10/8 & 10/10: San Diego Air & Space Museum
San Diego Air & Space Museum Cost: $10
Location: 2001 Pan American Plaza, San Diego, CA 92101, (619) 234-8291
Accessible: Yes
Description: San Diego has a rich aviation heritage. Famous aircraft companies were founded here (Convair, Ryan Aeronautical) and today we have military aviation bases found at North Island Naval Air Station and MCAS Miramar. Much of the aviation history of our great city is captured at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, one of the preeminent aviation museums in the United States. Established in 1961, the Museum has grown from an idea to an important place with historic exhibits. In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 (1969-2019), we will be visiting the Museum and learning from our docents about its history, exhibits, and the fascinating story of Apollo 11 and aviation in space exploration.
Directions: Balboa Park is located close to Downtown and San Diego International Airport. There are many ways to get to the Park, including walking, biking, public transportation, and driving. Located just minutes from downtown San Diego, Balboa Park can be accessed from most major freeways. The Park is walking distance from popular neighborhoods, including South Park, North Park, Hillcrest, Little Italy, Downtown, Gaslamp District, East Village, Banker's Hill, and University Heights. There are bike racks situated throughout the Park where you can lock up your own bike. For up-to-the minute freeway driving times, transit routes, and ridesharing information, consult the 511 service for the San Diego area. This is a free telephone (dial 511) and web-based program.
Public Transportation:
Visit Balboa Park using the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), with easy access from the downtown and Mission Valley areas.
· Print out a handy map of the bus and trolley systems servicing downtown, the airport, and Balboa Park.
· Review the times for route Routes 120 (Fashion Valley), Route 7 (Smart Corner) and Rapid 215 are the main bus routes through Balboa Park.
· For information and custom transportation routes to Balboa Park, visit the MTS Website or dial 511. You'll be given the option of selecting transit routes that are: the fastest; have the fewest transfers; or have the least amount of walking.
By car:
Southbound from I-5
Take the 10th Avenue Exit off I-5. Turn left on "A" Street and left again on Park Blvd. Follow the signs to Balboa Park.
Northbound from I-5
Take the Pershing Drive/B Street exit off I-5 to Pershing Drive. Take Pershing and then turn left on Florida Drive. Turn left on Zoo Place to Park Blvd. Left on Park Blvd.
Southbound from Hwy 163
Take the Park Blvd. exit off Hwy 163. Turn left on Park Blvd. Follow the signs to Balboa Park.
Parking: Parking in Balboa Park lots is free. The closest parking to the Air & Space Museum will be at the Pan American Plaza lot. If you want to use the free tram, park in the Inspiration Point parking lot (on the east side of Park Blvd., between Presidents Way and the Balboa Park Activity Center). There are also numerous smaller lots throughout the Park. There are electric car charging stations located in the Pan American Plaza, Fleet Science Center and San Diego Zoo parking lots.
Website(s): http://sandiegoairandspace.org
This week, we will be visiting the San Diego Air and space Museum at Balboa Park. This is an incredible museum, especially if you are interested in aircraft. It begins with a model of the hot air balloon of 1783 designed by the Montgolfier brothers and includes aircraft from World War I and World War II, as well as later conflicts with Korea and Vietnam. It also features some of today’s latest innovations. Our lesson will help prepare you for some of the things that you will see during your trip, and provide you with a little background on aircraft in general. All information within the lesson can be found on the Museum’s website, sandiegoairandspace.org. If you are interested in aviation, make sure and visit the site for so much more information on what you will see during your trip.
The SD Air and Space Museum
(Museum Overview, 2015)
San Diego has a rich aviation history. It is the home of Convair, which created such aircraft as the B-24 Liberator and the PBY Catalina. It is also where you will find Ryan Aeronautical, the home of Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, and the North Island Naval Air Station, home to naval aviation. Much of this is included at the SD Air and Space Museum.
The Museum was established on October 12, 1961. When the idea was presented to mayor Charles Dail, he recommended the vacant Food and Beverage Building in Balboa Park, and the recommendation was approved by the City Council. Doors opened on February 15, 1963.
Although there were not a lot of aircraft on display at that time, they did include a reproduction of the Navy’s first seaplane, a 1929 Fleet Model 7, the original rocket engine from Bell X-01 and a collection of artifacts.
