On display this May, at the Chappaqua Library.
May 1–31, 2025
This May, library visitors can explore a museum-quality exhibit created by Mark Kramer, showcasing custom-built models of military and NASA aircraft he flew in while working as a Special Events producer for CBS.
Accompanying videos allow patrons to see and hear Mark as he travels around the world on assignment—and even floats inside NASA’s 0-G aircraft… along with astronauts training for their space shuttle flight.
Airplanes—Flying Around the World for CBS News
"When I retired from CBS News in 2006 I toyed with the idea of a memoir…but it never
happened. Years later the idea came back, but this time I realized that I could combine some of
my experiences with my long-held fascination with airplanes and airplane models.Displayed here are models of nine military and one NASA aircraft I flew in around the world as
part of my job as a Special Events producer for CBS News. All were custom built for me in
Manila, Philippines, where it turns out most of the world’s best model makers are located. They
are correct right down to the tail number, but in some cases I flew in multiple versions of a
particular type aircraft, so I chose just one tail number to represent all of them.Most of these flights were in connection with my duties as the TV Pool Producer for overseas
presidential trips, in which I represented all the American television and cable news operations.
A few months before a presidential journey the White House would organize an advance trip to
check out all the possible venues that the president might visit in each country. They would
requisition an aircraft from the Air Force, and onboard would be White House and State
Department staffers, Secret Service, Air Force One and Marine One pilots, medical staff – and a
few representatives of the press. We flew in whatever was available at the time.The one NASA aircraft shown here was the one in which I flew two days of weightless flights.
(It’s the subject of one of the videos playing here.)All the models have placards that explain their significance to me, but a few are truly special.
When I flew in the large KC-10A tanker aircraft across the far east, the Air Force allowed me to
“fly” the boom that is used to refuel other aircraft in flight. You don’t get to do that every day. I
landed on an aircraft carrier in the small, twin-engine C-2A, in which we went from 130 mph to a
dead stop in 200 feet. When we were catapulted off hours later we accelerated from 0 to 130
mph in 3 seconds…You don’t get to do that every day, either.Of course, I never flew in a space shuttle, but I did shoot a story inside the Enterprise, the
orbiter that was used for atmospheric tests before any of them went into space. (It’s the one that
is now at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in NYC.)Neither did I fly in the sleek, black X-15 – still the fastest rocket plane ever to fly (4,520 mph),
and which Neil Armstrong, among other test pilots, flew to the edge of space from 1959 to 1968.
Shown here also is the legendary SR-71A spy plane, which flew so fast and so high it did not
need any armament: It simply outran any missiles fired at it. These two are included in my
collection simply because they’re so darn cool.It may seem trite, but when I look at these models sitting on shelves in my den, I really do recall
and re-live important (and fun!) parts of my career."Mark Kramer