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May 31, 2009 10:59 pm US/Central
Finding Minnesota: Fly Your Own Friendly Skies
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
This Sunday marks the final day of May, which means schools will soon be letting kids out for the summer.
Besides parks and pools, there are plenty of fun places to visit during the break, but few are like the spot we're exploring in this week's Finding Minnesota. We found a place where adults and children can experience what it's like to be a pilot.
Most of us were first exposed to the mystique of airplanes when we saw them swoop down from the sky to land at an airport. It's a fixation many children still have, so just imagine how cool it must be for them to experience another, more personal point of view.
Children of all ages (including a few grown-up kids) can get up close and personal with old military airplanes at the
Minnesota Air National Guard Museum in St. Paul, located right next to the international airport. Throughout the year, the museum holds what it calls Open Cockpit Days.
For example, you'll find 4th graders crawling around in the cockpit of a Lockheed C-130, nicknamed "Hercules." It's a military transport plane, built in the 1950s.
And you'll find older children exploring the friendly skies as well, such as a group of 8th graders watching a demonstration of how an ejection seat works.
"With kids, anything that they can touch and they can feel gets them all the more excited," said Capt. Ann Todd with the 133rd Airlift Wing. "It's hard to keep children's' attention for any length of time, and the museum does a great job of keeping them engaged in the tour."
The Air Guard Museum houses about 20 aircraft, most of which were flown by members of the Minnesota Air National Guard. It's the largest collection of military airplanes in the area.
Museum volunteers say they see this as a way to get young people interested in studying aviation and science, and maybe even considering the military as a career option.
The tours of the vintage planes are open to the public and take place almost every Saturday this summer from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no admission fee, but the museum asks a suggested donation of $3 for kids and $5 to $7 for adults.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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