The Miracle Plane {365 - Day 70}

Today we visited the Carolinas Aviation Museum for the first time.  It's tucked in right next to the Charlotte Airport.  If you scaled a fence you could literally run a football field's distance and be on the runway.  (Not to give anyone any ideas.) The hangar is filled with a variety of impressive planes and helicopters, but it is dominated by US Airways Flight 1549, the "Miracle on the Hudson" plane.  A former colleague of mine was on that flight so I have heard the stories firsthand, but it was not until I stood next to the plane could I truly appreciate what a miracle it was that everyone survived.  What is also amazing is that a ginormous aircraft can be taken down by a few unfortunate geese.  The plane was brought to Charlotte (where it was originally headed) last year for permanent display.  The wings are still unattached, but US Airways volunteers are preparing to reattach the wings in the near future.

Day 70 {Canon 7D}

This plane below was actually sold at Macy's.  Unbelievable what you could pick up at department stores back in the day!

Sarah Beth could not get enough of the planes.  She ran around saying "Big plane Mom!  C'mon take a picture!"  She got to sit in a cockpit and push some buttons.  A cockpit is a toddler's dream - nothing but knobs and levers and switches and buttons.  She loved it.

Oh, and Daddy loved it too.  Tell me he's not humming the theme song from "Top Gun" in his head at this moment.

After we left the museum, we drove around a little to see what we could see.  There were lots of fences and barbed wire but we managed to drive down a gravel road where this old hangar stood.

 
We took another road and ended up with a view of these huge National Guard planes on the runway.  No one came out to yell at us, so I guess it was ok that we were there, but we felt like we could make a wrong turn and end up right on the runway.

This was a great way to spend an afternoon.  I'd encourage everyone to visit, especially if you have kids.  Sarah Beth has been talking about helicopters and planes all day.  Future Pilot?  I think so.