We recently had a wonderful
family outing to the
American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum. I should qualify that statement by saying that we do have two plane fanatic males in our family but even the girls had fun here.
There were engines and planes (real and model) throughout the building. The beautiful History Wall taught us all about C.R. Smith, the aviation pioneer and previous president of American Airlines. We watched the video, An American Journey, which told us the stories about the people who work at American Airlines and what how special the airline industry is to them. Exhibits had memorabilia, videos, and sound clips which brought the history of aviation and American Airlines to life.
But the museum isn’t just all about history and facts. There are lots of hands-on activities for kids to touch and explore.
They loved the Zula Patrol, Mission Weather. There were areas to play, learn, and discover. We learned about clouds and ice crystals, made weather predictions, and re-created sounds of rain and thunder.
Of course, the highlight of the outing was the two-seat Beechcraft Flight Simulator which we all loved! My son was the co-pilot and he loved having his hands on the controls. (Note: A museum volunteer is required to run the simulator. They currently have a volunteer scheduled for Tues 9am-1pm, Wed 9am-5pm, Thur 9am-5pm, Fri 10am-3pm but since these are volunteers, the museum can not guarantee that one will be available at all times.)
The Flight Lab taught us about lift and drag in a cool interactive wind tunnel. After soaking up the learning from the exhibit, my kids continued to play with making the wind blow in the tunnel. Such power in their little hands! They were fascinated like a cat to a flashlight.
There was also a station for airplane crayon rubbings (many paper airplanes were also build here as well). Of course, the giant plane in the hanger that we could actually climb aboard was a bit hit with the kids as well.
She Is Dallas Info: The American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum is located at 4601 Texas Highway 360 at FAA Road in Fort Worth, Texas 76155. Admission: Adult – $5.00, Senior Citizens 55+: $3, Students (with ID): $3, Children 2-18: $3, Infants 0-23mths: No Charge, Military: $3. Museum Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 9:00AM “ 5:00PM, Sunday – 1:00PM – 5:00PM, Monday – Closed. For more information, please call the museum at 817-967-1560 or visit the C.R. Smith Museum website.
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