aviation museum

The plane obsession is in full swing at our house (maybe I could make it sound better and call it an aviation obsession). A friend asked if we wanted to visit the aviation museum today and with Neland's love of planes there was no way I could say no. Is driving to the airport (where big hunks of metal zoom around in the sky) my favorite thing to do? Probably not. But seeing the excitement on Neland's face when I told him where we were going and what we would see totally made up for it (I should mention as we drove by the runway, a plane totally landed right beside us, this was right after I told Neland it was probably too foggy for planes to be taking off and landing).

Once we got there, we started with a press conference. 

(maybe not, and not sure why these chairs were there but they were a good photo op)

 

We learned that landing gears on big planes are HUGE. 

And a space shuttle tire is heavy and lasts about 60 seconds.

 We saw the Miracle on the Hudson plane, which I had no clue was there. They are currently working on reassembling it (they cut off the wings to transfer it here). At some point the goal is for people to be able to walk through it.

 

Another view of the plane. There is a life raft on the ground beside it. Most of the damage to the front and sides of the plane came from the boats that rescued the passengers hitting the sides (two front windshields were cracked) and from pulling it out of the water (planes are heavy, and planes filled with water are even heavier, there are huge gouges in the side from the straps used to pull it out).

 

The back of the plane, the part that hit the water first to help slow the plane down.

 

Items from the cockpit, one is a library book, and one is a 2008 emergency manual

 

The boys could play in a simulator used for training (they also were able to sit in a Phantom fighter)

 

Teague was very excited to get out of my arms

 

A plane used in war and then later for corporate trips

 

The boys loved the plane outside that was painted like a shark.

 This plane was in Top Gun.

The boys loved the outside part. Every few minutes (or less) there was a plane taking off. Needless to say it was a very exciting day and I'm sure I'll be hearing "airplane" over and over from Teague for quite awhile.