These days it's all non-reclinable seats, taking your shoes off at security, and having to pay - pay! - for alcohol. Except at the 1940s terminal building at Houston's Hobby airport. Here a little slice of the real aviation experience is preserved, where in days-gone-by you would sip a cocktail in a grand art deco building until you were escorted onto the tarmac to walk up carpeted stairs to your flight.
The building is at the far side of the actual working runways, and was in disrepair for many years until a group of hardy volunteers decided it needed to reclaim its former glory. Back in the '40s, notoriously unsafe air travel was mostly forbidden for business executives, but it was the oil industry (of course, crows Hannah) that pioneered shuttling their higher-ups between oil fields and skyscrapers the length of the continent. And so the airline industry was born.
Pete was unimpressed by all this nostalgia, but what did spark his imagination were the old flight simulators in a hangar next door. Although they have long had their plugs pulled you could still sit in a replica 737 cockpit, twisting knobs and pulling flight controls to your heart's content. In the back was a panel were the trainer could press buttons to simulate emergencies for the pilots to deal with. If you're a nervous flyer you don't want to see how many possible failures there are.
What began as a quick visit to a quirky museum ended many hours later as I dragged my protesting son out of a cockpit. If you think 5-yr-olds enjoy exerting control at home, wait until you see them on a flight deck. Thankfully I was in command in the car, where I made sure to order a large scotch from Hannah before lighting a Benson & Hedges Silk Cut.
America's youngest billionaire.
When flying was good!
Keeping up with the latest news (from May 1988).
Modern business traveler.
What "smartphone" used to mean.
No idea, and no explanation given.
When did this go out of fashion? Answer: never.
Trolley dolly.
Someone stole a lot of branded airline goodies. And then donated them to this museum.
Passengers and staff who might have been here since the 1940s.
Air traffic control.
Out on the actual Hobby tarmac watching Southwest flights and private jets zoom about.
Your captain today is only five years old!
Mayday! Mayday!
