The Southern Museum of Flight is located near the Birmingham airport. In fact you can’t get close to the airport without seeing the signs pointing you in the right direction.
My husband is a pilot and his method of getting home this week meant he had to rent a car and drive to Birmingham and get us to pick him up. Lucky for us we had been wanting an excuse to get to visit the Southern Museum of Flight. We are members of the ASTC, and wanted to use our museum membership to visit. Check out more about how beneficial museum memberships are on one of my earlier posts.
The Southern Museum of Flight is 75,000 square feet of aviation thrills. With 100 planes, simulators, and even Duplo blocks there is something for everyone to enjoy. The museum is full of civilian, military, and experimental aircraft and aviation memorabilia.
Exhibit Halls
There are several different exhibit halls inside the SMOF. You can see early crop dusters; did you know one of the major airlines began as a crop duster? The Huff-Daland Duster, also known as “puffer” was the first crop dusting plane. The Huff Daland Dusters grew their operation for years and later became what we now know as Delta Airlines.
There is an exhibit hall full of experimental aircraft. There are so many that a large number of them have their wings removed to allow more space for more planes. Some of the experimental planes look more like motor powered bicycles while others look just like what I picture a plane as. There is a small single engine experimental plane that you can touch and explore. Of course the kids were delighted to get inside this one and pretend to be a pilot with their pushing of buttons and turning of knobs.
There is a section with a model aircraft carrier and fighter jets. There is also a section dedicated to women in aviation, with special emphasis on “Rosie the Riveter”; the women who helped to make WW2 a success.
In the military hall you are greeted at the “security gate” by a Tuskegee airman and a quote on the wall that speaks volumes. “In 1941 the American military didn’t want the Tuskegee Airmen to fly. In 1945 only the Nazis felt that way. ” Such a powerful statement. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military pilots in the US military. They were trained right here in Alabama.
In the military hall children can again get some hands-on play time and climb into the jet cockpits. There are massive drones, Cobra helicopter, bomber jets and even a Russian Hind helicopter.
Soar High Center
Without a doubt the favorite part of the entire museum. Inside the Soar High Center you can learn more about weather and how it relates to aviation, fly simulators, play airplane PlayStation games, and there is even a section for the youngest aviators to play with Duplo Legos and climb around in a “control tower”.
There are numerous flight simulators. They are not full motion, but are a little more like playing the Microsoft flight simulator computer games with a joystick. While we were visiting it was a quiet afternoon and with not many visitors there was no line for playing to our hearts content here in this area. I have a feeling my family would have been just as happy visiting this section and never even seeing any more of the museum. This part of the museum, alone, makes the admission worth it.
Outdoor Displays
Located in front of the museum you will find some planes inside the fence. Inside this area are picnic tables which would be great for bringing a picnic lunch to enjoy. There are lots of other planes located just down the road to look at. We did not check them out on this visit, but have driven by them on past trips to the SMOF.
Guided Tours, Field Trips, and Events
The museum offers guided tours for visitors of all ages. They offer field trips and can specialize the tour based on what you are looking for. You can go for plane history, Alabama history, science, weather, art.. you can add hands-on activities. You can go as a school group, homeschool group, girl scouts, and boy scouts.
If you have an event to plan you can host it here at the Southern Museum of Flight. Weddings, meetings, and birthday parties would all be wonderful held right here with all this rich aviation history. We are a museum loving family. Remember to check out my post on museum memberships to see how we save so much money on our trips to various museums.
Some of our other favorite Alabama museums:
