Cincinnati Aviation Museum

Hulk didn't have school last Friday. The school district decided a week or two before to make that Friday an inservice day. After having an inservice day and a four day weekend the week before. And I received a letter in the mail this week informing me that Hulk has missed a lot of school this year and that I need to make sure he doesn't miss any more. The letter was also signed by his principle WHO I SEE EVERY DAY. Whom I've talked to about Hulk missing school. But I'm pretty sure the letter was automatically generated by whatever machine tracks the children's attendance and she just signed it off like the perfect little cog she is. My respect for her may have decreased just a smidge. As a whole I am not super impressed with the education that Hulk is getting at school. 

But that's a blog for another time.

Since Hulk didn't have school and we had already hit up our other regular places because of all the other days this last month that he didn't have school I decided that we would try something new. 

Lunken Airport won the draw.

The airport is home to the Cincinnati Aviation Museum which is located in a small room on the second floor of the main building. The airport used to be the largest airfield in the world but by today's standards it was quite small. Hulk was disappointed that the museum was only one room but he and Little Viking Girl appreciated the wooden airplanes and flight pins that the volunteer gave them. 

I found the volunteer staff very friendly and knowledgable. They gave me the history of Lunken Airport and the other two airports in Cincinnati. The great-grandson of the man who started the airport (Edmund Lunken) still visits the museum on Monday afternoons. There were a few old flight attendant uniforms on display and lots of pictures and models of airplanes and the airfield over it's almost 100 year history. There was a live traffic monitor and Hulk enjoyed watching the planes circle Cincinnati. 

The airport itself has been the landing point for famous figures like Charles Lindbergh in 1927, The Beatles in 1964, then President George W. Bush in 2007, and President Donald Trump in 2018.

After spending some time in the one room museum we went outside and walked along the fence looking at the small planes that were parked outside. The Ohio River Trail is right next to the museum as well. I didn't realize the trail went so far east or I may have brought Hulk's bike and had us go along the trail for a bit.

Having been, I don't think we'll ever go back. The National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton is much more impressive but a farther drive. I did really like the volunteers, they made the trip to the museum worth while. If you're an airplane/Cincinnati history enthusiast this museum may be right for you. If you're the parent of a 6 year old who really likes planes, I do not recommend.