The Frontiers of Flight Museum
Texas loves airplanes. Maybe it has to do with sky as far as the eye can see, maybe it is because of that famous independent Lone Star Spirit, or maybe it is because it is home to an airport (Dallas/Forth Worth International) that is larger than most states’ counties. Whatever the reason, Texas’ love of flight and flying machines is readily apparent at Dallas Love Field’s Frontiers of Flight Museum.
The Frontiers of Flight Museum was founded in 1988 by a group led by future U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. The museum was originally founded in order to give a permanent and accessible home to the almost-unparalleled collection of flight artifacts and research of the
renowned aviation historian George E. Haddaway. Haddaway’s collection was originally housed at the University of Texas in Austin in 1962. In 1978 it was moved to UT Dallas in Richardson before finally moving to its current location at Love Field in 1989. Since its inception in 1962 the collection has been added to by many other historians and aircraft collectors.
A visit to the museum promises a “flight through time,” and in that it does not disappoint. All told the museum’s collection contains thousands of rare artifacts, photographs, aircraft models, simulators, and some twenty-five aircraft and space vehicles. A walk through Frontiers of Flight Museum takes you from man’s first dreams to soar with the eagles to today’s world in which flying is taken for granted.
Some of the highlights of the collection are:
• A World War I Sopwith "Pup" biplane that served in World War I. This was the type of plane designed by the British to combat Germany’s famed “Red Baron” fighter ace.
• The only moon rock on display in North Texas.
• Many artifacts from the "Hindenburg" and other hydrogen-filled aircraft. The Hindenburg was destroyed in a fiery crash that occurred while it was landing at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester, New Jersey in 1937. The fire consumed the large aircraft in less than forty seconds, leaving very few artifacts untouched by the blaze. The largest unburned artifact known to have survived the disaster is the radioman’s chair included in the collection of the Frontiers of Flight Museum.
• The Apollo 7 Command Module. Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the famous Apollo program. It carried out an eleven-day mission orbiting the Earth, and was the first NASA space mission to carry three crew members.
• A Vietnam-era Bell UH-1 “Huey” helicopter. In the lore of American flight the “Huey” helicopter was neither groundbreaking nor record-setting. Yet for many older Americans this helicopter will be very familiar. The Huey has been seen thousands of times on the news, movies and TV shows as the primary troop-mover in the Vietnam conflict. The Huey is possibly the most famous helicopter every to have served in the armed forces.
• The world’s only SR-71 “Blackbird” spy plane simulator. Introduced in the mid-60s the SR-71 was the predecessor to today’s stealth generation aircraft. When it was in service the SR-71 was the world’s fasted and highest-flying manned aircraft. At altitudes of up to 80,000 feet it could survey 100,000 square miles of the ground below in a single hour. Its photographic technology was rumored to be so sophisticated that it could even take a picture of a car’s license plate from such lofty heights. The simulator enables visitors to the museum to "fly" the same simulator as the pilots of the storied SR-71 Blackbird did during its days of owning the skies.
The Frontiers of Flight Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors (65+), $5 for youths (ages 3-17), and free for children under 3.
The Museum is quite an experience, so give yourself plenty of time to see all of the exhibits. It is an amazing trip through space and time. You will also need adequate time to recover from the simulator, since you have probably never flown at speeds over 2,100 miles per hour.
Dallas, Texas
The Frontiers of Flight Museum was founded in 1988 by a group led by future U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. The museum was originally founded in order to give a permanent and accessible home to the almost-unparalleled collection of flight artifacts and research of the
renowned aviation historian George E. Haddaway. Haddaway’s collection was originally housed at the University of Texas in Austin in 1962. In 1978 it was moved to UT Dallas in Richardson before finally moving to its current location at Love Field in 1989. Since its inception in 1962 the collection has been added to by many other historians and aircraft collectors.
A visit to the museum promises a “flight through time,” and in that it does not disappoint. All told the museum’s collection contains thousands of rare artifacts, photographs, aircraft models, simulators, and some twenty-five aircraft and space vehicles. A walk through Frontiers of Flight Museum takes you from man’s first dreams to soar with the eagles to today’s world in which flying is taken for granted.
Some of the highlights of the collection are:
• A World War I Sopwith "Pup" biplane that served in World War I. This was the type of plane designed by the British to combat Germany’s famed “Red Baron” fighter ace.
• The only moon rock on display in North Texas.
• Many artifacts from the "Hindenburg" and other hydrogen-filled aircraft. The Hindenburg was destroyed in a fiery crash that occurred while it was landing at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester, New Jersey in 1937. The fire consumed the large aircraft in less than forty seconds, leaving very few artifacts untouched by the blaze. The largest unburned artifact known to have survived the disaster is the radioman’s chair included in the collection of the Frontiers of Flight Museum.
• The Apollo 7 Command Module. Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the famous Apollo program. It carried out an eleven-day mission orbiting the Earth, and was the first NASA space mission to carry three crew members.
• A Vietnam-era Bell UH-1 “Huey” helicopter. In the lore of American flight the “Huey” helicopter was neither groundbreaking nor record-setting. Yet for many older Americans this helicopter will be very familiar. The Huey has been seen thousands of times on the news, movies and TV shows as the primary troop-mover in the Vietnam conflict. The Huey is possibly the most famous helicopter every to have served in the armed forces.
• The world’s only SR-71 “Blackbird” spy plane simulator. Introduced in the mid-60s the SR-71 was the predecessor to today’s stealth generation aircraft. When it was in service the SR-71 was the world’s fasted and highest-flying manned aircraft. At altitudes of up to 80,000 feet it could survey 100,000 square miles of the ground below in a single hour. Its photographic technology was rumored to be so sophisticated that it could even take a picture of a car’s license plate from such lofty heights. The simulator enables visitors to the museum to "fly" the same simulator as the pilots of the storied SR-71 Blackbird did during its days of owning the skies.
The Frontiers of Flight Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors (65+), $5 for youths (ages 3-17), and free for children under 3.
The Museum is quite an experience, so give yourself plenty of time to see all of the exhibits. It is an amazing trip through space and time. You will also need adequate time to recover from the simulator, since you have probably never flown at speeds over 2,100 miles per hour.
Dallas, Texas
