aviation

Museum Monday: 1940 Air Terminal Museum, Houston Hobby Airport

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There are close to 700 aviation and space museums in this country. Each Monday, we take a look at one of them.  Stick around. Eventually we’ll visit them all!

This week: The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.

Vintage view of Houston Hobby Airport terminal

Greetings from Houston Hobby Airport

Housed in the airport’s original art deco air terminal,the museum is dedicated to showcasing the city’s aviation history.

In addition to this classic, restored terminal building, the museum has historic aircraft on display in the restored 1928 Carter Field Airmail Hangar.

Restored 1928 Carter Field Airmail Hangar

1928 Carter Field Airmail Hangar

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum recently raffled off an airplane and is now accepting entries for a “Flying Times” art exhibition featuring artwork and objects relating to Commercial aviation, General Aviation, or Space.

Not sure if you want to enter? Consider this: cash prizes will be awarded for the best work (1st prize: $500, 2nd Prize: $250, 3rd prize: $100) and for the work that best depicts the terminal building ($50 prize.)  Cash prizes will also be awarded in several other categories. The deadline for entries is September 1, 2010 and the show will run from September 17 through October 31, 2010.  Look here for entry forms and more information about the 1940 Air Terminal Museum’s art contest. And good luck!

Houston Hobby Airport opening day

Houston Hobby Airport - Opening Day

Do you have a favorite aviation or space museum?  If so, nominate it here and it may be featured on a future edition of Museum Monday here at StuckatTheAirport.com.

Museum Monday: 1928 biplane inside Ottawa International Airport

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There are close to 700 aviation and space museums in the country. Each Monday, we explore one of them.

De Havilland Tiger Moth from Vintage Wings Canada

De Havilland Tiger Moth from Vintage Wings Canada

This week we have the story of a fun partnership between Canada’s Ottawa International Airport (YOW) and Vintage Wings of Canada, a local organization that acquires, restores, maintains and flies classic and significant aircraft, with an emphasis on Canadian airplanes.

You can see photos of the all of the museum’s aircraft on its website. To see the planes in person, though, you’ll have to be part of a scheduled group tour or show up at one of the organization’s special summer events.

But as this article (with video) in the Ottawa Sun describes, for a while at least, air passengers will be able to see one of the museum’s treasures in the baggage claim area at Ottawa International Airport.

Last week museum volunteers flew a 1928 WACO Taperwing biplane to the Ottawa Airport, disassembled the plane enough to get it into the terminal, and then put the plane back together in the baggage claim area.

WACO Taperwing 1928 from Vintage Wings Canada

The biplane plane was recently featured in the film, “Amelia,” starring Hilary Swank and is scheduled to be at the YOW airport until mid-September. Volunteers from Vintage Wings will be on-site to tell passengers about the history of the airplane.

1928 WACO Taperwing inside Ottowa Airport

Volunteers reassemble the 1928 WACO Taperwing inside YOW airport

Do you have a favorite aviation museum you’d like others to know about?

Leave a comment here and we’ll try to add the nominated sites to the Museum Monday schedule.

Souvenir Sunday at Spokane Int’l Airport

Airplanes, Airport shops, aviation, Entertainment, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, , ,

Toaster plane at Spokane Airport

Traffic was slow heading into Spokane International Airport on Friday because most drivers had their eyes on the sky.

I don’t blame them: the USAF Thunderbirds and other military flight demonstration teams were practicing for this weekend’s Skyfest 2010 at Fairchild Air Force Base.

Skyfest 2010 Fairchild Base air show

Inside the airport, flights were delayed while practice flights took place. So there was plenty of time to shop for souvenirs.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the concourse with the Simply Northwest store, which is filled with a wide variety of local and regionally made items such as wine, chocolates and Bumble Bars.

Bumblebars at Spokane International Airport Simply North shop

Nope, I was in the other concourse. The one with just a small souvenir section in the newsstand.

But, lucky for me, there was a shelf filled with one of our favorite Souvenir Sunday categories:  Candy “poop.”

I’m really not sure what makes this an appealing food or souvenir item, but we’ve seen Cardinal Poop (Indianapolis), Pelican Poop (Fort Myers, FL) and Armadillo Droppings (throughout Texas).  So it’s no surprise that at Spokane International Airport, there’s an entire shelf of Moose Poop and Bear Poop.

Souvenirs at Spokane Int'l Airport

Next time you’re stuck at the airport, check out the souvenirs. If you find something that’s about $10, is “of” the city or region and is a bit offbeat, please snap a photo and send it along. Your souvenir may end up featured on Souvenir Sunday at StuckatTheAirport.com. And if it is, you’ll get a fun souvenir from us.

Visiting the oldest flying Boeing airplane

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Friday morning I had the extreme pleasure of spending some time with Addison Pemberton and his wife,Wendy, at Pemberton & Sons Aviation headquarters at Spokane, Washington’s Felts Field.

