America By Air

Opening this Saturday, Nov. 17th, the new America by Air exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum is eye candy for the aeronautic-obsessed. You can step into the giant nose of a Boeing 747, play pilot in front of an A320 Flight Deck Device, or take a step back in history as you look at the Jenny, the first aircraft used by the post office back in 1918.

The exhibit is divided into four thematic sections: Early Years of Air Transportation, 1914-1927; Airline Expansion and Innovation, 1927-1941; the Heyday of Propeller Airliners, 1941-1958; and the Jet Age, 1958-present. It’s chock full of fun, hands-on interactive exhibits and engineering feats (take a look at this YouTube Video which shows the  complicated process of bringing the Boeing 747, pictured, from its original home in North Carolina to the rafts of the Air and Space Museum).

And for those with flying phobias, sit back and enjoy the ride, these things don’t have engines, and they’re not going anywhere!

–Alison Ogden

Photo: Inspecting the completed installation of Boeing 747 forward fuselage in the America by Air exhibition at the National Mall Building; Eric Long/NASM