Empire State Aerosciences Museum

Do kids still like airplanes, or is that too 20th Century? Well, if they don’t, they should. And if they do, if you happen to have a rug rat or two (or a class of 20 of them) who want to spend the afternoon oohing and awing over some of the neatest flying beasts ever, then you are in luck.

Located at Schenectady County Airport at 250 Rudy Chase Drive in Glenville, where Charles Lindburgh landed way back in 1927, the museum “reveals the history of flight and New York State’s impact on the development of aviation.” You can spend a whole afternoon on the museum’s grounds walking through the Airpark, checking out the awesome F-14A Tomcat, A-6E Intruder, F-4D Phantom II, two Russian MiGs, an A-10 Warthog, UH-1 helicopter, and the many, many other classic feats of aersocience. Inside the museum’s two main galleries, there are older, more delicate planes, as well as models, dioramas, and exhibits, including a 32-foot scale model of a Japanese aircraft carrier and a 1922 DePishoff French “Flying Motorcycle.”

The museum offers model rocket classes for kids, as well as weekend and summer programs for at-risk students. You can even take a “zany barnstormer ride” in a simulated ride vehicle. There are guest lecturers who visit, and courses offered on aviation history. Check out the museum’s Web site, esam.org, or call 377-2191 for hours.

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