Spokane Felts Field Pemberton & Sons

Pemberton & Sons Aviation headquarters - photo: Harriet Baskas

Using many parts from the original aircraft, Pemberton, his family and more than 60 volunteers completely restored a 1928 Boeing 40C airplane that crashed into a mountainside in Canyonville, OR..

Spokane Pemberton Boeing Model 40

(Photo courtesy Addison Pemberton)

That restored plane took its first test flight on February 17, 2008 – Addison Pemberton’s birthday – and it is now the oldest flying Boeing airplane and the only flying Boeing 40.

(Photo courtesy Addison Pemberton)

When I arrived at the company’s hangar, Pemberton was just finishing up his lunch and making final arrangements to fly the plane to Concrete, WA to attend the North Cascades Fly-In. Yet he and Wendy were kind enough to show me around and then sit down and tell me about the history of the airplane, the details they’d discovered about the 1928 crash, the story of how the airplane’s remains were found, and how those remains were turned into the shiny, fly-able airplane out in the hangar.

Some remains of the Boeing Model 40 crashed in 1928

Remains of the Boeing Model 40 crashed in 1928

The story is quite amazing. And it is well-documented on the Pemberton’s website and in a variety of videos, including this Northwest Profiles feature from Spokane’s KSPS TV

At 1 pm, it was time for Pemberton to head off for the fly-in. But before he took off, he and Wendy let me climb up a ladder, look in the cockpit and sit in the passenger cabin, which has a telephone, a small desk and four seats.

Passenger cabin Boeing Model 40 restored

(Photo: Harriet Baskas)

Thanks, Pembertons, for saving this historic plane and for your generosity in sharing it with others.

(Photo by Pam Scott)

In Spokane: the world’s oldest flying Boeing airplane

Air Travel, Airplanes, aviation, Aviation history, Exhibits, Fun Stuff, Museums, , , ,

I’ve been touring Spokane, WA and the surrounding countryside this week in search of unusual people, places and events to include in the 3rd edition of Washington Curiosities, one of the books I write for Globe Pequot Press.

The week will end with a visit to Felts Field to meet Addison Pemberton, who found and rebuilt (with the help of more than 60 people) the oldest Boeing airplane still flying.

I’ll report back on my visit with Pemberton and his airplane, but in the meantime, take a look at my new Spokane buddy. I found him while touring Marvin Carr’s One of a kind in the world museum, which is filled with wonders ranging from the oldest typewriter in the world to a taxidermied giraffe and Elvis Presley’s 1973 Lincoln Mark IV.

Spokane museum Marvin Carr squirrel

First-time trike flight

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For a while up there on Prosser Butte, just outside of Spokane, WA, I was hoping the sun would set before it was my turn to get strapped into the back seat of the two-seated, three-wheeled, motorized, kite-like contraption that Denny Reed insists is a perfectly legal light sport aircraft, or trike.

Spokane Backcountry Aerosports light sport aircraft

But there was plenty of light left after the four writers I’m touring Spokane with each took their turn flying low over nearby hills and wheat fields with Backcountry Aerosports owner Denny Reed as their guide.

So when it was my turn, I had no choice but to climb in, buckle up, and hold on tight.

You know how this turns out.

There was nothing whatsoever to be worried about. The sampler flight – maybe ten or fifteen minutes max –was a bit scary at take-off, but incredibly exhilarating after that.

As Reed promised, the aircraft (I’m still uncomfortable saying I flew in a trike) felt stable and safe. And when we flew down low, it was indeed possible to feel changes in air temperature.

So, I’m now a convert.  I’m not saying I’m ready to sign up for the flight training courses Reed offers and get my own Ultralight  or Light Sport Aircraft anytime soon.  But if I had the opportunity to ride along with someone again, I’m game. I might even seek it out.

And I promise: next time, no whining. In fact, next time, I’d like to fly first.

light sport aircraft trike prosse butte

Museum Monday: LAX Flight Path Learning Center and Museum

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There are close to 700 aviation & space museums around the county and in my recent msnbc.com column Aviation and Space Museums that Soar, I only had room to list six of them. The best of the rest we’ll get to know here, during Museum Mondays on StuckatTheAirport.com.

Last week, it was the New England Air Museum at Bradley International Airport in Windsor, CT.  This week, we’ll take a look at the Flight Path Learning Center and Museum, in the Imperial Terminal (once the home MGM Grand Airlines) on the south perimeter of Los Angeles International Airport.

LAX FLIGHT PATH Museum

(Photo courtesy: Kate Sedlmayr, KES Consulting.aero)

In addition to special exhibits, Flight Path features historic murals that depict the history of aviation in Southern California along with model airplanes, photographs, airline uniforms and a wide variety of artifacts and memorabilia that tell the story of Southern California-based airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and aerospace companies.

LAX Flight Path Museum airplane models

The exhibits inside the museum are great, but for many the real attraction is what passes by the museum’s windows:  the museum looks out onto LAX runways and visitors can watch airplanes take off and land.

