Airplane, airport, and aviation fans around the world are marking National Aviation Week (August 19 – 25) with a wide variety of activities and nods to notable advancements in the history of aviation.
San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) is hosting its second annual SJC National Aviation Week celebration and QR Scavenger Hunt through September 4, 2023.
SJC passengers can search for clues on QR codes throughout SJC’s terminals for a chance to win one of three airport-themed prizes valued at $100 to $500.
10 clues can be found on QR codes pre and post-security at the airport and on the SJC scavenger hunt page, along with directions on how to enter as a contestant. You can submit one entry per person per clue, so if you scan all 10 clues, you have 10 chances to win.
Aviation Museums Worth a Visit
Pick a museum…
From the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC to the fabulous Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, there are hundreds of museums around the country dedicated entirely to aviation or which have an aviation component.
Here are a few aviation museums that have been in touch with the Stuck at the Airport museum team recently.
Kansas Aviation Museum
The greater Wichita, Kansas region lays claims to being the Air Capital of the World, with pioneering aircraft manufacturers and all manner of aviation-related innovations.
Learn about that history at the Kansas Aviation Museum, which is housed in the historic Wichita Municipal Airport terminal. Indoor exhibits feature a variety of aircraft, a control tower, exhibits on Cessna Beechcraft exhibit, Ryan International Airlines, and more.
Outdoors you’ll find aircraft ranging from a Learjet and a Cessna Citation to a Boeing 727.
In Atchison, Kanas
The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Earhart’s hometown of Atchison, Kansas opened this past April and sits adjacent to the Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport.
In addition to more than a dozen interactive exhibits that take visitors through Earhart’s life and accomplishment, the museum is home to Muriel – the world’s last remaining Lockheed Electra 10-E.
The restored plane is identical to the plane Earhart flew on her final flight. Muriel is named after Amelia’s younger sister, Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey.
National WWI Museum and Memorial
The National WW1 Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri got in touch to remind us that during WW1 hot air balloons and dirigibles were critical in spying on enemies and distributing propaganda across enemy lines.
The museum’s website has a great section on the history of air balloons and the American Balloon Section of the American Expeditionary Forces. And the museum’s collection includes a wide variety of images, historical documents, and artifacts, including some rare fragments from Zeppelin L49, which was forced down in France.
From the museum website:
On the morning of Oct. 19, 1917, 13 Zeppelins, including L49, were ordered to “attack middle England. Industrial region of Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, etc.”
L49 was forced down in France near Bourbonne-les-Bains by French fighter planes. All crew members survived and were taken prisoners.
The American soldier who brought this fragment back as a souvenir wrote on it that it was acquired in Paris, France, Nov. 13, 1918, two days after the Armistice which halted the fighting on the Western Front. The French had dismantled the L49 to study its construction.
Thanks for visiting Stuck at the Airport. Subscribe to get daily travel tidbits. And follow me on Twitter at @hbaskas and Instagram.