Flight Path Learning Center Museum,
LAX Imperial Terminal, located at 6661
W. Imperial Highway, Los Angeles, Ca.
Cost: Free. Hours: Tuesday through
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parking is
Free. Telephone: (424) 646-7284.
flightpath.us
Don't throw away that
old luggage. It might be a collectible
one day.
A museum in Los Angeles that sits on
the edge of the Los Angeles
International Airport, Flight Path
Learning-Center Museum, has an exhibit
of sturdy luggage that traveled the
globe with the travel stickers from the
orange crate - art era, to prove it.
Today if you fly, you'll be charged for
even a suitcase, save for a few
hold-outs such as Southwest Airlines.
But there was a time that traveling with
heavy, sturdy luggage was expected, and
anything light or flimsy was considered
vagabond luggage not fit for a modern
jet and luxury travel. How times
have changed!
And that's exactly why
it is worth a visit to the free
admission museum dedicated to air
travel. Just minutes from most LAX
terminals, you can take a taxi over to
the museum and look around and explore
if you have a few hours of time on your
hands between flights, or are visiting
the area.
Southern California grew as the epi-center
of aviation and its history goes back
over 100 years. But the flight path
museum includes many contemporary
collections dating back to the 50s and
60s. Stewardess outfits with psychedelic
go-go skirts and hats worn by Air
California "stewardesses", fine china
service used in 1st class seating on TWA
flights, magazines, kids plastic
pilot lapel pins from now defunct
airlines, and amazing displays of
planes, clothes, pictures, magazines,
and even a research library are housed
at the unique, must-see museum. If you
retired from an airline, you won't want
to miss visiting this museum. It brings
back nostalgia to many who served the
industry and have seen the companies
disappear.
The William A. Schoneberger Research
Library is open during regular Flight
Path operating hours. Researchers should
call in advance to confirm that desired
materials and staff assistance are
available. Materials may not be
taken from the Library. However, limited
copying of certain materials is
available on site under staff
supervision.
Exhibits: Main Gallery includes models,
photographs, uniforms and other
artifacts highlighting the role of
airlines, aircraft manufacturers,
aerospace companies, and the airport in
the history of Southern California. A
large-scale model of the last of
aviation’s famous biplanes is on
permanent public display in the Flight
Path Learning Center Museum at Los
Angeles International Airport. The
Curtiss P-6E Hawk, modeled on a US Army
Air Corps aircraft manufactured in the
early 1930s, is believed to be the only
one its kind at any museum in Southern
California.
The Hawk was built from scratch and
donated by Chester M. Schmidt of
Westchester, a retired Lockheed
engineer. It features an impressive
6-foot, double-deck wingspan and
authentic Army Air Corps colors,
including a black, gray and white
fuselage, and yellow wings. The model,
with a working engine, has been flown by
remote control at hobbyist events.
The original Hawk was the backbone of
Army Air Corps pursuit squadrons,
according to Flight Path President
Rowena Ake. Powered by a Conqueror V-12
liquid-cooled engine, it also achieved
distinction as a formidable competitor
in air races.
The museum also features a panoramic
mural saluting the 75th anniversary of
LAX and Los Angeles World Airports as
well as the Centennial of Flight. Other
exhibits showcase development of
airlines, aircraft and aviation firms.
