Adirondacks’ Cold War History: Inside the Plattsburgh Air Force Museum

By Tom French

Imagine hiking in the northeast portion of the Adirondack Park, perhaps on the trail to the Poke-O-Moonshine fire tower or along one of the Champlain Area Trails (CATS) when suddenly your peace and solitude is interrupted by a double sonic boom.  You look up and spot a strange aircraft.  At first, you think it might be a UFO or an illusion, but then you recognize the silhouette of a space shuttle gliding to the north.

Even though the space shuttle never utilized the Plattsburgh Air Force Base runway, it could have.  With one of the longest runways in the world, Plattsburgh was, if necessary, an alternate landing site for the shuttle.  

From Revolutionary battles to F-35 fighter jets, Adirondackers are no strangers to a military presence.  That Cold War history, which includes nuclear missile silos, is preserved at the Plattsburgh Air Force Base Museum, “the only museum in New York where everything is playable.” 

A grassroots effort to pay homage to region’s military history

Col. Joe McNichols (Ret.), one of the volunteers for the museum, was first assigned to the base in 1972 as a KC-135 pilot.  He finished in 1992 as the 380th Air Refueling Wing Operations Group Commander.  “Everything in here was built by the military, so it’s rugged.”

Located in a blacksmith’s building from the military post’s 19th century history (you can see where the branding irons were hung), the museum opened in 2014.  In preparation for the Battle of Plattsburgh Bicentennial, Keith Herkalo, President of the Battle of Plattsburgh Association, reached out to Lt. Col Frank Baehre (Ret.), an FB-111 pilot twice stationed at the base, to create a space celebrating the Air Force’s 40 years in Plattsburgh.  

“Once word got out that we were looking to put a museum together, people came out of the walls,” Baehre says.  “The 556th Strategic Missile Squadron (responsible for the 12 Atlas Missile Sites in the 1960s) gave us a generous donation and the War of 1812 Museum decided to move to larger quarters across the street, leaving a building that was just the right size for what we had in mind.”

According to McNichols, “Everything is via donation.”  He points to a bomb with a shark’s smile hanging from the ceiling.  “I always ask the kids if Mom and Dad have something at home.  A Cumberland Head school kid goes, ‘My grandpa’s got a bomb in the garage and grandma wants it out of there.’” The bomb-loading training shape (a dummy) now greets visitors.

Hands-on exhibits

School groups visit regularly.  “The kids come in and we dress them up.  We’ve got little kids flight suits and big kids flight suits.  They can dress up as firefighters, policemen, aviators.  They get a real big kick out of it.” 

After the smiling bomb and the collection of uniforms in the anteroom, visitors are greeted by a display of models showing the various planes stationed at the base from the nuclear bomber squadrons of B-47s, B-52s, and FB-111s to the refueling tankers.  The 556th Strategic Missile Squadron is represented with a “working” nuclear missile launch console.  

“The kids do the checklist and turn the keys at the same time, but this (rotary phone) gets more use than the panel in some cases.”

Baehre calls attention to the display about Clyde Lewis, “the principal person responsible” for bringing the Air Force Base to Plattsburgh.  A bomber pilot in WWII, Lewis welcomed the first B-47 in 1956 and flew out on the last KC-135 in 1995.

Lt. Col. Dave Witkowski (Ret.), another docent with a history at the base, describes the 600-pound B-52 ejection seat donated by the Vermont National Guard.  It and the FB-111 “Cardboard” Trainer are popular with the kids.  “Most of the switches are throwable,” McNichols says.  “We taught (people) how to fly.  You basically sit and run this checklist to the point where you have it memorized.”  The checklist sits on a counter – a binder at least 3 inches thick.

A focus on Cold War history

The air base was established as part of the Cold War response to the nuclear arms race.  Some of the first planes on the fight line were B-47s, precursors to the B-52s.  Volunteers have been restoring a B-47 next to the museum along with an FB-111.  

About a dozen retired veterans serve as docents.  “We’ve got a nice cross-section of Air Force veterans,” Baehre says.  “And every one of them has a different story. On any different day, we’re all going to tell our story which is different than anybody else’s.”

Baehre is not exaggerating.  McNichols tells how an FB-111 was landing in bad weather and accidentally landed at the old Clinton County Airport.  “That doesn’t work well because it’s 5,000 feet vs 11,700.”  After skidding off the runway, “the navigator runs to the phone booth, puts his dime in, and calls the command post to report they’re all right. And the guy says, ‘Can’t talk. We just lost an airplane’ and hangs up.” 

Witkowski discusses the Strategic Air Command’s (SAC) roll at Plattsburgh.  “The crews lived in an alert facility for seven days at a time.  When the horn went off, they had 10 minutes to get the aircraft ready to launch.”  He also points to the control wheel from a B-47 that crashed into Wright Peak in 1962.  A plaque honoring the crew is near the summit.

Cold War preparations on display include a fallout shelter toilet good “for 50 people for a month.”  In 2022, the museum opened Korean War military MREs.  “Still edible,” according to McNichols.  The museum plans to open 73-year-old, vacuum sealed, saltine crackers at some point.

Perhaps the most poignant story is about Mike Anderson who died in the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003, “the only person at this base to make that level.”  A display in the museum highlights his career and roots to the Plattsburgh area. McNichols signed his application paperwork for entrance into the astronaut program.  

The Plattsburgh Air Force Museum, located at 31 Washington Road near the Clyde Lewis Air Park along Route 9, is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays through Saturdays through October.  More information can also be found on their Facebook page.