HARP at Floyd Bennett Field

Good afternoon all. Along with a couple of other NYCA netters the other day, made my first venture to the Historic Aircraft Restoration Project at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

We met a few of their long-timers and were treated to a very interesting small collection and great tour. Even got to crawl around (literally) inside one of my all time favorites-- a P2 Neptune.

My question for you guys and gals: have there been any efforts to work with them on either and individual or group basis? If not, this might be something worth exploring. If some of you have experiences with HARP, I would love to hear about them before I get all enthusiastic and start trying to develop some programs/events etc and/or start volunteering my time.

One of the things I will say right off is that they remind me of many of the museums I have encountered both in the fire service and in aviation. Run by "senior" members, sometimes they can be less than receptive to younger members and their ideas. This has led to the demise of many an organization because of the inability to balance the enthusiasm and ideas of the younger members with the experience and desire for stability of the older members. Hopefully, those experiences haven't been had with HARP.

Regardless of good or bad though, I would love to hear from everyone who has encountered the collection. Thoughts, opinions, and experiences. Once we get some feedback, perhaps there will be enough interest to get some people involved in what is obviously a great opportunity and important piece of our local aviation community.

I've visited the HARP Hangar numerous times, and have always found the volunteers there to be friendly, welcoming, and eager to talk about their aircraft and the projects they are working on. I don't think we as a group on NYCA have had any formal (or informal) discussions about working with them, but I'll defer to Phil and others for more definitive answers on that. I'd certainly be interested in doing more, although time, distance, and my involvement with the AAM might limit what I could offer.

Some of the photos I've taken at my visits:
http://www.moose135photography.com/A.../3081735_vcnV5