The Cradle of Aviation and the American Airpower Museum have announced the co-hosting of the region’s first aviation film festival that invites Long Island professional and amateur videographers to create films that capture the region’s aviation activities, exhibits and tributes with their work being screened on the IMAX theater system at the Cradle.

Andrew Parton, the Cradle of Aviation’s executive director, stated, “Between this spring and Labor Day weekend these two wonderful institutions are collaborating to offer compelling venues for videographers from throughout the region to use their artistic skills to create video shorts that chronicle air exhibits, displays, aviation activities and special events. We will provide them with the opportunity to then screen their work on our IMAX system at a post production reception.”

Jeff Clyman, president of the American Airpower Museum, explained, “We have begun to see extraordinary video work from individuals who come to Airpower to capture our aircraft in flight, especially during `high sortie’ weekends such as Memorial Day when we act as the ground location for the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Air Show. It became obvious to both aviation museums that we should provide Long Islanders with a means to expand their video artistry by allowing them access to the Cradle and Airpower and then to give them a venue to present their work on the most dramatic viewing setting on Long Island.”

Parton also noted, “Both Cradle and Airpower have been looking for opportunities to create collaborative events that play to our mutual strengths, and this home grown aviation film festival was an obvious direction for both of us.”

Both museums are founding members of the New York State Aviation Destination Alliance that invites aviation museums from across the state to share marketing ideas and cross promotion programs. Other museums include Rhinebeck Aerodrome in the Hudson Valley and Historic Aircraft Group 1941 in the southern tier of New York.

Both the Cradle of Aviation and the American Airpower Museum at Republic will provide free access to a selected number of videographers who apply for access based on first come – first serve. The passes will be for their exclusive use and are non-transferrable. In addition, there are a limited number of available permits for videography adjacent to the active flight line of the American Airpower Museum. Airpower reserves the right to limit those permits as ground safety and security regulations govern their distribution.

While this film festival is being organized by the Cradle and Airpower, every and any aviation venue on Long Island can be the subject of the film short. No presentation should be longer than 10 minutes and the final film will need to be submitted on DVD for review prior to presentation. Non cash awards will be presented for most imaginative, most compelling, best post production editing and scoring and best of festival.

Videographers are requested to submit their request to participate to glewi@rubenstein.com and include their phone and US mail contact information. If they have created prior aviation themed videos a wmv file or a Youtube link should be provided.

The Cradle of Aviation will determine the date for screening based on the scheduling and availability of the Imax Theater in the Fall.

The Yankee Air Museum’s B-17 “Yankee Lady” will be joining our Salute To The Legends of Airpower weekend May 28th-31st. The Aircraft will be flying in the Jones Beach Airshowand open for tours on the American Airpower Museum’s Flight Line. B-17 Flight Experience Rides will be available May 29th,30th, and 31st for a $425.00 donation to the Yankee Air Museum.To reserve your seat on this historic aircraft contact Mr. Dave Wright of the Yankee Air Museum at (734) 483-4030.

www.yankeeairmuseum.org

For more information, please contact us.

Marking the liberation of the Nazi death camps by Allied forces, the American Airpower Museum will dedicate its newly acquired M8 Greyhound on May 5th. Armored cars similar to the one now on operational display at AAM, appeared outside the gates of Mauthausen on May 5th and liberated the camp, ending the extermination of Jews and other “enemies of the Reich.” Similar scenes were repeated throughout Germany, Austria and Poland during the spring of 1945.

For more information, please contact us.

The Navy’s Blue Angels precision flight team returns to Long Island and the Bethpage Federal Credit Union air show over Jones Beach. The American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport will play host to many of the aircraft that will appear in this annual tribute to our veterans including the B-17 Yankee Lady. Flight experiences will be available on this classic B-17, allowing you to create your own personal history in this beautifully restored warbird.

Sponsored in part by WABC-TV and Stop & Shop, this Memorial Day weekend event will allow museum visitors to walk the flight line and see up close and personal many of the aircraft that are flying during the weekend, meet the pilots, pose with living historians and then watch as these amazing aircraft start up, taxi out and fly overhead. It doesn’t get any better than this.

$15 for adults; $10 for seniors (65 and over) and veterans; $5 for children under 12.

If you would like to purchase tickets in advance, please contact us.

This Memorial Day observance at the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport, Farmingdale, will mark the unveiling of the museum’s “Fourth Armored Division” which features operational armored vehicles from World War II to pay tribute to the American G.I. with a parade that puts these historic down the museum’s flight line.

Jeff Clyman, President of the American Airpower Museum, stated, “We now have on loan to the museum an iconic historic armored vehicle of World War II, an M8 Greyhound armored car ready to meet the public, armed with a potent .50 caliber machine gun atop a turret that housed a 37 mm cannon. This type was used to spot Nazi strong points in Normandy, race across France and into the heart of Germany. It helped liberate the death camps, probe enemy defenses and get American G.I.’s across the Rhine. It is also being joined by a potent M20, an armored command car that would have transported majors, colonels and generals to the front of the fighting.”

