Aviator goggles 1920s–1930s metal, glass, fur, fabric, elastic. Courtesy of San Diego Air & Space Museum

Early airplanes had open cockpits and aviators needed special equipment and protective gear in order to do their jobs.

Examples of some of those items are now on exhibit at the San Francisco International Airport. Flight Gear: Pilot Equipment from the Open-Cockpit Era features more than forty examples of flight suits, jackets, helmets, goggles and other accessories dating from the 1910s to the 1940s. Also on exhibit are period photographs, advertising, and catalog illustrations featuring the artifacts displayed.

A. G. Spalding & Bros. "Aviators' Equipment" catalogue one-piece flying suits illustration 1930 ink on paper SFO Museum

Flight Gear: Pilot Equipment from the Open-Cockpit Era is on view through August 1, 2012 in the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum in the International Terminal Departures Level adjacent to the Boarding Area ‘A’ entrance.  Admission is free. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday through Friday.

“Air travel has lost its spark,” said Tom Rossbach, director of aviation architecture for HNTB, the architecture, engineering and construction company that commissioned the survey. “Going to the airport just isn’t as glamorous as it used to be. Now it’s just a chore.”

Of the survey’s 1,000 U.S. respondents, 44 percent called air travel stressful, 41 percent said it was frustrating and 32 percent declared it downright exhausting. Very few people (16 percent) found air travel easy, luxurious (5 percent) or relaxing (7 percent).

Math whizzes will note that these totals add up to more than 100 percent but survey respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer to the question: “Air travel is…”

Not surprisingly, the survey found that air travelers are displeased with the modern-day airport security-screening process. “The biggest frustration is with waiting in those long lines,” said Rossbach.

Only 22 percent said airport security-screening procedures were effective and only 11 percent said it was efficient. A mere 4 percent found it pleasant while 42 percent found the security checkpoint “a hassle.”

But some travelers are optimistic that new technology and better airport amenities can help patch things up.

According to the survey, almost half of Americans think that over that last 10 years there’s been improvement in terminal amenities such as shops, food options and entertainment. And more than half count the now ubiquitous self-check-in kiosks among the improvements.

Going forward, more than a quarter of the survey respondents would like to see paper baggage tags replaced by electronic GPS tags. And 53 percent said they’d feel safer in an airplane that had “NextGen” GPS technology installed, instead of the current radar-based system.

More than 10 percent of respondents would also like to see improvements at airport drop-off and pick-up curbs and at the departure gate lounges as well as a few more designated areas for quiet or conversation.

“We’re going to take this information and use to it design better airports with facilities that are easier to manage and much more enjoyable to be in,” said Rossbach.

100 percent of travelers would most likely say yes to that.

(I first wrote this story for msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin)

So I gave it a try.

See what you think. (And please, be kind…)

BUSINESS INSIDER-AIRPORT AMENITIES from linda saether on Vimeo.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Terminal 1- Lindbergh turns 50 this month and, to celebrate, there are special events, shopping discounts and a call for travelers to share memories on the MSP Facebook page.

Here are few highlights:

“A marriage proposal in the rotunda at the F and G concourses. The guy got down on one knee right in the middle of traffic. The couple told us (Travelers assistance) that they had meet in the MSP Airport and that is where he wanted to propose. She said yes…..”

“I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but moved up here in the early 70′s when I was in college. I recall at that time that the Lindbergh Terminal had pay toilets. $.10 to use a stall! …”

“I remember when they filmed Airport there- mom & dad brought me to the airport to watch them film the scene where Van Heflin buys the insurance at the little insurance kiosk, which was located in the upper level where the shops are all located now (If I recall correctly). Can’t watch the movie without recognizing ‘my’ airport.”

MSP has also posted some photos from its archive. My favorite is this one of the Beatles arriving at the airport in 1965.

And, if you read through the list of 50 ‘fun facts’ about MSP’s Terminal 1 – Lindbergh, you’ll learn that there was once both a drugstore and a children’s nursery in the Ticketing Lobby, that the first baggage carousels were installed in 1970 and that the pay toilets weren’t removed until the mid-1970s.

A new exhibit on Concourse T at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport features 51 puppets from around the world, all on loan from the Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts.

In addition to the chickens (above), you’ll see traditional puppets, such as Punch and Judy, marionettes, hand-puppets and string puppets and non-traditional ones, such as those used for traditional Vietnamese water puppetry, in which puppeteers stand in chest-high pools and use the water as a stage.

But probably because this is the hectic holiday travel season, I’ve answered questions posed by Travelocity’s Roaming Gnome, Travergence, Rudy Maxa’s radio show (the podcast should be posted shortly) and, now, the Moodie Report’s Foodie Report. (Go to pages 24 & 25 to hear the audio clips, or read the story below.)

The director of the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in Jackson County, Ore., has decided that the proposal to sell advertising space on the airport control tower is a bit too controversial right now, so he’s dropping the plan.

“There were some in the community that didn’t think it was a good idea,” airport director Bern Case told msnbc.com. “I could see the writing on the wall, so this morning we withdrew our application.”

The airport had been seeking a change in the city code so that a 675-square-foot sign could be placed on each side of the airport control tower. Negotiations were underway with an aviation company that would have paid $3,000 a month for tower ad space, or $360,000 over the course of a 10-year lease.

The Medford City Council had approved the idea on Nov. 17, citing the economic benefits of additional advertising income for the airport, but local and national controversy about the decision caused some councilmembers to reconsider.

