France June, 2016 - Musee Air & Space at Le Bourget
We left Baltimore (BWI) airport in this little bug-smasher airplane.
   
In Newark, NJ we got on something a little bigger for the flight to Paris.
   

As we approached the coast of France, a cloud layer appeared below.  We flew over it, then descended into it as we approached Paris and Charles De Gaulle Airport.  I was sitting in a window seat near the back of the airplane. The clouds were so thick I couldn't see the wing!  Then all of a sudden we broke out and there was the runway.  I doubt we were 50 feet above the runway when we broke out.  Amazing.

We went through customs and immigration, picked up our rental car, and hit the road.  First stop:  The Musee Air Espace (France Air and Space Museum) just down the road at Le Bourget airport.  Yes, we arrive in France and the first thing we do is go to an airplane museum!  In my defense, we were right there and it was just convenience, not that I wanted to see it first.  Le Bourget was where Charles Lindbergh landed in the Spirit of St. Louis back in 1929.
   
One of the early Wright flyers.  Probably 1910 or so.  It has an elevator, not a canard.
   
Levavasseur Antoinette VII
   
 
   
An original -- and very rare -- Spad VII.  This one was actually flown by the French ace Georges Guynemer who had 53 kills.
   
Model of a Fokker DR-1 Triplane.
   
The famous Bleriot XI, first plane to fly the English Channel.
   
Santos-Dumont Demoiselle.
   
Glider with clear dope on fabric.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
There were many varieties of Mirages.
   
Not one but two Concordes were on display.
   
The cockpit and fuselage were tiny.
   
 
This German Focke-Wolfe 190 looks OK here but on closer inspection it wasn't in very good shape.  Peeling paint, that sort of thing.
   
The best French fighter in 1940 was the Dewoitine 520 and here it is.  The only one I've ever seen (that I can remember).
   
Also in the World War II hangar was a very nicely restored DC-3/C-47.  You could go inside and watch a video of the Normandy airborne landing.  Very well done.
   
There were quite a few airplanes parked out back including this P2V which the French used for maritime patrol.
   
This Atlantique was also used for maritime patrol.  Most maritime patrol aircraft are recognized by the MAD boom sticking out the rear.  Magnetic anamoly detector.
   

The old Le Bourget control tower and terminal is visible in the background.

All in all, the French Air and Space museum seemed in need of a major influx of funds for a new, modern facility, restoration of some of the airplanes, and more information (in both French and English) about the airplanes.  If you have a few hours, it's worth seeing, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it.  Which is a shame, because the French played a major role in the development of aviation and their story should be told.
   
 
   
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