The Museum of Flying

 


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The flying museum opened at it's current location in February of 2012. Karen and I had tried to go visit this museum in 2002 but it was closed according to the web site due to economic hardship. At that time they had started a search for a new location in a smaller building.

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The museum chronicles the history of flight from a replica of the Wright Brothers plane to the jet age. It also houses many artifacts related to the Douglas Aircraft Company. Upstairs there were movies showing and there was some incredible footage from spacewalks on the shuttle missions. There is a recreation of the Douglas boardroom with the original table where many decisions were made.

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Outside there homage is paid to the Douglas DC3 with the Spirit of Santa Monica. The DC stands for Douglas Commercial and the plane was developed at the request of Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA) in order for them to compete with United and the Boeing 247. Over 16,000 planes were produced during it's run and it revolutionized airplane travel in the 30s and 40s. There are still DC3s flying today. There is also a statue of Donald W. Douglas and his dog Wunderbar.

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               click photo to enlarge