Their collection grew and additional space was needed. By the summer of 1965, the Museum had moved to the larger Electric Building nearby, and they added a library and archives. It was at this time that the Museum acquired a replica of Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis.
By the 1970s, the Museum had to move again to a larger building. They negotiated with the city to move into the historic Ford Building, which had been put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The City Council believed that the building could be returned to its past glory with some work and a paint job. A federal grant for 2.64 million was granted in 1977. However, before the move could take place, the Electric Building and most of the contents were destroyed by fire on February 22, 1978. More than 50 aircraft and the Museum’s artifact and archival collections were consumed in minutes.
The community of San Diego were touched by this loss, and the Museum began to rebuilt. An Aerospace Museum Recovery Fund was formed by mayor Pete Wilson, and work was done to reconstitute the Museum’s collection in the Ford Building. The new museum opened exactly 2 years after the fire, on February 2, 1980. It held 25 aircraft, including a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis. With the help of the public, the library and archives collection were reconstituted. In April of 1993, the International Aerospace Hall of Fame merged with the museum.
The Museum continued to grow in membership and attendance, as well as in its holding, exhibits and programs. An Education Department was established, which now offers lectures, School-in-the-Park, family days, ground school, a new classroom and a variety of special activities. The Museum’s Library and Archives houses an extensive collection of aerospace-related books and archived materials.
An annex was opened at Gillespie Field in El Cajon to house additional and larger aircraft and to provide additional collections storage space. Aircraft is also on display there for air shows and tours.
In 2006, the Museum acquired the Low Speed Wind Tunnel near Lindbergh Field. They also changed the name of the museum to San Diego Air and Space Museum to reflect its mission and collection.
The Museum is now recognized as one of the country’s premier aerospace museums.
Video:
Here is a short 2 minute video showing you what to expect on your trip to the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
Here are just a few of the collections you might see:
Aircraft and Spacecraft:
Mostly, you will see aircraft and spacecraft. Among the many possibilities, here are just a few you might see:
Replica of the 1901 Wright Glider:
Originally made in 1901, this was the second of the Wright Brothers’ series of gliders and a larger version of the 1900 glider. Materials used for bicycles (metal fittings and wires) were used for the Glider. Its longest flight was 389 feet and lasted 17 seconds. The Wright brothers concluded that the aircraft design was flowed and they build a wind tunnel to assist with building their new and improved 1902 glider, which is also on display at the Museum. The replica was built by volunteers at Gillespie Field using authentic materials where possible.
Beachey Little Looper:
This is a reproduction of a biplane built in Chicago in 1914. It had an engine capable of exceeding 80 mph in level flight, and the ability to perform as many as 80 continuous inside loops. Lincoln J. Beachey was a pioneer American aviator and early airshow performer. He became a member of Glen Curtiss’ flying team in 1910, and by the end of 1911, he was known as “The Man who Owns the Sky” and “Mr. Birdman”. The aircraft was built in 1948 with spare parts collected by WWI pilot and barnstormer Albert Dudek. It was donated to the Museum in 1979.
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina:
A flying boat, this model was in continuous production for more than 10 years. It was one of the most versatile, and was developed in response to a US Navy request in 1933 for a flying boat. Approximately 4,000 were built and used by Allied air forces during World War II. During the war, the aircraft served in scouting, anti-submarine, rescue and logistics, as well as for night attacks on Japanese supply convoys. It was used after World War II for many years, until it was retired in 1956. Today, about 100 Catalinas exist, all but two are amphibians.
Ryan STA:
We already are aware of the Ryan influence in San Diego. The Ryan ST family of aircraft were some of the most popular and successful lines of civilian sport airplanes in history. First introduced in 1934, the original ST (Sports Trainer) was a two seat, open cockpit aircraft. Only 5 were built before Ryan introduced its successor, the STA. The STA was loved by pilots for its speed and elegance. It attained international recognition when famed Hollywood stunt pilot Tex Rankin flew his Ryan STA to victory at the 1937 International Aerobatic Championship in St. Louis. It was donated to the Museum by T. Claude Ryan, the founder of Ryan Aeronautical Company.
NYP-3 Spirit of St. Louis (flying replica):
The historic flight of Charles Lindbergh and his Ryan monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, completed its journey on May 21, 1927. It was the first non-stop New York – to – Paris flight, and was completed in 33 hours, 30 minutes. Originally known as the Ryan NYP (New York-Paris), it was designed by Donald Hall of Ryan Airlines. It was named after St. Louis because of financial backing from the city. It was built in just 60 days, at a cost of just over $10,000.
