24 Sep Field Trip to the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas

Today we went on a field trip to the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas. It was such a great day! A little confession:  I think I might enjoy our field trips more than Clark and Luci do!

The Glorious Flight Study

We’ve been studying the award winning children’s story, The Glorious Flight as part of our Five in a Row curriculum.  The Glorious Flight tells the story of Louis Blériot’s efforts in the early 1900s to build a flying machine.  Clark, especially, has taken a real interest in airplanes, so we went to the library and got every book we could about the history of airplanes and how they worked.  We learned a lot about the Wright brothers and the early history of flight.

A field trip to a local flight museum seemed like a great idea. It was a very logical progression from all the books we’d read and videos we’d watched.  So, today we made a family trip of it.

The Wright Brothers

Imagine Clark’s initial GASP as the first thing on display at the Frontiers of Flight Museum was a small shack, made to replicate the Wright brother’s bike shop!  He was so delighted!  He eagerly watched a video and looked at pictures of the brothers.  I could see it all coming together in his brain – how cool to see proof that history actually happened!

We moved on to looking at early gliders and flyers, airships, hot air balloons and then early airplanes. Clark was able to examine the wings of an airplane to see it’s curves and shapes – something that he really focused on in our studies.  He really wanted to know how air could lift a heavy airplane against the effects of gravity.  So we learned that the shape of the wings and the flow of air over the wings create that lift.

The exhibits went through General and Commercial Aviation, World War I, World War II and the Vietnam era. Luci was especially fascinated with this scene in which a glider seemed to have crashed, injuring a soldier. We talked about how the man with the red cross on his uniform had come to save him. Clark and Luci were both able to climb into a helicopter that would have been used to rescue soldiers in the war. It even had a pallet in the back for the injured soldiers to lay down on.

The Museum Volunteer was so kind to them and so eager to teach.  He told Clark and Luci that they had to be sure to eat their vegetables so that they could grow big enough to reach the controls on the helicopter.

We were able to examine the mechanics of many parts of the planes – the landing gear, many different engines and propellers.

Hands-On Learning

At one point, both Clark and Luci were able to sit in a cockpit seat that was made to eject them into the air if the plane was damaged and was going to crash.  They were shown how to eject themselves by pulling the red chain and then gripping and pulling the yellow handles.  If this was done, the seat would shoot out of the airplane. As it descended an attached parachute would automatically open at a certain elevation and hopefully slowly descend to safety.  Clark and Luci were pretty fascinated at all of the belts used to hold them in!

Next on display was the Apollo 7 Command Module.  We learned that the Apollo 7 mission was the first manned Apollo flight.  All the testing needed for the flight to the moon was done with this vehicle.

The Module contained 3 small chairs.  The Museum Volunteer asked Clark and Luci if they’d like to spend a weekend in there together, just the two of them without any TV, electronics or anything, just like the men who had flown in it.  They did not like the thought of that!

Then we were able to go inside a dark room that displayed a replica of the lunar module, EAGLE, which reportedly held Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when they landed on the moon in 1969.  Luci spent some time examining the astronaut to ensure that he was actually standing on the moon and Clark was very interested to see an actual piece of moon rock.

The Play Area was the Biggest Hit

There were many “best parts” for me, but Clark and Luci unanimously agreed that the children’s play area was the winner.  In fact, even after we came home, had a nap and ate dinner, they both came up to me to ask very seriously that we return to the museum because they would like to play in the play area again.  They were appalled that I would answer no.

They took turns riding the craziest teeter-totter they’d ever seen – this would have been awesome with more kids, but we actually had the place to ourselves!  I’m not complaining!

Luci climbed the control tower to be able to direct Clark’s airplane landing, but in the meantime realized that she would have to come down and began shouting to Clark to “COME SAVE ME CLARKIE!”  Like the sweet big brother that he is, Clark “saved” her and they climbed to safety.

They then played for a long time in this big plastic airplane.  Clark was the pilot until the plane was apparently attacked and they had to escape out the back slide.  Education leads to active imaginations!

We finished our field trip with the SouthWest Airlines display.  Clark and Luci were able to get right inside a real, full-sized SouthWest airplane.  There were some displays on board, but Clark and Luci were mostly interested in seeing the cockpit and getting their seat belts on in preparation for takeoff!

This is fun for the kids – there was a miniature-sized airport containing many different airplanes.  Clark and Luci were able to push a button which would then light up by the airplane. Each light corresponded with an informational plaque.  Can you tell they were fascinated?

We’ll be Back!

We loved this museum!  I can’t believe I never even knew it existed!  There’s another benefit of homeschooling – a little bit of research can lead to the discovery of little gems all over your area!  We will definitively be going back to the Frontiers of Flight Museum to visit again!

Don’t miss our other field trips to The Perot Museum in Dallas, and The Play Street Museum!