The New England Air Museum (NEAM) is an American aerospace museum located adjacent to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The museum consists of three display hangars with additional storage and restoration hangars. Its collections include aircraft ranging from early flying machines to supersonic jets, as well as engines, and other pieces of flight-related equipment.

History The museum began when a group of Pratt & Whitney employees formed the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association to save a biplane built by Louis Bancroft. While the airplane would later be destroyed in a fire, the group continued. The first display building, an inflatable dome, was erected in 1967.

In 1981, the first current building was built after a tornado destroyed the then Bradley Air Museum's previous outdoor location along Route 75 on 2 October 1979. To reflect a broader mission scope and eliminate confusion that it was operated by the airport, it became the New England Air Museum in 1984. The museum has since added a restoration hangar in 1989, a storage building in 1991, a military hangar in 1992, a 58th Bomb Wing Hangar in 2003, and a storage hangar in 2010.

The museum was renovated in 2017 with the addition of a mezzanine in two of the hangars to provide views of the aircraft from above. At the same time, a new heating and air conditioning system and LED lighting were installed.

In June 2023, the museum opened a new exhibit about the Tuskegee Airmen and received a grant to build a recording studio.

In early 2024, the museum announced plans for a new hangar that will include a Challenger Learning Center and a digital dome to be used as a planetarium. The following month it hired a new curator and collections manager.

It opened a new exhibit about Pratt & Whitney in January 2026.

Exhibits

Exhibits include the history of Sikorsky Aircraft, computer-based flight simulators, and the 58th Bombardment Wing Memorial with the centerpiece being a restored B-29A. Additionally, there are exhibits on early French aviation, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Kosciuszko Squadron, New England Women in Aviation, and the 57th Fighter Group.

Collection Aircraft on display

AeroVelo Atlas – Partial section Bell AH-1S Cobra Bell UH-1B Iroquois 62-02550 Blériot XI Boeing B-29A Superfortress 44-61975 Jack’s Hack Burnelli CBY-3 Loadmaster Chanute Herring Glider – replica Chance Vought XF4U-4 Corsair 80759 Curtiss Model D – replica de Havilland C-7 Caribou 62-4188 Doman LZ-5 Douglas A-3B Skywarrior 142246 Douglas A-26C Invader 43-22499 Reida Rae Douglas DC-3 Fairchild-Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II Goodyear ZNP-K blimp control car Gee Bee Model R – replica Eastern FM-2 Wildcat 74120 Grumman F6F-5K Hellcat 79192 Heath LNB-4 Parasol Kaman HH-43F Huskie Kaman K-16B Kaman K-225 N401A Kaman SH-2F Seasprite 161905 Laird LC-DW 300 'Solution' Lazor-Rautenstrauch LR-1A Lockheed Model 10-A Electra 1052 Kaman K-16B Lockheed TV-2 Shooting Star 138048 Marcoux-Bromberg R-3 Special Martin RB-57A Canberra 52-1488 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 66-0269 McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle 85-101 Nixon Special North American B-25H Mitchell 43-4999 Dog Daze North American F-100A Super Sabre 52-5761 North American P-51D Mustang 44-72400 – Racer configuration Northrop F-89J Scorpion 52-1896 Pioneer Flightstar MC Pratt-Read LNE-1 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 45-49458 Norma Republic RC-3 Seabee Rutan Quickie Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly 43-46503 Doman LZ-1A 43-45480 Sikorsky S-39B Sikorsky S-51 9602 Sikorsky XH-39 Sikorsky HH-52A Seaguard 1428 Sikorsky CH-54B Tarhe 69-18465 Sikorsky VS-44A Excambian

Aircraft under restoration

Grumman E-1 Tracer Grumman HU-16 Albatross LTV A-7D Corsair II

Aircraft in storage

Aeronca 50C AGM-28 Hound Dog Bell H-13 Sioux Bensen B-8M Chalais-Meudon CM-5 Airship Engine Nacelle Corben (Reed) E Junior Ace de Havilland U-6A Beaver Douglas A-4 Skyhawk Dyndiuk Sport Fokker Dr. I – replica Granville Gee Bee Model A Great Lakes 2T-1A Sportster – replica Grumman F-14B Tomcat Grumman F9F-2 Panther Grumman TBM-3E Avenger Gyrodyne QH-50C DASH Gyrodyne XRON-1 Rotorcycle Harmening High Flyer Powered Parachute Hiller OH-23G Raven Kaman HTK Lazor-Rautenstrauch LR-1A Nick's Special Lockheed F-104C Starfighter 56-901 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II Mead Primary Glider – replica Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis Monnett Monerai S National Ballooning 358 (AX-8) Montgolfier North American F-86 Sabre Piasecki HUP-2 Retriever Piasecki HUP-2 Retriever Piccard AX-1 Jonathan Radioplane OQ-2 Radioplane YOQ-19 Raven S-40 Vulcoon Rearwin 8135 Cloudster Republic F-105B Thunderchief Rockwell Saberliner 65 Rutan Quickie Rutan VariEze Sikorsky LH-34D Seabat Sikorsky R-4B Sikorsky S-16 – replica Stinson 10-A Ultralight Products Mosquito 166 Viking B-8 Kittyhawk Vought SSM-N-8 Regulus I Waco YKC-S XSM-73 Goose Zephyr ZAL

Library The museum library has approximately 6,000 aviation books, approximately 20,000 periodicals, approximately 10,000 technical manuals, approximately 21,000 photographs, nearly 8,000 slides, over 200 pieces of artwork, over 1,200 prints, and approximately 500 engineering drawing and blueprints.

See also List of aviation museums List of museums in Connecticut

References

Bibliography Hunt, Leslie. Veteran and Vintage Aircraft. New York: Taplinger Publishing Co., Inc., 1971. . Ogden, Bob. Great Aircraft Collections of the World. New York: Gallery Books, 1986. .

External links