Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 10/6/2021
WESTFIELD — The city of Westfield reached an agreement last week with Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport to expand Hangar 3 and have more room to display historic and vintage aircraft in the Westfield Aviation Museum.
Westfield Aviation Secretary and Treasurer Michelle Zemba said that the agreement would allow Barnes to construct additional buildings on either side of Hangar 3. She said that they could build another hangar to expand the vintage fleet at Barnes, which she said includes about a dozen aircraft. One plane in the inventory is rumored to have been flown by aviation legend Charles Lindbergh himself.
“It is our mission to display these aircraft from the ’20s and ’50s all the way up to the present day,” said Zemba, “and we want to continue to provide educational support for our area schools and residents who are interested in aviation.”
The museum is free for all to attend by appointment only. It includes a mix of early civilian and military aircraft, some of which can fly, and some of which are being worked on so they may become airborne again.
“We have a Bamboo Bomber to be rebuilt at one point. Someday, hopefully in the future, we can put her back together and have her fly for us,” said Zemba.
Previously the Westfield Aviation Museum had been open by invitation only. Zemba said after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the museum began allowing guests to make a reservation for themselves. While traditionally, the museum has relied on fundraiser events, the uptick in small groups visiting allowed it to weather the pandemic’s restrictions on large events.
Zemba said she expects the museum to host an autumn breakfast fundraiser in late October or early November, but an exact date has not been decided yet.
“We have a lot of our old airplanes that fly in, and we have a wonderful breakfast and everyone gets to enjoy the community and being by the airplanes, old and new,” said Zemba.
Zemba said that aviators tend to enjoy sharing their knowledge of aircraft and their history with people who have little to no experience operating planes.
“Technology in aviation is ever-shifting. History is now, and the most important and fun part about the Westfield Aviation Museum is that we are a community that thrives on taking that past knowledge of older aircraft and bringing it to the present and helping it excel into the future for some of our younger generations of pilots,” said Zemba.