“For crying out loud,” said Mike Boyd, an aviation consultant with Boyd Group International. “A control tower isn’t exactly a work of art not to be messed with. I think an ad for Pepsi or Levis, or even an air sickness potion, would be a great way of getting another revenue stream.”

If the project had gone through, the Medford airport would have been the first to have advertising on the control tower. “We were leading the way a little bit,” said Case. “But we all have political bodies to deal with, and it was their call. We’ll be fine.”

While tower ads are tabled for now in Medford, don’t be surprised if the idea pops up somewhere else.

“Non-aeronautical revenue generation is a never-ending effort for airports,” said Sean Broderick, spokesperson for the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). “If an airport can generate revenue from something that doesn’t cost it much to provide, that’s a win-win for everyone.”

This story first appeared on msnbc.com Travel’s Overhead Bin.

Brisket sandwich available at Austin-Bergstrom Int'l Airport

Gastronomic guru Anthony Bourdain’s new Travel Channel show, “The Layover,” offers viewers tips on how and where to fill up on local fare if you have just a 48-hour layover in a city.

But what if your layover is much shorter and you’re stuck at the airport looking for a tasty local meal to tide you over?

Not a problem.

It’s getting easier to eat well — and to eat local — at an increasing number of airports where branches of hometown restaurants and gift shops serve signature dishes and locally made foods.

For a story on msnbc.com, I asked around for some tips.

Marcos Martinez, executive director of Entre Hermanos in Seattle, is partial to the breakfast tacos and fish ‘n’ chips served at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport outpost of Anthony’s, a popular chain of local seafood restaurants. Nancy DeWitt, historian at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum in Fairbanks, Alaska, says the blackened halibut tacos served at the Sea-Tac Anthony’s are a “don’t miss” for many of her friends and colleagues.

Rick Seaney, co-founder of FareCompare.com, looks forward to having crawfish etouffee at Pappadeaux at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (IAH). And recently, Las Vegas resident Chris Jones was pleased to see that the popular local company that operates Pappadeaux at IAH also has outlets at Houston’s Hobby Airport.

“I flew into Hobby in mid-November and was elated to see this company had — by my count — three concessions in Hobby Airport,” said Jones. “I got a milkshake at the burger concept on my way into town and enjoyed some amazing enchiladas and rice and beans before I flew home.”

There’s a branch of New York City’s infamous Grand Central Oyster Bar at Newark Liberty International Airport, and at JFK airport’s Terminal 8, outposts of Bobby Van’s Steakhouse & Grill and Brooklyn National Deli. For many travelers, getting a bowl of Gold Star Chili at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is a sure sign that they’ve been through town.

All the food outlets in the International Terminal at San Francisco International Airport are branches of popular local restaurants, and the recently opened Central Terminal B at Sacramento International Airport boasts branches of Dos Coyotes, Jacks Urban Eats and other restaurants found in town.

“Airports aren’t just a way station for passengers anymore, but a shopping and dining experience,” said Jean-Pierre Turgot, general manager for Delaware North Companies Travel Hospitality services, one of several national companies operating restaurants and shops in many airports. Turgot oversees Chef Allen’s Burger Bar at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where passengers can purchase the local chef’s signature sauces and catch an occasional cooking demonstration.

At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, “pre-packaged, specially wrapped BBQ brisket from the Salt Lick BBQ is a big seller,” said Terry Mahlum, regional director for Delaware North Companies Travel Hospitality Services. The recipe for the BBQ sauce dates back to the 1800s. “We have regular customers who stop in our airport location just to get a to-go brisket for the holiday meal,” Mahlum said.

And it’s not just locally themed meals that travelers lap up during layovers. At shops throughout Nashville International Airport, Chattanooga-made, marshmallow-filled Moon Pies, in a wide variety of flavors, can be purchased individually or by the box.

Joe Brancatelli, publisher of the business traveler website JoeSentMe.com, is a big fan of eating locally on the road and puts together an annual guide to some of his favorite places to eat in — and nearby — many airports. (This year’s edition, which he says will include new options in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Charlotte airports, will be ready by Christmas.) He’s found, though, that in some airports “the master franchisees at the airport license the name to a local place or pub and then run it … so the local operator known for the great steak or burger at their downtown institution is not actually running the airport branch.”

So while certainly providing travelers more interesting fare than that offered by the standard national franchises found in most airports, Brancatelli warns that a “local” airport eatery may sometimes be local in name only.

This week’s souvenirs come from San Francisco International Airport, where the Brookstone store has modern-day versions of Pan Am travel items;

Where several newsstands carry flight attendant-themed doll sets;

And where a new shop called Destination Green offers these cute pink (‘green’) cars that Barbie might covet.

Seven “Quality Hunters” recruited by Finnair and Helsinki Airport have spent the last five weeks traveling around in search of ideas to improve the air travel experience.

Now, during the final week of Finnair’s Quality Hunter campaign, Finnair and Helsinki Airport (home to a spa with saunas and a swimming pool)are inviting the public to send in more ideas.

There are prizes to be won for the most innovative submissions which, so far, include everything from in-flight karaoke to virtual chess games, ‘hush-hush’ seats, reserveable overhead bins and, something I’ve been advocating for years, airport speed dating.

The deadline for turning in ideas is November 29th, 2011. After that, Helsinki Airport and Finnair will choose some finalists and invite the public to vote on the best ideas.

See all the ideas – and add your own – here.