NorEastCon 2010 - Venue and general images




As I said in the opening page, it is difficult to think of a more attractive place to held a modeling convention. The Republic Airport has a lot of history, and I recall during one afternoon, staring at the end of the runway, trying to imagine the Thunderbolt production line at full steam. The Republic control tower is still there:



The hangar was one of the ones where the Thunderbolts went for final check prior the test flight. Now it stores some aircraft of the American Airpower Museum as well as part of its restoration shop. The place smells warbirds. The diorama below depitcst the Republic plant during WWII, and helps to understand where we were:



Outside the museum, lots of real warbirds too, flyable and non-flyable. I could make walkarounds on the F-105, P-40, F-84, F-80, F-111, TBM, F4U, C-47 and other stuffs like engines,  cockpits, and aircraft parts. Wonderful time!!!



By the way, the C-47 of the museum is a unique exemple, as it actually dropped soldiers during the D-day in 1944. It was nice to see voluntees reenacting the time in full gear:



The Marines arrived on Saturday with their Hueys (unmistakable sound). I found a number of nice models on permanent display in the museum, inluding this nice diorama of the P-47 assembly line:



plus several shadow boxes. I'll leave you with a few more photos and this unforgettable sunset:



I'll be back one day...