Our Field Trip

Today, the boys and I went with some other families from our charter school to the California Aerospace Museum. I gotta tell ya...if you live anywhere near Sacramento, this place it worth the trip.

They have roughly 30 military planes, that have flown in combat, parked in a large lot for you to view and touch. We were very fortunate to have Roger as our Docent. He flew one of the planes on the lot, during the Korean War. He told stories of how his best friend died due to a failed evacuation from a cockpit and how the soldiers called one of the planes a "flying casket" because of it being unable to glide if one of the engines failed.

A very sobering moment for me was being able to climb inside a plane that flew during WWII and completed 3 drops of troops during the DDay Invasion in Normandy. It was eerie as I tried to put myself in their place. I just couldn't imagine the fear and rush of adrenalin those boys must have felt. The markings on the side show that it flew 3 DDay drops, 2 medical missions, and several supply missions.

A picture of the nose art.

Magnus flying the plane.

This helicopter was used during the Vietnam War (maybe it was the Korean) to rescue downed pilots.

Each helicopter would also have four of these planes near it to provide cover. In this picture the wings are folded up to show the bombs.

Magnus inside the helicopter.

This plane flew in Desert Storm. I didn't get a picture of it (the gun that is), but Roger said this plane was basically built around the Gatling gun that was positioned in the nose. It's bullets pierced the amour of tanks like a knife slicing butter.


If you click on the picture you can see the particular things this pilot took out during his missions.

This was Thane's favorite. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he has a couple of the National Guard Lego sets.

Remember Top Gun? Well, this is the "Tomcat" that Tom Cruise "flew" in the movie.

I took this next picture for all of my conservative friends who miss Ronald Reagan...you know who you are ;0) At one time, this was his private jet when he was governor of CA.
Within the "museum" part of the building, there are several exhibits featuring jet engines and pilot gear. Fortunately, NASA had a traveling space exhibit on display. We got to view an actual moon rock and touch a meteorite as well as a rock from Mars. They also had special scales that read your weight on the earth, on the moon, and on Mars. It was pretty cool.

This is Magnus' weight on the moon.

Magnus exercising like the astronauts do in space. This thing spun around really fast too!

Oh, and did you know that the universe was formed 13 million years ago from a BANG? Whatever. I don't know...maybe God said "Bang" as the heavens and earths were created.

Anyhow, it was a great day and I can't wait to take my dad there when he comes to visit.