Airline History Museum, Kansas City, MO PIREP

http://www.airlinehistorymuseum.com/

So we used our own webpage today, trying to find something new to do with
the kids.

My first plan had been to fly to Rantoul, IL (the old Chanute Air Force
Base), which has an outstanding aviation museum on the field -- but my kids
whined so much about having been there too many times that I dug around the
webpage, looking for other fly-in destinations nearby.

Flying south seemed better than east, given Saturday's gigantic snowstorm,
and Kansas City's connection to the new movie about Howard Hughes ("The
Aviator") that the kids had just seen made Kansas City Downtown Airport
sound a lot more exciting than Rantoul. It turned out to be a delightful
place to visit!

Kansas City was the home to TWA, owned by Hughes, and there were once many
Lockheed Constellations based on the field. TWA's old world headquarters
building is still on the field, right across from the museum, and Howard
Hughes' office is now prominently pointed out during the tour.

Flying into the museum is very simple. Downtown (MKC) is under the Class
Bravo veil of Kansas City International, so by using Flight Following all
the way we naturally ended up talking with Kansas City Approach. Traffic
was light, and after being handed over to Downtown Tower by KC approach, we
were cleared for a sort-of straight-in to Rwy 19. The whole, incredibly
smooth flight took just a shade over 1.6 hours, bucking a moderate headwind.

With progressive instructions we were able to easily find the museum (which
is not clearly labeled from a distance -- just look for the big number "9"
on the hangar) in short order, and were pleased to find that we could park
right outside the museum entrance! Now THAT is an aviation museum!

The museum itself consists of an exhibit area, a gift shop, and a very large
hangar (which was World War II surplus, and brought here from Texas after
the war!) that houses their three prop-liners -- a Douglas DC-3, a Martin
404, and a Lockheed Super G Constellation . The DC-3 is undergoing a
ground-up restoration, while the 404 is currently grounded with tail spar
corrosion that will likely mean the end of its flying days. (It's made of
magnesium, and no one knows how to work on them anymore.)

The centerpiece of the museum is the "Save-A-Connie" Constellation that is a
regular on the airshow circuit. Purchased from a desert graveyard in the
1980s for the unbelievable sum of just $4000 (its scrap value alone was four
times that amount!), it has been lovingly restored by former TWA employees
and hundreds of volunteers to pristine condition.

We were lucky enough to visit during the Connie's certification checks
(basically an annual inspection on a grand scale), so every access panel was
open or removed. Talk about an unusual tour! We were able to see many
fascinating internal structures and systems that are usually hidden from
view when the Connie is on tour. You're allowed inside the Connie and the
404, and it's just amazing to see the luxurious passenger livery -- imagine,
real silverware, and real food!

Admission is reasonable, at just $7 per person, and a personal tour guide
was assigned to my family. He gave us a terrific tour, literally taking as
long as we wanted at each exhibit . The tour guides are all volunteers,
too, and giving tours is clearly a labor of love for them.

We arrived right after noon, and were famished. To our disappointment, we
found no restaurant anywhere on the field, but after some consultation with
the museum folks we were able to call a Pizza Hut that would deliver lunch
to the museum! The kids were ecstatic, and our tour guide kindly
interrupted our tour when the pizzas arrived, giving us a chance to eat
while the food was hot.

Our visit lasted around 3 hours, which allowed us time to see everything
(although I would have liked to spend more time perusing the exhibits), and
made for a great day trip. Why in the world we've never flown to Kansas
City before is beyond me -- at just 1.5 hours, it's closer than many of our
"regular" flights. (I suppose it's because it's off our "home"
sectional...)

Reluctantly saying goodbye to our friends in the museum, I went out to
pre-flight and take some pictures of Atlas against the city backdrop. The
airport really IS "downtown", and the big buildings are quite close-by,
visually. It makes for an almost "Meigs-like" panorama, which we really
enjoyed.

Upon departure on Rwy 19, I was cleared for a northeast departure. When I
inquired as to whether they wanted me to do a right- or left-hand departure,
the controller replied (to my surprise) "Your choice."

Upon hearing this, the kids begged me to do a left-hand departure, as this
would take us literally right over (at?) the big downtown buildings -- so I
announced my intention to do so. It was AWESOME!

However, with many giant towers and buildings all around, I was glad it was
cold, we were light on fuel, and we had 235 horses pulling, cuz those
buildings looked MIGHTY close. I know one thing's for sure -- I wouldn't
try that on a hot summer day!

All in all, I highly recommend this museum. It's small, but intimate, and
if you're at all interested in TWA, Howard Hughes, and the pre-jet airline
days, this is *the* place to visit.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"