Our Day at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
We had a really great time on Sunday August 23 when we went to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome NY. Rhinebeck is in upstate New York and can be found off the Taconic state parkway or the NY State thruway.
Our drive was a nice 2.5 hour drive from Connecticut,all on freeway roads. Shortly after passing into NY we passed through Poughkeepsie, a long rambling town that had a main road that just went for ages, then as we went on the road narrowed some more and went more country like as we passed through Hyde Park (the home of Theodore Roosevelt) and further on, the home of The Vanderbilt family one of the richest families in the US.
Rhinebeck township itself is a very small,with small close knit shops on what is a fairly short Main St,with the airfield situated just a few miles outside Rhinebeck.
The Aerodrome is open from May 15 thru October 31 & has shows on the weekends, a Saturday show chronicling the first 3 decades of flight and a Sunday show featuring WW1 barnstorming Aircraft.
Barnstorming Aircraft were so called because during the mid 20's & 30's pilots needed to make a living to support the ongoing maintenance of their planes and so they would land in a local field and give rides to local residents there, hence the term Barnstormers.
The Rhinebeck vintage warplanes have been over the years lovingly restored & in working order & each weekend they have airshows. There would had to have been some 10-15 planes there ranging in vintage from 1917 onwards.
After having some lunch & settling down we had a look around the place...there were lots of different things to look at,not only planes either - we saw a WW1 vintage motorbike with sidecar!!
Just before the main airshow started I, along with my Father in law had the pleasure of flying in a 1929 vintage biplane. I have to tell you, you've never lived till you have been up in one of these things!!
You cannot hear a thing and your hair gets a little bit of a massage once you're in the air, but boy is it fun!! We flew for around 15 minutes, flying out from the airfield, out over the Hudson river, before returning back to the airfield. It was all over much too soon for me!! *smile*.
Once on the ground we regathered our composure as we sat down awaiting the airshow. Getting into the spirit of the day,the Rhinebeck people invited some of the ladies in the crowd to dress up in vintage costume & my Mother in law leapt at the opportunity to dress up getting into a 1890's dress of the day..she looked wonderful in the parade & in the following drive past in the vintage cars that followed.
Following that we saw the airshow that featured differing planes of the era which had as it's finale a dogfight.
After that there we had a leisurely walk up the hill behind the airfield to the museum where planes of the era, some of which had flown at the airfield were on display.
We left satisfied and very happy - a really,really good day!!
We hope this gives you an idea of the fun day we had. If you want to find out more about whatOld Rhinebeckhas to offer check out their web page.