me to send me a copy. I don’t know if you will believe me, but I can still remember the day you phoned me and asked me if I had submitted an essay for the Stop & Shop Flight of Aces for the year 2000. I told you I did not as I did not see any notice in the local newspapers that there was to be a contest for the year 2000. And, I can still remember the next few words you said, which I don’t think I will ever forget and they were, “What A Bummer” and then you said you have on your desk before you the essays I submitted for the year 1998 and 1999. I think after that you said was I sitting down. You then said guess what the Flight of Aces had selected my essay as the winner for the year 2000.

I can still remember that day well, what a day it was for me and what a flight it was as well. You really made my day and I owe it all to you. I can’t thank you enough. I hope all is well with you, I gather you must be at Republic a great deal of the time. You really know how to run an event. The Flight of Aces and my award of the French Jubilee of Liberty Medal at Republic Airport and the American Airpower Museum is certainly a tribute to you as to what can be expected at an event you undertake.

I hope you are well and all is well with you and I hope to hear from you again. I do thank you very much for everything you did.

I was invited by the Navy and Northrop Grumman at Avondale Industries at New Orleans, LA to attend the christening of the USS New York LPD 21 on this past March 1, 2008, however, I had to decline as my wife has Alzheimers Disease and she is not well enough to make the trip to New Orleans and I would not leave her alone, so I had to decline as much as I wanted to attend. I have been invited by the Navy and Northrop Grumman to attend the commissioning of the New York in New York City whenever it takes place in 2009. I have every intention to be there if I am still around. I have now reached 87 years of age, but I expect to be there and that is not too far for my wife to make the trip.

Again, I say thank you (to the American Airpower Museum) for everything, you have helped to make my life somewhat better. I do thank you. Good luck to you.

Sincerely,
Joseph Cunningham

Here are a few military comebacks...

2008-02-07T02:41:00.001-08:00

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush.

He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return. It became very quiet in the room.

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do,bomb them?'

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly:
'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?'

Once again, dead silence.

2007-12-24T04:04:00.001-08:00

Hello,

I visited your museum with my 4 year old son and my father the Friday before Memorial Day. My son just loved being able to climb inside the cockpits in the hangar and he had such a great time. I wanted to know if you ever do group tours that might be appropriate for 5 year olds. I'm always looking for unique ideas for celebrating his birthday.

Thank you and you have a wonderful museum.

Sincerely,
Diane P. Akunevicz

2007-07-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

Special day this Wednesday, July 11 - Channel 21's SNAPSHOTS program

WWII Veteran Testimonial

2007-06-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Please read a testimonial from a WWII Veteran, who accompanied us on one of our Flight Experiences:

On June 9th, I took part in a Flight Experience. I must say it was one of the greatest thrills of my life. The re-enactors were both respectful and educational. I felt some of the anticipation and fear that must have gripped these young men. Thanks for the experience. Your dedication to keeping the history alive is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely ,
Thomas Hardgrove
Son of a WWII veteran
(Walter Hardgrove Electricians Mate 1st class U.S.N.)

2007-06-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

Some sixty five years ago, the current home of the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport was a crucial part of the "Arsenal of Democracy". Home to the Republic Aviation, the complex produced over 9,000 P-47 Thunderbolts in Farmingdale.

The "Jug", as it was called because of its robust assembly line construction, went on to defeat the best fighter pilots the German Luftwaffe could muster.

Today, no American aviation museum with a squadron of operational World War II aircrafts has a more appropriate setting for its flight operations. Taxing to the very runways and hangars that dispatched Thunderbolts to war, vintage aircrafts recreate those turbulent years and allow the public to watch these planes in their natural environment - the air.

This exciting effort to keep our history alive is made possible through state grants, corporate underwriting, personal philanthropy and gifts from people like you.

Also, critical to the establishment of this museum was the cooperation of the airport's fix based operator, SheltAir and the Republic Airport management team. We are grateful to our benefactors, and to you, for your admission fee. Your dollars help meet museum costs including utilities, aircraft maintenance, building repair, and exhibit construction. While thousands of hours have been donated, the dollars requested from you are tax deductible and are put to immediate use to ensure your family's experience at the Museum is memorable.