Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
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| Established | 1966, broke ground 1958 |
|---|---|
| Location | Red Hook, New York |
| Type | living aviation museum |
| Collection size |
Pioneer Era aircraft WW I aircraft Golden Age (1919-39) aircraft |
| Public transit access | Rhinecliff-Kingston (Amtrak station) |
| Website | http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/ |
The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum, having many examples of airworthy aircraft of the Pioneer Era, World War I and the Golden Age of Aviation between the World Wars, and multiple examples of roadworthy antique automobiles and other vehicles that is located in Red Hook, New York.
The aerodrome was the creation of Cole Palen, who was partially inspired by the Shuttleworth Collection in England. He regularly flew many of the aircraft during weekend airshows as his alter-ego, "The Black Baron of Rhinebeck" (loosely based on the Red Baron). These airshows still continue mid-June through mid-October, and biplane rides are available before and after the shows.
The simple early shows led to a philosophy of not only showing the aircraft in their natural environment, but also providing a fun and entertaining day out for the whole family. From this the series of weekend air shows that the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome featured — still running to this day — was to become famous for what was developed. This included a zany melodrama, inspired by the storylines of silent film melodramas of the past, featuring Palen-created characters such as the daring Sir Percy Goodfellow doing battle with the evil Black Baron for the hand of the lovely Trudy Truelove. Several associated antique/vintage auto club and vintage aircraft "type specific" events occur through the Aerodrome's event schedule, which has also included radio control scale aircraft "fly-in" low-pressure events, for flying scale models of aircraft of the 1903-1939 era that the museum's own full scale aircraft collection covers. These events have been ongoing ever since the Aerodrome's opening year in 1966, with at least one aeromodeling event each year occurring over the early September weekend following the United States' Labor Day holiday, in co-operation with a local AMA-chartered RC model aircraft club, with entrants regularly coming from places as distant as Canada and Florida.
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