Looking back at the aircraft of the pioneering days of flying is to truly realize the evolution of aviation. Seeing the wood and fabric and wires that held together the flying machines of 1903 to 1920, one marvels at the vision of early manufacturers such as the Wright brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and Louis Blériot. But to see an actual 1909 Blériot XI fly? Mind-blowing. You can see more marvelous machines fly every weekend May through October at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in upstate New York. From a 1910 Hanriot to a 1917 Curtiss JN–4H, a 1934 de Havilland Tiger Moth to a 1931 Curtiss-Wright Junior, aircraft of a time gone by fly in the bucolic landscape of the Hudson River Valley. They skip, hop, and bounce down a grass runway just as they would have nearly 100 years ago, and they perform in old-fashioned barnstorming acts with dastardly villains such as the Black Baron and heroines such as Trudy Truelove. The Blériot XI is the oldest regularly flying aircraft in the Western Hemisphere; the Fokker Dr. I is the famous fighter from World War I; and there’s a recently completed replica of the Ryan NYP The Spirit of St. Louis—all flying. In fact, 15 to 20 of the more than 60 aircraft in this remarkable collection still fly. In addition, visitors to the living, working museum can see old aircraft being brought back to life in hangars reminiscent of the early twentieth century. Additionally, as part of the museum three Quonset huts house parts, pieces, and nearly whole original aircraft dating back to 1903.
WHY YOU SHOULD GO: Visitors can take a flight in a 1929 New Standard D–25 biplane—there’s room for four in the front seat.
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