aviation history

Fresh Art at PIE Airport

Two new murals now greet passengers at Florida’s St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE).

Both murals are visible to passengers arriving and departing from Gates 7-11 and Gate 12.

Leo Gomez’s mural “GO EASY” features a dreamy Tampa Bay sunset, with welcoming colors, bold text, and silhouettes that evoke travel and nature. 

Laura “Miss Crit” Spencer’s mural is inspired by Florida native flowers and is inhabited by a variety of bees, butterflies, and pollinators.

These new murals join the other amenities we love at PIE airport, including a great art collection, the PIE Pups animal therapy program, and the outdoor Bark Parks animal relief areas.

PIE Airport is also a great place to learn some aviation history.

PIE airport’s location on Tampa Bay, north of St. Petersburg lays claim to being the birthplace of commercial air transportation. 

On January 1, 1914, barely a decade after the Wright Brothers’ pioneer flight at Kitty Hawk, the first ticket for air travel was sold by the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airport line to a fare-paying passenger. 

St. Petersburg mayor A.C. Phiel (center in the photo below) paid $400 to be the first passenger on the St. Petersburg Tampa Bay Airport Line. That flight marked the beginning of commercial air transportation. 

Courtesy Courtesy National Air and Space Museum Archives

A replica of the Benoist amphibious airplane flown on that inaugural flight is on display in the PIE baggage claim.

Except where noted, all photos are courtesy PIE Airport.

Toy Airplanes at St. Louis Lambert Int’l Airport

Fans of toy airplanes will enjoy the Toys Take Flight exhibit on view through the end of March 2023 in the Lambert Gallery at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL).

“Toy airplanes have been around longer than airplanes themselves,” the exhibit notes tell us. “The earliest model airplane, a glider powered by a rubber band, was created in 1871, 32 years before Orville and Wilbur Wright took their first flight. Through countless fads, innovations, and technological advances, toy airplanes have endured as a testament to humankind’s fascination with flight.”

Here are just a few of the toy airplanes on display at STL Airport.

Look for more toy airplanes on exhibit at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in the Lambert Gallery. It is located in Terminal 1 near Exit 11, close to the C Concourse Exit and is accessible to the public.

Airports, airlines, and the world remember 9/11

We thought we would gather up all the 9/11 anniversary remembrance tweets from airlines, airports, aviation agencies, organizations, and unions, but we’re sure we missed a lot.

Let us know if we missed yours and we’ll add it to the list.

For National Book Lovers Day: our new book

Amelia Earhart Reading,” International Women’s Air & Space Museum,

August 9 was National Book Lovers Day and we celebrated by visiting some of the places in Seattle that are featured in our new book, 111 Places in Seattle That You Must Not Miss, which begins shipping today.

The book is part of the international 111 Places series, which offers locals and experienced travelers guides to hidden treasures, overlooked gems, and charming curious places in great cities.

For the Seattle guide, I’m pointing readers to many airport and aviation-related items around town, including the art collections at both Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and King County International Airport – Boeing Field (BFI).

Richard Elliot’s ‘Eyes on the World’ at SEA
Brad Miller’s “30,000 Feet” Photo by Joe Freemans Courtesy 4Culture

The Museum of Flight is represented in the book, with the story of the Taylor Aerocar, an early flying car that worked.

Taylor Aerocar III, one wing folded back for ground travel, one wing attached for flight.

And we also point people to the tiny pocket park on the shores of Lake Union where they’ll find a plaque marking the spot where the first Boeing plane took off.

The plaque reads “From this site, Boeing launched it first airplane, the B&W, in 1916.”

Of course, there are plenty of other non-aviation sites in the book, including the Giant Shoe Museum, the world’s greenest commercial building, a haunted staircase, the Rubber Chicken Museum, a shop where you can buy personalized magic wands, the place where you can rent a rowboat for free, and lots more.

We hope you’ll get a copy of 111 Places in Seattle That You Must Not Miss from your favorite bookseller.

Aviation treasures returning to National Air & Space Museum

The Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum has been closed for a while to reboot with two dozen new exhibits. At least 8 of the galleries are set to open this fall.

One of those returning soon is The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age, an update of the popular exhibition of the same name that has housed the 1903 Wright Flyer since 2003.

As a preview, the museum shared pictures of some of the artifacts we’ll see when the exhibit reopens and pointed us to aviation-themed treasures in the vaults.

12 seconds. That is how long Orville Wright’s first powered flight in the 1903 Wright Flyer lasted. The Wright Brothers used this stopwatch to time the December 1903 flight. The watch will be on display in the reimagined Wright Brothers exhibition.

On

Once the Wright Brothers showed how ‘easy’ it was to fly, it didn’t take long for the public to become fascinated with airplanes and airplane-themed things. And for flight themes to appear on jewelry, in games, and in art.

Here are a few great objects from the National Air & Space Museum’s collection that we hope we’ll see when the galleries reopen. See you there!

(All images courtesy of the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum)

Board Game, Lindbergh, King Collection (A20040289048).
Pillbox with an airplane on the lid
Gold-colored small jewelry charm in the shape of an early monoplane with a visible fuselage frame and propeller that spins.