LAX - A380 visits

(Photo courtesy Paul Haney)

Want to visit? The Flight Path Learning Center and Museum is located on the south perimeter of Los Angeles International Airport, a very short drive or cab ride from the airline terminals. Admission is free. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A great time to visit the Flight Path Learning Center and Museum would be on Saturday July 17th, 2010 at 10 a.m. when the museum presents an audiovisual salute to 50 years of jet passenger service at Los Angeles International Airport that will include are photos and archival film clips of early passenger jets and jet terminal development at LAX.

(Photo courtesy: Kate Sedlmayr, KES Consulting.aero)

Do you have a favorite aviation or space museum? If so, please tell us about it in the comments below and it may end up featured on a future edition of Museum Monday at StuckatTheAirport.com.

Thanks to Paul Haney and Kate Sedlmayr for help with this week’s Museum Monday


Maggots and flying cars. Need we say more?

Air Travel, Airplanes, aviation, Aviation history, Baggage, Carry-ons, Design, Exhibits, Fun Stuff, , , ,

Besides the story about the Charlotte-bound US Airways plane that had to return to the gate in Atlanta because maggots started dropping from an overhead bin (watch video at your own risk…)

…the best aviation-related story making the rounds today was about yet another FAA-approved flying car. The Christian Science Monitor’s story about the Terrafugia Transition includes some very cool photos and a video describing the prototype of a two-seater car that can be transformed into an airplane – and purchased for $194,000.

It does seem promising but, The Jetsons aside, it’s not new. Back in 1949, Vancouver, Washington resident Moulton Taylor created a car that did the same thing.

The final version of that car, the Aerocar III, which was actually the sixth version of the car, is on display at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

Flying car

Taylor wasn’t the first to make a flying car. The Smithsonian Institution displays the Waterman Aerobile, which first flew in 1937.

And, from 1950, the Fulton Airphibian

Both the Airphibian and the Aerobile are on display in the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport.

Museum Monday: New England Air Museum

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I’ve been getting a lot of guff from aviation museum fans upset that I didn’t include their favorite museum in my recent msnbc.com column – Aviation and space museums that soar.

Airplanes in museum

I was asking for it.  There are close to 600 aviation and space museums in the country. And with room in the column for just six “top” places, I was sure to disappoint many readers. But now that I’ve read the comments and learned about the cool stuff at so many other aviation-related museums, I’ve decided to add Museum Monday to the line-up here at StuckatTheAirport.com.

To kick things off, I’ve chosen the New England Air Museum at Bradley International Airport in Windsor, CT.

Bradley is the airport where about 300 Virgin Atlantic passengers recently spent more than four hours stuck on an airplane when their Newark-bound flight was diverted and I’m sure they would have been much happier if they’d been hanging around this museum instead.

The New England Air Museum is the largest aviation museum in New England and has more than 125 aircraft and a huge collection of engines, instruments, aircraft parts, uniforms and personal memorabilia.

A few highlights in the collection include:

The last remaining four-engine American flying boat, the Sikorsky VS-44A, which was donated to the museum by  actress Maureen O’Hara and restored to its original condition;

A B-29 Bomber;

The Bunce-Curtiss Pusher (1912), the oldest surviving Connecticut-built airplane;

And a Kaman K-225 helicopter, the oldest surviving Kaman-built aircraft.

In addition to the artifacts and aircraft on display, the museum has Open Cockpit days, a flight simulator, special events and theme weeks throughout the summer. For example, the week of July 5th is Discover Blimps and Balloons Week.

There’s also a speaker program: this past weekend Sergei N. Khrushchev, the son of Nikita Khrushchev (Prime Minister of the Soviet Union from 1957-1964) gave a lecture about the Cuban Missile Crisis, as viewed from the Kremlin.

Have a favorite aviation or space museum you’d like to see featured on Museum Monday?

Please nominate it in the comments section below. If you have photos to share, all the better!

(New England Air Museum aircraft photos used in this post courtesy Cliff1066 via Flickr Creative Commons. He’s got dozens of other great photos from the museum on his Photostream as well. )

Airplane pilots pay attention to Bitching Betty

Airports, aviation, Aviation history, History, ,

I don’t have a GPS unit in my car, but I do find myself talking back to the little digital chef that pops up on the screen of my microwave.  So I got a kick out of this Family Matters column from the New York Times in which Bruce Feiler examines the relationships people develop with the voice on their car GPS unit.

I’m linking to the article here because Feiler traces the origin of female voices in automated navigation devices back to airplanes in World War II:

…[W]omen’s voices were used in airplane cockpits because they stood out among the male aviators. “It has nothing to do with acoustics or taste,” said Judy Edworthy, a professor of applied psychologist at the University of Plymouth in England who specializes in “alarms, auditory warnings, beeps and buzzers. They used female voices because they were different,” she said, “and the men were more likely to pay attention to them, particularly in combat situations.

Female voices are still used for warnings in many airplane cockpits and have earned the slang term Bitching Betty among pilots. Patricia Hoyt, who recorded the voice-overs used in many planes, recently revealed herself as Betty in a YouTube video in which she recites common phrases like “auto pilot” and “landing gear.”

Here’s that video.