Oct 9, 2024

Museum of Flying Los Angeles

Vintage airplanes

002-building
Art & culture
""Museum of Flying" in LA's Santa Monica is in the neighborhood's very own private airport. It's quaint, interesting and made me appreciate planes more!"

Most visitors to LA don't realize that Santa Monica has its own private airport. On the grounds is a private airport where you can see Cessnas and private jets taking off, sitting right next to the runway!

I discovered this little nook of the neighborhood during an art show many years ago. Some of the old airport hangars have been made over into large art spaces. One day I had an extra bit of time and decided to check out the Museum of Flying across from the airport. I was chatting up one of the workers there and it turns out his family comes from a history of aviation, so he gave me a free tour of the museum. We bumped into a friend of his family who used to fly police helicopters for the LAPD and so I learned a lot about navigating the city from a bird's eye perspective.

The museum itself is quaint and interesting. They have a model of the Wright brother's airplane, along with vintage airplanes dating from WW1 through the Cold War. Since I travel so much, it gave me a much greater appreciation for the aircraft we fly in nowadays!

About this spot

3100 Airport Ave Santa Monica

Museum entrance:

US$

10

3103982500

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