WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The New England Air Museum will re-launch its annual Women Take Flight Day on Saturday, March 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in commemoration of Women’s History Month.
Visitors of all ages are invited to celebrate women’s contributions to aerospace history through special events, hands-on activities, and three special guest speakers who have helped shape our aerospace heritage.
Guest speakers include Lt. Col. Kristen Snow (pictured), C-130 pilot and commander of the 103rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Bradley’s Connecticut Air National Guard base; Duchess Harris, professor of American Studies at Macalester College and author of the book Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA; and Lee Boulanger, who climbed the ranks from aircraft mechanic to general manager at the Bombardier Hartford Service Center at Bradley International Airport.
In addition to lectures and Q&A with these special guests, visitors will have the opportunity to meet other women pilots, engineers, and aerospace industry specialists from a variety of organizations, including the New England Chapter of the 99s, the Connecticut Airport Authority, the Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol, the University of Connecticut Aerospace Engineering Department, and the Bombardier Hartford Service Center.
The museum will also host military servicewomen from the Connecticut Flying Yankees 103rd Air Wing and the 337th Airlift Squadron and 439th Airlift Wing from Westover Air Reserve Base.
Women Take Flight will also offer visitors a variety of hands-on activities, including tours featuring the Lockheed 10-A Electra — the same model aircraft that Amelia Earhart flew during her attempt to fly around the world in 1937 — as well as stories about Connecticut’s real life Rosie the Riveters, WASP pilots from World War II, and more.
A series of hands-on Build & Fly Challenge activity stations will also be available for younger visitors, and a variety of flight simulators will allow visitors to become virtual pilots while surrounded by the museum’s collection of over 100 historic aircraft.
All lectures, events, and activities are included with general admission.
The New England Air Museum is the largest aviation museum in New England comprised of three large public hangars, outdoor exhibits, and more than 100 aircraft ranging from early airships and flying machines to supersonic jets and helicopter. The museum is on the north end of Bradley International Airport.