Together, the new armor will lead a column of historic military forces that include other vehicles on loan to the Airpower Museum, including a British Ferret scout car, a 40 mm anti aircraft gun, jeeps and period fire trucks that protected our air fields during World War II.

The American Airpower Museum will create an armor parade for visitors to the museum during Memorial Day weekend after it launches its aircraft to support the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels team flying over Jones Beach during the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Air Show.

Among those who are being honored by the introduction of the World War II armor will be GI and armor veteran Ed Collins of Hicksville who came ashore on Utah Beach during D-Day and went on to serve in General George Patton’s Fourth Armored Division, 387^th Tank Battalion as a Sherman tank crew member.

“I am honored to be singled out but I was just part of a very large army committed to defeating the Nazis. It is virtually impossible to find and operate a Sherman tank but the equally M8’s are road worthy and capable of being driven down any Main Street on Long Island as the Airpower Museum brings their message down to earth,” Collins said.

The museum is open four days a week, Thursday through Sundays, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. During Memorial Day weekend hours of operation will be 10:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. with its squadron of World War II fighters, bombers and patrol planes being augmented by a B-17 Flying Fortress from the Yankee Air Museum, the P-51 Mustang from Warbirds over Long Island and other aircraft participating in the air show. A special Memorial Day Weekend donation will be requested at the gate, $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and veterans and $5 for children.

A B-17 flight experience will be available from the Yankee Air Force with those wishing to learn more about donations and flight times please phone 734 637-8879 or report to the Airpower Museum. For those who wish to experience driving down the flight line on board one of the World War II armored cars an additional donation will be requested. Interested individuals should inquire at the museum during Memorial Day weekend.

A B-17 flight experience will be available from the Yankee Air Force with those wishing to learn more about donations and flight times please phone 734 637-8879 or report to the Airpower Museum. For those who wish to experience driving down the flight line on board one of the World War II armored cars an additional donation will be requested. Interested individuals should inquire at the museum during Memorial Day weekend.

The American Airpower Museum is located at 1230 New Highway, Farmingdale, south of Conklin Avenue.

Come be part of D-Day anniversary ceremonies by enlisting as an Airpower member at a $300 level which allows you to participate in the museum’s nationally honored C-47/ D-Day Flight experience program. Flights are scheduled for Monday, May, 31st, to mark the historic invasion of France as the Allies kicked down the front door of the Third Reich.

Many families present the flight experience membership to loved ones throughout the year as early anniversary, birthday or holiday gift to their very own history buff. Provided with photos, literature and flight orders, the $300 museum membership level puts you in period uniform with Airborne living historians to find out what it must have been like to fly over Normandy on D-Day.

Hard to believe but the mighty Flying Fortress is observing its 75th anniversary this year and you can be aboard the finest restored B-17 in the nation during Memorial Day weekend when the Yankee Air Museum offers flight experiences all weekend long in the “Yankee Lady.” Dial 734-637-8879 to make your flight experience reservation now because this historic aviation icon will only make one stop on Long Island this year.

A massive PBY Navy patrol bomber is in the beginning throes of restoration to flight standards thanks to a significant start-up grant from Polimeni International. With its wings removed and its structural interior revealed, this is a unique opportunity to peer inside this historic aircraft and learn first-hand how the American Airpower Museum will be offering flight experiences in salute of America’s Naval Aviation. Please join the campaign by donating now to the restoration project. No amount is too small.

This award winning Labor Day weekend program is sponsored by Stop & Shop Supermarkets and remains a powerful tribute to those who have defended our nation. With visiting World War II aircraft from Warbirds over Long Island and a legendary Spitfire from the Duffy Collection visiting the region for the first time, this will truly be a Fighter flight line for the history books as the American Airpower Museum pays tribute to the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

For more information, please contact us.

The year 2010 marks the centennial eve anniversary of America’s Naval Aviation. The American Airpower Museum will celebrate this milestone by flying its Navy Corsair fighter and Navy Avenger torpedo bomber in formation before Grumman retirees whose legacy includes squadrons of Navy aircraft that have defended our nation over the generations.

For more information, please contact us.

It was the Waco biplane training aircraft that ruled the skies over U.S. Army Air Force training fields across America, teaching a generation of pilots how to fly and fight. Ask us how to qualify for a flight experience in these wonderful WACOs by contacting the American Airpower Museum through this web site. If you have youngsters who want to get a feel for flight but don’t want to leave the ground learn more about the Waco taxi runs that allow children to experience the thrill of aviation history right here on the ground starting April 4th, weather permitting. Flight membership is $50 for one or two related people flying together. (There are cockpit space and weight limitations.)

Inquire about WACO flights that are also part of the Aviation Cadet $250 membership to the American Airpower Museum, available by reaching us through this web site.