You know your wife is special when, while on vacation and discussing what to do, she points out an aviation museum that you could visit. Not only that, but when you say she can drop you and pick you up later, she says she would be happy to look around with you. What a star! During our trip to the northwest, Nancy suggested the Port Townsend Aero Museum. I wasn’t even aware of it but I was willing to take a look. To be honest, our schedule did not include a lot of spare time but we had an hour or too to look around.
The museum is a really nicely laid out establishment. The hangar in which everything is kept is a really nice building and the exhibits are laid out well with some on the floor and others suspended from the roof. The way everything is put together is really good. There is space around each plane and the signs explaining what everything was were well put together.
The planes are all in excellent condition and some are still airworthy. (My only minor gripe was that they all had a museum logo sticker on them which was not ideal from a photo point of view but this is hardly something to focus on.) The aircraft are all vintage types. Most are piston powered but there are some gliders too.
This proved to be a great surprise on the trip (including that Nancy enjoyed it so much)! I’m not sure how many visitors they get (it was quiet when we were there but we were on a day when I wouldn’t have expected many visitors competing for space. I hope the business is sustainable because it is a great little museum.
Arlington Municipal Airport has a steady stream of light aircraft activity, but it is also home to a gliding community. At weekends, it is not unusual to see some Piper Pawnees tugging gliders into the air. Depending on the suitability of the conditions, these might be some pretty short flights, or they might be up for quite a while. I have been up there at various times when the gliders are operating off the grass next to the main runway. Usually, I am there for something else, so the gliding photos are taken when the opportunity arises. Here are some shots of the Pawnee tug planes and the gliders themselves.
