Bradley Air Museum

'Perfect Storm' survivor at New England Air Museum

Lt. Col. Graham Buschor, one of two pilots who survived the storm upon which this movie was based, will give a talk July 30 when the New England Air Museum marks Extreme Flight Day. Lt. Buschor and another pilot ditched in the Atlantic Ocean and spent five hours in the water, with 70-foot seas and 120-knot winds, before they were rescued. Photo: Contributed Photo / CT Lt. Col. Graham Buschor, one of two pilots who survived the killer storm upon which the movie, "The Perfect Storm," was based, will give a talk July 30 when the New England Air Museum marks Extreme Flight Day. Lt. Buschor and another pilot ditched in the Atlantic Ocean and spent five hours in the water, with 70-foot seas and 120-knot winds, before they were rescued. Photo: Contributed Photo / CT Lt. Col. Graham Buschor, one of two pilots who survived the killer storm upon which the movie, "The Perfect Storm," was based, will give a talk July 30 when the New England Air Museum marks Extreme Flight Day. Lt. Buschor and another pilot ditched in the Atlantic Ocean and spent five hours in the water, with 70-foot seas and 120-knot winds, before they were rescued. Photo: Contributed Photo / CT Lt. Col. Graham Buschor, one of two pilots who survived the killer storm upon which the movie, "The Perfect Storm," was based, will give a talk July 30 when the New England Air Museum marks Extreme Flight Day. Lt. Buschor and another pilot ditched in the Atlantic Ocean and spent five hours in the water, with 70-foot seas and 120-knot winds, before they were rescued. The UH-60 Black Hawk, shown here, is the type of helicopter Lt. Buschor was flying in the storm. Photo: Contributed Photo / CT

In October of 1991, a storm stronger than any in recorded history hit the East Coast, calling for the dangerous rescue of a private sailor on a 40-foot boat. The harrowing situation and all that ensued were part of the inspiration for the movie "The Perfect Storm."

Lt. Col. Graham Buschor , a survivor of that "Perfect Storm," will appear Saturday, July 30, at the New England Air Museum .

He was among the helicopter pilots who ditched in the Atlantic Ocean, surviving five hours in the 50-degree water, where they were bombarded by 60-foot waves. He was picked up by a freighter.

"One thing that went through my mind was the next day was Halloween," he said in a recent interview. "Who was going to take (my children) trick-or-treating?

New England Air Museum, Bradley International Airport, Windsor ...

It was a beautiful machine now standing proudly basking under the fluorescent light of the immense hanger. Though not alone the B-25 Mitchell bomber stood out amongst the more modern jets, it’s guns protruding from the nose.

For a brief moment I felt alone imagining myself flying such a classic and historic aircraft into China off an aircraft carrier. Most said it couldn’t be done but this airplane and the brave men who flew it took off from the USS Hornet, bombing Japan in an attack which surprised the allies as much as the Japanese.

My feeling of being alone waned as I felt I was being watched, and sure enough out of the corner of my eye I saw someone approaching. As the person walked towards me I noticed he had a docent identification tag and because I was curious I said hello to this gentlemen.

I related to him how shocked I was to find this amazing museum on such a remote part of the airfield. Like most airfields with large buildings you don’t know what you will encounter until you roll back the hanger doors. In this case I simply walked through the entrance to the museum and saw the dozens of model airplanes hanging from the ceiling and I knew this is where I would spend the rest of the day.

After introducing myself I told the docent I had the whole day to explore the museum. He turned to me and said “do you want to see something special”. Now he really had my curiosity peaked. Next he said “ever been in a P-47?” Of course I chimed back never but I have always wanted to fly one. “Well” he said “why don’t we climb into one right now?”. He proceeded to tell me that the museum has open cockpit days allowing visitors inside the cockpit and cabin of many airplanes on display. This is normally one of their busier days.

“I bet it is” I quipped not wanting to show how excited I was to sit in the P-47. He lowered the rope surrounding the aircraft and let me climb in. As I gingerly positioned myself in the cockpit, I noticed how austere a WWII fighter must have been. Because of the exposed control cables and no insulation I knew this was a machine for combat and not a jaunt around the pattern on a clear afternoon.

I must have spent fifteen minutes looking over all the controls and switches when he said do you want to see more. I said of course. He said if I wanted he could show me around the whole museum. I immediately accepted.

Every so often something wonderful happens during this serendipitous journey we call life and meeting this docent and the hours he spent with me exploring this wonderful museum was a day I will treasure as one of my better memories.

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