Memorial Day weekend, 2010 marks the 70th birthday of Connecticut’s historic state aircraft, the F4UCorsair. “Corsairs Over Connecticut”, a tribute to our veterans and the legendary corsair will take place at Igor Sikorsky Memorial Airport on May 29 and 30 as part of “Wings and Wheels 2010” which runs through Monday May 31. Hours each day are 9:30 am – 3:30 pm.
Weekend highlights include more than 30 antique aircraft and warbirds; more than 100 collector automobiles provided through Black Horse Garage of Bridgeport; and antique equipment from The Golden Age of Trucking Museum. Children ages 8 to 17 will have the chance to take free airplane rides courtesy of EAA Young Eagles. Adults will be able to purchase thrilling “Warbird Experience" rides on a WWII AT-6 Texan. Once in a lifetime experiences will include the opportunity to view lunar rocks brought back in 1969 by astronauts Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin, as well as a real NASA space suit. Visitors also can meet a real NASA astronaut when Joe Edwards flies in on Saturday and Sunday in his own North American T-28 Trojan, a 1950’s U.S. Navy training aircraft.
The opportunity to meet, speak with and thank our nation’s veterans will be one of the most memorable parts of the weekend. “These men and women are the stuff of legends and the reason our country is as great as it is today. They saved the world” says Jerry O’Neill, tri-chair of the event.
The event is a benefit for The Discovery Museum and Planetarium of Bridgeport. Museum staff, widely known as the “experts at making science fun”, will be on hand to help visitors launch paper rockets on a test range and provide a demonstration of space travel science.
Five Corsairs will fly into Igor Sikorsky Memorial Airport on May 29 and 30, across from the site of the wartime Vought-Sikorsky plant where Corsairs were first manufactured. Of 12,571 Corsairs built between 1941 and 1953, fewer than 90 F4U Corsairs exist in museums today and only a dozen others are airworthy. The Corsair was the first single-engine aircraft to exceed 400 mph and was an important part of combat during WWII, the Korean War, The Suez Crisis and over French Indochina and Algeria. “The Corsair is a uniquely Connecticut plane and a uniquely popular aircraft”, according to O’Neill. “It’s also just a pretty romantic airplane; from the Black Sheep Squadron to the gull wing, it’s a very distinctive aircraft with a well-known history.” During WWII, the plane was known to the Japanese as “Whistling Death” because of the sound made as air flowed over the ducts on the inboard wing leading edges, and because of its impressive success at downing enemy planes. In combat, 2,140 enemy planes were downed and 189 Corsairs lost for a ratio of 11.3:1.
Other aircraft scheduled to appear on May 29 and 30 are the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation’s C-54 “Spirit of Freedom”; a B-25 Mitchell “Panchito” sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans; a Sikorsky HH-60 Black Hawk; a vintage Marine Corps H-34 Seahorse, and approximately 20 antique and warbird aircraft.
The collection of spectacular award-winning cars on show on May 29 and 30 covers a wide range of eras. These autos include Mercedes-Benz, Packard, Cadillac, Ferrari, Maserati, Aston-Martin, Jaguar, Porsche, Austin Healey, Hudson, Lola, Shelby Cobra, Rolls-Royce, Bentley and more! On May 31, more than 200 pre-registered vintage and classic autos will be on display by invitation only.
Admission for Wings & Wheels is $6 for ages 6 – 12 and $12 for ages 13 and over. It is FREE for military personnel with I.D. and half price for groups of twenty or more and Discovery Museum members. More information about the event can be found at www.discoverymuseum.org
Wings & Wheels is being sponsored by Three Wing Flying Services, Black Horse Garage and Optimum.
The Discovery Museum and Planetarium is southern Connecticut’s preeminent non-profit resource for science and technology education. It is a proactive advocate for promoting science literacy for both children and adults through its educational programs; its permanent and traveling exhibits; The Challenger Learning Center and The Henry B. duPont III Planetarium. It is located at 4450 Park Avenue, Bridgeport, CT. For more information call 203.372.3521 or visit the website at www.discoverymuseum.org
