1940 Air Terminal

[Pyroxene]

New Golden Era Museum opens in Houston.

Flights of Fancy
Some of us - of the silver haired variety - remember preparing excitedly for an airplane trip back in the mid-20th Century. You dressed in your Sunday best, went to the bustling local airport, and waited eagerly for your flight to be called. You then walked across the tarmac to board a Douglas DC-3, DC-6B or Lockheed Consstellation propliner for that luxurious Braniff, American, or Trans Texas flight across the starte or across the ocean.

Beginning January 9, you can relive those long-flown halcyon days at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum's North Wing in Houston. Or, at least you can view some of the aircraft, artifacts and historical photos representative of the era.

Thanks to the work of the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society, the beautifully restored Art Deco 1940 Air Terminal houses a museum that showcases the history of civil aviation, including that of Houston, and gives renewed life to the terminal, which served as Houston's air-travel gateway from 1940 through 1954. On display you will find a wide variety of aviation artifacts, such as photographs, tickets, uniforms, models, and air-traffic control hardware. The museum's collection of aircraft includes a 1943 Lockheed Lodestar businessliner, a 1946 Beechcraft D-18S, and a 31-foot expance of the Empress of Toronto, a Ddouglas DC-6B that was recently rescued in Florida.

The 1940 Air Terminal Musiem is at 8325 Travelaair Rd., on the west side of Hobby Airport. Call (713) 454-1940; http://www.1940airterminal.org/

Source: TexasHigwayss Magazine, January 2004, page 60.

[kent]

That's pretty neat, I'll have to take a look at it sometime when I'm in Houston.
The things you never notice being a resident somewhere and have them right under your nose.