I love aviation.
I’m the kind of wonk who will go to aviation museums – when I lived in Maryland, I loved when we’d be able to head over to the Smithsonian, and I’d spend all day in the Air and Space museum if my parents would let me. If you’ve followed this blog, you may remember my fascination with the airship that landed in Teller (the Norwegian vessel Norge, if you’re playing the home game.) Yesterday, I felt like a kid at an air-and-space museum, when the Alaska Air Association’s Travelling Aviation Museum flew to Nome, and took up (very) temporary residence at the National Guard Hangar. Margaret and I made plans to head over to the hangar, and were surprised by the number of people who were already there, before the planes had landed. On arrival, around 4:45, there were already rows of cars parked – reminding me of the parking lots at RenFest, without the costumed people.
Oh, there were planes.
And they flew in to the airport just minutes after we arrived.
One plane had the old markings, pre WWII, of the US Army Air Corps – which, when flown, kinda looked like the Japanese markings, so they changed them to the newer markings, on the other plane! I love seeing these trainers with different markings.
After the planes were locked and tied down, the event really got off the ground, with a rendition of the National Anthem and State Anthem that was really amazing. As a former scout, I like to look at the flag with hand over heart, and it took me a while to find it. Finally, I realized that the National Guards people were saluting towards the hangar!
And then I saw it. Hanging vertically in the hangar. Later, I went to investigate:
Also in the hangar, it turned out, was the historical aviation slideshow, put on by the kind folks at the Carrie M. McClain Historical Museum in Nome. Laura and Cheryl were lovely to chat with about Alaskan Aviation History. Like, though the first attempted flight was in 1913 in Fairbanks, the first regular flights weren’t until 1920!
Oh! Margaret was there too.
She was active, interviewing many people for the News story – and since we discovered that the flying museum will be in Fairbanks over July 4, for the Centennial Flight Celebration, there may be a longer-form “profile” around that time!
I’m sure you’d love to see more pictures of the planes and the event. So: enjoy the gallery! In the comments, let me know if you’re as excited about aviation as I am!
