PLEASE NOTE: This post was originally published in 2012. While it should still give you a good idea of the overall experience, it is also possible that some information may be outdated. Please visit their website for the most up to date information, especially about details like hours and pricing. If you notice something in this post that needs to be updated, please feel free to leave a comment with the updated information, or email us at outandaboutmom@gmail.com and we will be happy to make the updates. Hey, it takes a village, right? 🙂
2012 Post
Cut to the chase. Take me to the Momsense.
For this week’s adventure, I decided to play another game of museum pass roulette. I pulled up the West Hartford Library website and went to the online site for reserving museum passes.
It can be fun to see what passes are available and have that determine where we will go {you can tell my barometer for fun these days is a little skewed, right?}.
For this particular day, one pass that was available, was for the New England Air Museum located right near Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
I’ve heard a lot about this museum and was curious about what it had to offer. I have to admit, though, I’m not a big aviation buff like some people. I also knew that this museum wasn’t geared toward the toddler crowd, so I would probably need the perspective of a different age group to find out if it was really worth a trip.
I decided I needed to call in some reinforcements.
I called up my friend to see if she and her airplane lovin’ boys (3 and 6 years old) might be up for visiting the museum with me and my crew. They were in! Perfect.
Before we began our trip to the museum, I stopped by the West Hartford library to pick up the pass. Each library seems to have different rules on how their pass program works and what the savings details are, so check out your local library website or our museum pass page for more details.
For the West Hartford library, you can call or go online to reserve your pass up to 30 days in advance. You then have to pick up and return the pass on the same day.
For this pass, I could get free entrance for two adults and two children any weekday. This allowed our whole group (two adults, two children, and two children under 3) into the museum for free. I should note that the woman checking us in at the museum said that the WH pass is the only one that allows free access for the whole party. The other towns offer discounted access.
On the drive to the museum, you pass by the airfield for Bradley Airport. Keep your eyes peeled and you may see a few planes taking off.
We arrived at our destination and there was plenty of FREE parking available.
You could see some aircraft outside and the entrance to the museum straight ahead.
Once inside the museum, we passed a little seating area and vending machines. This is the only eating area and food available inside the museum. For some of the museum’s events, they will have food vendors on site. But for everyday activity, food options consist of whatever the vending machine gods have in store. For this reason, you may want to pack a little cooler of snacks to bring with you.
We checked in, got our hands stamped and asked for a copy of the scavenger hunt.
I had attempted to do a little research online before heading to the museum. On their website, they have a few scavenger hunts that you can print off and bring with you (see here for details). There is also one scavenger hunt that is geared for children ages 5-7. It is called, “Can you find all these aircrafts?”, and you can request a copy at the front desk.
Since our crew ranged in age from 1 – 6, we asked for the aircraft scavenger hunt.
With our hands stamped . . .
and our scavenger hunt in hand . . . 
We headed into the first hangar to see the military aircrafts.
We kept our jackets on because it was a chilly day and not very warm in the hangars.
Our pilot and co-pilot led us on a tour of the military aircraft and helped us identify all the items listed in the scavenger hunt.
They sat in the cockpit of one aircraft display.
And got an up close look at several others.
My two were, as usual, strapped into their handy-dandy stroller. (I’m loving this new-to-me double umbrella stroller that I recently purchased from my favorite kids consignment shop).
I did let them out for brief periods to stretch their legs and get a little energy out (oh yeah, Sparkles is an official walker now! Disregard the fact that she is just displaying her squatting skills below. We are working on our lady-like behavior).
If we ever had questions or needed some help, we just found one of the people wearing a red jacket and they can got us the information we needed.
Also in the military hangar, there was a computer-based flight simulator. You could fly an aircraft over New York City, Boston, or Hartford.
After visiting the military hangar, we began to make our way over to the civil aircraft hangar. Along the way, we learned a little history and details on some of our very famous CT aviation businesses including Hamilton Sundstrand, Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky.
We also saw this interesting display on a group of African-American men called the Tuskegee Airmen, who served in WWII. They were also known as the “Red Tails” due to the design of their aircraft. My friend mentioned to me that there is a movie coming out this year about them. Sure enough, she was right. Here are the details.
