Aviation surprise in a shopping mall

摘要

IN FEBRUARY 2020, a small, unassuming little museum dedicated to the accomplishments and contributions of the people of the Bay State opened quietly in a former retail space in a struggling shopping center in Hyannis, Massachusetts. It may seem an incongruous location, but inside the Massachusetts Air and Space Museum is a treasure trove of aviation memorabilia, displays, hands-on simulators, and other experiences. Greeting visitors is an adorable 1929 Aeronca C-2 replica that Cape Codder Donald R. James built for his grandchildren to play in on their summer visits. They got it "flying" across the ground with a lawn mower engine. There's a complete cockpit of a Grumman Albatross, a Piper Cub simulator, and a Convair F-106 simulator. Engaging displays tell the stories of the many aviators who made history in or who were born in Massachusetts. From Robert Goddard to Michael Goulian and Amelia Earhart to Story Musgrave, there are hundreds of stories of interesting aviators. Children can be hands-on in an RF9 radio control flight simulator, historians can marvel at the accomplishments on display of female aviators including MIT research pilot Anne Bridge Baddour, and visitors can trace the contributions of Massachusetts to aviation from 1860 to the present. Books and videos and other archival documents tower in one corner, and seats from an airliner are displayed in another.