Home » Travel Tidbits: an Astrochimp, airplane models, and more

Travel Tidbits: an Astrochimp, airplane models, and more

It has been difficult – to say the least – to read anything but political news this week. But we did take a break and found these fun aviation-related treasures in our Twitter stream about anniversaries marking the death of Ham the Astrochimp and a record-breaking flight by Howard Hughes. The SFO Museum gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how it cares for airplane models and a fun early ad for a sleeperette compartment.

Today in 1983, Ham the Astrochimp passed away at age 26. He flew on Mercury suborbital flight in 1961, when he was 3 years old. The nickname “Ham” stood for Holoman Aerospace Medical Center. pic.twitter.com/7MKRa40NZJ
— National Air and Space Museum (@airandspace) January 20, 2021

Today in 1937, Howard Hughes set a transcontinental U.S. speed record in this Hughes H-1 Racer, flying nonstop from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in 7 hours, 28 minutes, and 25 seconds. pic.twitter.com/C9xbF2sDKZ
— National Air and Space Museum (@airandspace) January 19, 2021

We have over 1,700 model aircraft in our collection! It’s not enough to collect and exhibit them, though. Check out this video of our conservator demonstrating how we preserve and conserve these important collection objects: https://t.co/HUr81TLd6k #BehindTheScenes #MuseumMonday
— SFO Museum (@SFOMuseum) January 20, 2021

In 1947 Pan American World Airways added Sleeperette passenger seats to its Douglas DC-4 airliners. Initially used exclusively on transpacific flights, Sleeperettes featured scientifically engineered comfort for long haul flights #PanAm #PaxEx #MuseumFromHome pic.twitter.com/On3AXJHEOk
— SFO Museum (@SFOMuseum) January 16, 2021