Clyde Pangborn’s Uneaten Sandwich

An old, stale sandwich locked away in a Washington state museum is drawing fresh attention to an aviation daredevil and the 90th anniversary of a record-setting flight.

The sandwich is said to have traveled with Clyde “Upside-Down” Pangborn. But when? It could have been in 1926, when he was wowing spectators as a stuntman in a flying circus, doing aerial stunts such as loops, flying upside down, changing planes in midair, and completing auto-to-airplane transfers. Or it could have been in October 1931, when Pangborn and co-pilot Hugh Herndon, Jr. set a transpacific record by flying nonstop from Misawa, Japan, to East Wenatchee, Washington, in 41 hours and 13 minutes (some say 15 minutes).

Either way, the sandwich that is tucked away a the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center is really, really old and gaining new attention because this month is the anniversary of Pangborn’s record-setting flight. Read more about Pangborn and the sandwich in the story we wrote for The Points Guy.

(Photos courtesy of the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center).

Alaska Airlines unleashes the Kraken plane

In Seattle, the home base of Stuck at The Airport, we have a new hockey professional ice hockey team, called the Kraken.

The city is pretty darn excited. And so is Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which is the Kraken’s official airline.

To celebrate, the airline is flying a custom Kraken-themed plane on routes to the team’s away games in cities Alaska Airline serves.

And here’s a nice perk: now through the end of the hockey season, Kraken fans who wear the teams’ jersey can board early on all Alaska flights departing from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Paine Field (PAE).

Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport Moves a Mural

A large 3-part mural by Paul Coze that has been greeting travelers inside Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for decades has a new home in the airport’s Rental Car Center.

Here’s a time-lapse video of the move.

“The Phoenix,” is a triptych 75 feet wide and 16 feet high and is believed to be the first piece of public art commissioned by the city that was chosen through a public process. The mural debuted when Terminal 2 opened in 1962.

The imagery in the mural includes depictions and symbols that relate to the area’s first inhabitants, the Hohokam, as well as modern tribes and Latino heritage. Also represented are wagon trains, railroads, cattle ranching, mining, and technology. Besides paint media, 52 different materials, including glass and ceramic mosaic tiles, soil and sand from around the state, plastics, aluminum, and gemstones, are used in the mural construction.

So you can imagine that moving this mural was a delicate undertaking. But it looks like it worked out just fine.