Vintage planes to make stop at Waterford Harbor Visitor Center

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Goot

The planes destined for the Empire State Aerosciences Museum will be making a stop Saturday at the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center.

The American Skynight, a Russian MiG 15 and a rare British Supermarine Scimitar are making the trip up the Erie Canal.

These planes are expected to make a stop at the visitor center on One Tugboat Alley near Lock 2 in Waterford at around 10 a.m. The arrival is subject to change based on unexpected circumstances.

The planes will then moved to Glenville and will be docked across from the Water’s Edge Lighthouse Restaurant & Inn. Next week, the planes will be towed up Freemans Bridge Road and Route 50 to the aerosciences museum at 250 Rudy Chase Drive in Glenville.

The planes are:

— A Supermarine Scimitar twin engine Naval Fighter. This aircraft is one of only three remaining and the only one in the US. The other two are on display in the United Kingdom.

— A F-3D-2 Douglas Skynight, which was flown by the U.S. Marine Corps in the Korean conflict in support of the USAF B-29 bomber. This aircraft has a history of flight testing Radar systems at the former General Electric Flight Test Facility in the 1950-1960’s in Schenectady. This plane has a local connections as it was flown out of Schenectady County at the GE testing center, according to museum officials.

— A Russian designed MIG-15, the adversary aircraft flown by the North Koreans and is painted in their color scheme. More than 18,000 were manufactured and many of its type and later versions are still being flown by Third World countries.

This is part of a shuffling of planes at museums with the end of the space shuttle program. These planes are being relocated from the deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City to make room for the Space Shuttle Enterprise. That shuttle, which did not go into space, is being moved from the Smithsonian to make room for the Space Shuttle Discovery, which was retired last year.