In the civil aircraft hangar there were lots of other fun things for the kids.
Toy planes that they could pedal arround (Sparkles couldn’t figure out why her feet wouldn’t reach the pedals).
There was a simulator in this hangar too, but it is only open on Sundays.
Sparkles and Bruiser hung out in these airplane seats and reminisced about their most recent airplane adventures. [We have another flying trip approaching. I wonder how well 14 month olds do trapped inside an airplane cabin? Guess I’ll find out in a few weeks.]
I thought this was the coolest looking thing in the hangar. A military blimp . . .
Next stop on our tour was the Kidsport. The area is made to be a kid-sized version of an airport with computer games that simulate some of the main tasks needed to make an airport run. The area is targeted for kids age 5-12. It would have been nice to have some toddler-size activities in this area too. My kids were happy to have a place to walk around and explore, but I know they would have enjoyed some equipment targeted for their age group.
We took a quick peek at the remaining hangar and peered outside at the outdoor storage yard. It was lunchtime for us and we didn’t have time to take a look at these areas in detail.
We headed back towards the entrance and saw the big sign for the Wings and Things store. The magical magnetic powers of the museum gift shop pulled us all inside.
If you don’t want to hear your kids asking, “Mommy will you buy this for me?”, then quickly escort them past this area. If you are open to a memento purchase or can handle the kid-pressure, there were some fun things to look at in the store and they did have a little area up front with things for the kids to play with.
Before leaving, we stopped back by the vending area and got some snacks for the kids. I wanted to make sure mine were filled to the brim before we hopped back in the car. I knew they would fall asleep and I wanted some zonked out kids to give me a good nap once we got home. Lucky for me, they did.
Overall, we had a great time at this museum. I even learned a few new things!
For the aviation lovers, this museum is full of fun and interesting things to explore.
Like I mentioned previously, though, this museum is definitely targeted for kids ages 3 to 99. It is doable with toddlers or infants, but not a museum designed for them.
So, if your kids are preschool-age or older or you would just enjoy an afternoon learning about aviation history, then this is the museum for you.
36 Perimeter Road, Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Connecticut
(860) 623-3305
Get directions here:
Hours & Admission
Hours:
Open 7 days a week from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (Except Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day)
The Ercoupe Simulator is open Sunday from 12:30 to 4:30 pm
Check the website for the most up-to-date information including information about special holiday closings.
Admission:
Parking: FREE
Tickets: Adults 12 & Up $11; Children 4-11 $6.50; Children 3 and under FREE; Seniors 65 & Up $10 (See update at top of post for latest pricing information)
Discounts:
- UTC employees receive $1 off adult admission
- Employees at The Hartford, ING, Cigna and Northeast Utilities; can buy one admission and get the second one for free
- Most libraries seem to have a pass for this museum as part of their pass program. West Hartford offers FREE admission for two adults and two children and the remaining offer $5 admission for adults and FREE admission for two children. Check out our museum pass page for more details.
Memberships are also available. See here for more details.
Hints & Tips
- Don’t forget to check if your local library has a pass available! See our Museum Pass page for helpful links. One word of warning though: many of these passes carry steep overdue and/or lost pass fines, so pay close attention to the lending policies. It’s not a deal if you have to pay late fees 🙂
- The museum is really designed for ages 3 and older. Younger siblings can easily join in the visit as it is fully stroller accessible.
- Vending machines are available near the entrance for the purchase of food and drink.
- Restaurants are also available nearby on Route 75.
- Restrooms are located near the entrance and all of them have changing tables available. There is also a restroom located in the civil aviation hanger (near the simulator), but it does not have a baby changing station.
- Dress for the weather. On this chilly day, we did keep our coats on while inside.
- Open Cockpit Days are offered on a periodic basis. Information on the latest event schedule is available on their website.
- The museum is also planning several activities during April break. Check out here for more details.
- The museum can also be rented for Birthday Parties and Events.
Later this week we have an indoor play area with all the excitement (and equipment) of an outdoor one.
