Kid-Friendly Educational Travel: Air, Wind, and Flight Experiences
As the fall wind breezes its way across the country, now isthe perfect time to lift your family to new heights of entertainment and
education.
Keep your child’s education a top priority while seeking adventurous and
experiential activities across the land, water, and sky.
activities that get kids out of the classroom and into a sky filled with plenty
of innovative learning experiences.
HAVE LUNCH WITH AN ASTRONAUT
Space, the final frontier. At Kennedy Space Center in Florida, visitors have the
opportunity to ask a veteran member of NASA’s Astronaut Corps about their
adventures in space.
Since the program’s start in 2001, astronauts such as Wally
Schirra, John Glenn, Jim Lovell, Gene Cernan, Walt Cunningham, Story Musgrave,
and Jon McBride have taken part in this interactive program that leaves
textbooks behind in favor of learning straight from the source.
Along with talking with real astronauts, guests can strap in to experience the
sights, sounds and sensations of a real space shuttle launch via the Shuttle
Launch Experience. Enter the six-story Shuttle Launch Simulation facility
designed from the real Mission Control. Veteran Space Shuttle Commander Charlie
Bolden pre-brief participants and then go step-by-step through the shuttle
launch sequence. View the launch as brilliant video screens spring to life via
shuttle-like robotic arms.
Want to experience more of the action? Fly into the skies with Kennedy’s Astronaut Training Experience program that immerses you in the world of
space with realistic astronaut training. Learn first-hand from a veteran NASA
astronaut about the mission and work with a crew to perform a mission to the
International Space Station in a full-scale orbiter mock-up and fully outfitted
Mission Control. To infinity … and beyond!
Are your kids (or you) afraid of heights? There’s plenty of fun closer to the
ground withKid-Friendly Educational Travel Experiences: Hands-On
Museums
PILOT F-16’S AT THE FLIGHTDECK AIR COMBAT CENTER
Ever dreamed of taking down Top
Gun‘s Iceman while soaring at speeds of 500 mph?
In Anaheim, California, the Flightdeck Air Combat Center is there to fuel your need for speed,
and then some.
Breathe life into military history by piloting a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting
Falcon, a model flown by National Guard units, the USAF aerial demonstration
team, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and the United States Navy.
Instead of simply viewing planes, you’ll jump inside and evade missiles while
firing at will. The program includes training as to how the real F-16s are flown
and a briefing on military tactics. Then zip your flight suit and be strapped in
to fly your own F-16.
During the flight, instructors are never far behind guiding fliers via headset
as to the best maneuvers. At the end, see how you stacked up against fellow
fliers.
Did you have to pry your kids out of the pool this summer? Then don’t miss Kid-Friendly Educational Travel: Immersive & Submersive
Experiences
FLY WITH PETER PAN TO NEVERLAND
Enter the world of Neverland and fly with Peter Pan this winter. Pirates come in
from all sides, a rebellious Tinker Bell aero-gymnastically tumbles over head,
and a cantankerous crocodile surfs the audience hunting for Hook.
The stage production of J.M. Barrie’sPeter Pan began its flight to Neverland in
Kensington Gardens, England. The production has since flown 500 tons of tent and
equipment, 100 cast and crew, and 400 square miles of computer-generated imagery
on a screen the size of three IMAX screens that circle the audience. The show is
currently running in Orange County, California and will then fly off to Atlanta
in January.
The design intelligently weaves a child’s imagination through its construction
with coat hangers used to build the crocodile’s form, an ostrich puppet made up
of rugby balls and a shuttlecock, and Wendy’s Neverland house built from a crib
and blackboards.
This production stays true to its literary roots and has an extensive education
packet on their Web site with
a timeline of Barrie’s life, a behind-the-scenes look at the stage rehearsal
process, character breakdowns, and follow-up activities you can do in the
classroom exploring the story’s central themes. Do you believe in fairies? I do.
And don’t miss our entire section devoted to Great Kids Programs.
DISCOVER THE LARGEST AIRCRAFT RECYCLING CENTER
Those blue recycle bins are all well and good for aluminum cans, but if you have
a 74,500lb B-29 on your hands, you’re going to need something bigger.
That’s the job of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and
Regeneration Group. The only way to tour this impressive and innovative use of
desert land is by taking a tour at the Pima Air and Space Museumin Tucson,
Arizona.
Pima is one of the world’s largest, non-government funded aerospace museums,
displaying over 300 aircraft on more than 80 acres of land. The Air and Space
Museum opened in 1976, but the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration
Group began some time before then.
After World War II, America was faced with a need to store and scrap around
150,000 surplus aircraft. They found just the place in Tucson where the low
humidity, infrequent rainfall, alkaline soil and high altitude reduces rust and
corrosion. Aside from just using the planes for parts or melting them down, the
group also maintains some of the craft for potential reuse.
Today, the site holds more than 4,300 aircraft, which would make it the second
largest air force in the world. In one year, on an annual budget of $47 million,
AMARC returned a total of $1.25 billion worth of equipment to the Department of
Defense. Visitors can view an entire hangar dedicated to World War II aircraft,
while the Spirit of Freedom hangar features the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame
and rare aircraft such as the North American F-107 Ultra Sabre. Cool? You bet.
By Diane Panosian for PeterGreenberg.com.
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