Mercury Spacecraft (mock-up):
One of the many spacecrafts you will see during your visit, Project Mercury was America’s first program to safely launch and return a human from Earth orbit. After two suborbital missions flown by Alan Shephard and Gus Grissom on Redstone rockets, John Glenn (On the Mercury Spacecraft Friendship 7) was launched on February 20, 1962, successfully completing three earth orbits. Project Mercury, after just under five years, became history as Projects Gemini and Apollo were put into motion.
Video:
Meet the WWII vets who have devoted their time and energy restoring planes at the San Diego Air and Science Museum.
Special collections:
There are many collections from around the world housed at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. Some of the more eclectic include:
A collection of airline luggage labels:
Back in the day, airline labels were in abundance, serving as small works of art as well as advertisements for the airlines. Popularity peaked between the 1920s and WWII. After WWII, traveling by air became more economical and the appeal and glamour of air travel disappeared. As airlines and routes developed, the use of labels and tags became more utilitarian and focused on tracking and identification.
Army Air Corps Air Mail Accidents from 1934 collection:
The Army Air Corps Mail Operation was an operation of seventeen routes and 11,000 miles of airways. It was established in 1934 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt directed the Postmaster to cancel airmail contracts with airlines because of contractual irregularities. The previous year, airlines had carried several million pounds of mail over the US. On February 9 of 1934, Air Corps Chief Maj. General Benjamin Foulois was directed to take over the airmail operation and was given 10 days to prepare. There was a slew of problems (many planes were trainers or special purpose, or light planes built for good weather, most of the pilots were lieutenants with less than two years of experience and only 31 of the 250 pilots had more than 50 hours nighttime flying (although mail would be flown mostly at night). Within the first two months, there were numerous accidents and fatalities, with the death toll reaching 10 in less than a month. On June 1, 1934, new contracts with the airlines were signed and the Air Corps was relieved of responsibility for mail. This collection contains various correspondences about these accidents from February to April 1934.
Video:
This video describes the beginning of airmail, and traces it through the years. About 4-minutes.
Video:
In this 3 minute video, we learn more about the "air mail scandal".
Personal Papers:
There are personal papers for a large number of aviators, but perhaps the most famous at the Museum are those for Charles Lindbergh. Most of the collection is arranged by publishing date, starting from 1926 and ending in the 2000s.
Consolidated, Convair and General Dynamics Collections:
These companies are part of San Diego’s history. Their collections include engineering proposals, reports, correspondence, press releases and other documents which detail the inner workings of these companies.
Special Exhibits
· American Women of Flight, which honors contributions to the world of aviation from women such as Bessie Coleman, Jacqueline Cochran, Fran Bera and Sally Ride.
· Atlas Rocket Exhibit: This exhibit tells the story of the Atlas rocket series from the late 1950s to the present using graphics and videos.
· Kid’s aviation action hangar: Sorry, just for kids (or all ages), this is a special play area for kids.
· Wally Schirra Exhibit: This new, permanent exhibit, chronicles astronaut Wally Schirra from his life as a military fighter pilot to Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronaut.
· Space: Our Greatest Adventure: A new, educational and interactive exhibit exploring man’s quest for the stars. This is free with paid admission.
Video:
A short history of how the Atlas Rocket evolved over the years. A great introduction to the exhibit. Watch this before visiting the Museum!
Video:
Learn more about Bessie Coleman, the first Female African American Pilot. Raised in extreme poverty, she overcame obstacles to become a pilot in 1931.
Becoming a member
You can become a member of the San Diego Air and Space Museum, allowing you to visit at any time. Included in this are unlimited general admission, and free admission to the Zable 3D/4D Theater, the Museum e-Newsletter, invitations to special events, lectures and previews, free use of the Museum’s Archives and Library, Free admission to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA, invitations to members only events, and discounts on classes, parties, publications and the Flight Path Grill. Memberships start at $49.
Summary
This is a venue with lots of things to see and learn. You now have an idea of what to look for. This lesson only covers a small part of what you will find at the museum. You can visit the Museum website at: sandiegoairandspace.org to learn more. And consider attending the 2019 International Air and Space Hall of Fame Celebration on Saturday, November 23, 2019. Honorees are remembered for their aviation and space exploration feats.