Airline History Museum, Kansas City, MO PIREP

Jay,

Thanks for the review.

I've always liked Downtown Airport. It's a perfect location for an air
museum, being close to where the people are as well as being on an
airport (don't know how many air museums that I've visited that are
located on airports that simply can't make it because no one is willing
to drive out to them - just at the one at Charles Schultz Airport at
Santa Rosa, Ca., and it's in very sad shape).

In the '70s I flew freight into Downtown and Fairfax (the airport that
was located immediately across the river from Downtown, their patterns
intersected - in fact, they shared a common ILS landing to the north,
at the middle marker you made a left turn if you wanted to land on
Fairfax). First time in there in the middle of the night, it was kind
of odd breaking out of the clag and seeing the buildings of K.C. off
the right wing. I always wondered how the old piston airliners came
out of there, with their flat climb gradient. I'd like to have been
around when the DC-3s were coming out of Downtown and all the B-25s
were coming out of the North American factory across the river at
Fairfax. Must have been something.

As a kid, I rode Braniff through Downtown a couple of times in either
Martins or Convairs (don't recall) but I wasn't old enough to
understand how the airpot was in a bowl and what was involved in
getting in and out.

BTW, how did you enjoy landing over the levee that keeps the Missouri
River off the airport? Wonder how many heavily loaded airplanes have
it it on takeoff.

Warmest regards,
Rick