Frontier Flight Observation

Entering the Frontier Flight Museum was an educational, historical experience dating back to the first airplane in 1903 to present day airplanes. It included the history of combat airplanes, commercial airplanes, corporate and private airplanes.
Walking into the main Richard W. Cree Exhibit Gallery, the room was divided into different labeled galleries with interesting exhibits to support each gallery. The first exhibit was the “Early Flyers” exhibit of a replica wooded hanger with the tools used to build the “Wright Flyer” in Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. There was a poster with information about the first women pilot’s including Harriet Quimby, a journalist turned pilot in 1911. Along the wall was a time chart of early
aviation design with scientists and inventors of the 19th Century experimenting with gliders before 1891; and around the corner a continuation of the history of different aviation scientist that contributed to the airplanes we know today. Inside the main large hanger on display was a full size replica of the 1903 Wright flyer.
To the left of the exhibit gallery at the entrance was the “Space Flight” exhibit with the actual Apollo 7 Command Module on display. I learned about the mission of Apollo 7’s space flight that spent 10 days orbiting the Earth in 1968. An interesting feature was the actual burn marks along the sides and opening of the module. It was interesting seeing the display of the replica Apollo A7L space suit, protective head gear, Neil Armstrong space gloves and the Cunningham’s Omega Speedmaster Chronograph. The museum houses many other artifacts to Apollo 7 such a an exercise bike and space chamber from the module. I enjoyed the space walk through the tunnel and the space artifacts explaining the history of space travel.
Back in the main hanger was an interesting yellow plane called the Flying Pancake. It was designed to be an all wing disc shaped plane but had people in Connecticut believing they had spotted a UFO.
Next I went into the “Southeast Asia”, “Early Cold War”, World War I, and World War II exhibits and liked seeing the fighter jet’s transformation and aviator uniforms change from each war. I was able to step inside a resue helicopter and sit inside the Link F-4D “Phantom II” Simulator, thats purpose was to eject pilots when their aircraft was struck during air raids. The newspaper clippings highlighted the history of the each war and each section had desk with historical maps, medals and other artifacts to make me feel I was in that moment in war.
The next exhibit I came to was the “General & Commercial” exhibit that’s purpose was to show the commercial side of flying. There was an old set of oven’s and service trays that showed how the steward’s heated and served food to its passengers. There were different airline chairs that showed the comfort of flying commercial, some covered in leather and wider than others. There were many model commercial airplanes to show their logos and one large cut away model of Japan Airlines. In a glass case where artifacts that included a “black box” that held an airlines flight data, airline stewards uniform, and airline manuals. An interesting fact that I learned was that commercial air transportation began with a flying boat.
The next exhibit across from the War and Commercial section was the “Golden Age 1919-1939” exhibit.
This exhibit featured the Ryan PT-22 Recruit airplane that was part of the WWII exhibit that was a military training aircraft designed to train pilots. Inside the Golden Age exhibit, we learned about the innovation of engines and how the improvements allowed aviators to fly faster and with longer strides across the nation, over the Atlantic, and eventually around the globe. I learned about North Polar Exploration headed by aviator and explorer Admiral Richard E. Bird and the importance of aviation in this adventure. There was a life size polar outfit of Bird’s and a bust made in his honor on display.
The last exhibit I visited in this room was the “Balloons and Airships” exhibit that included a display of an actual Hot Air Balloon basket and a display case of the wreck of the Hindenburg LZ-12. This wreck was a national disaster that caused the public not to trust flying in an Airship and marked the end of Airship transportation.
There was so much more I saw and so much more I would like to go back to see but I will close with saying this was a surprising experience and I learned so much about history when all I thought I would see were different airplanes. It was a great
experience.