hidden in [plane] sight

this weekend found me and my girlfriend visiting the kansas aviation museum. it had been five years since i had visited and i was excited to see it again.

planes are exciting in their own right, however being an architect found me studying more of the building than the biplanes. walking around i noticed architectural details i hadn't noticed before; aviation related design was embeded everywhere.  there were references to air travel in the hand painted ceiling stenciling, the metal work, masonry, and terrazzo floors.  it was almost like the "hidden mickey's" at disneyland.  not only did this little "hidden airplane" game enrich the museum experience, but it gave me an overwhelming appreciation for the architecture of the past.  i couldn't help but acknowledge the time, consideration, design and craft the architects put in this structure; now being appreciated long after the buildings original use had ended....beautiful details now enhancing the building as it houses a new use as the kansas aviation museum.

i just want to fly[in]

it had been a couple years, but i finally made it back out to one of my summer events, the stearman field fly-in at benton, kansas.

catch me if you can [sir]

[sometimes] the best way to escape the stress of adulthood is by acting like a kid again.

[sometimes] it's fun to put on a costume and roam the streets like a bunch of gadabouts.

[sometimes] photographs aren't about art or rules, but rather capturing the moment and feeling at the time.

[always] you're friends are the best to do these things with.

enjoy a few pics from last weekends [crawl for cancer] depicting all the above statements perfectly. 

 

 

 

 

come fly[in] with me

what is it about airplanes that is so awe inspiring?

yesterday afternoon, a group of friends and i decided to head to benton, kansas to check out the the stearman field fly-in. within seconds of arriving, we were acting like kids running around checking out the airplanes, and mesmerized by "touch and goes".

does it have something to do with growing up in wichita? with our city being the "air capital" of the world, most of us were taught aircraft was the lifeline of our community. is it the idea and feeling of freedom flight creates. no roads, no traffic, just the endless sky? could it be because our state is so "terrain challenged", flight is the only opportunity for us to look down on ourselves in a new perspective?

kansas might not have miles of coastlines, but our state is filled with limitless skies and endless horizons. like a city by a bay, our sky is our ocean. just as people along beaches can spend hours staring out at the sea, we've all grown up staring at the sky, watching clouds pass, storms roll by, sunsets paint the sky, and starry nights appear. airplanes are the vessels of the mid-west allowing us to interact with this ocean of a sky. an ocean, amazing us one night, and terrifying us the next. an ocean providing jobs and fueling our economy. an ocean allowing us to travel anywhere in the world. an ocean, at times making you feel so insignificant, yet giving you such a sense of community.

pre[flyover]

i've always had an interest in airplanes. it started at a very early age. both my parents had their pilot's licences and would take me up, when i was only a few months old. along with that, growing up, most of my friends had parents that worked in the industry, so most of us had some knowledge of the planes our they worked on. couple that with my own interest in architecture, and the open house the kansas aviation museum hosted last thursday, seemed like the perfect event to attend.

i had visited the museum during a middle school field trip years ago, but remembered very little of it. i took off work early, to attend the event in the daylight. it's location is a little tricky to get to, and has the feeling of being tucked away from the rest of wichita. pulling into the parking lot, i had forgotten how beautiful the building really was, or maybe as a middle schooler just didn't care. it was originally built during the 1930's as wichita's municipal airport, and was crafted in beautiful art deco styling. i followed a few people into the entry. unfortunately it was not into the lobby, but a small room on the side of the building. entering, i had found that i had once again followed the above 65 crowd to the "hot spot" in town that night. i skipped the free appetizers, opting instead to take pictures of everything i could.

wondering around, snapping pictures, it wasn't hard to notice that at one point the whole place had been gutted. everything had been removed including the heating. wondering around, trying to keep warm, i overheard wonderful conversations. old men, telling their wives about what they had flown, or worked on in years past. i even had my own conversation with a museum volunteer that had worked in the building as a baggage handler when it was a functioning airport in 1953. after thanking him for telling his story, i ventured outside to get some shots of planes and the exterior.

leaving the building and walking towards the runway, there was an air of plane travel from years gone by. no awful seating, no lines, no metal detectors, no jetways, just a beautiful walk outside onto the plane. the whole experience made me want to find out more, so i started researching. apparently during the 1940's this had been the fifth busiest airport in the nation. with it not being possible to travel from new york to l.a. non-stop, wichita was the perfect spot to refuel before heading west over the rockies. it was also a hot spot for test flights during the war. during this time aviators such as charles lindbergh, amelia earhart, and howard hughes, spent time in the building, as well as actors like fred astaire, and bob hope.

finding all this out, as well as looking through my pictures, i really felt like museum, is a bit of a diamond in the rough. the potential it has to be an architecture, and historical icon for the city is unbelievable. i don't' feel like it's getting the respect it deserves in either field. hopefully one day, with a little patience and, unfortunately a lot of money, it could regain it's forgotten elegance, and become the jewel it deserves to be in this city.