Flights of Fancy

By Lisa Codianne Fowler
Published: November 17, 2007
Last Updated On: December 7, 2011

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Kennedy Space Center

Museums

Tampa

Flight

Titusville

Cocoa

Florida's World War II Heritage Trail

Experience the wonder of flight in Florida by touring museums and observatories or commandeering hot air balloons and biplanes.

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
  -Leonardo DaVinci, 1509

I was practically breathless when I first peered out an airplane window. Having always had my head in the clouds, I marveled at being above them. How is this possible? When did it all begin? Who even thought of this, and why? Then a budding writer at 15 years old, all I could utter was, "Wow!"

Decades later I'm still captivated by the wonder of flight. And that all-encompassing "wow" still applies, especially at Florida's exhilarating air and space attractions. Featuring everything from ancient airships to cutting edge space exploration, they unveil the mysteries of how, when, who and why.

Space Exploration

A lot can happen in a few hundred years. In a giant leap for mankind, we not only left the ground, but entered space. At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Titusville, you can relive the challenges, dreams and accomplishments of those courageous souls who braved worlds unknown.

The Astronaut Hall of Fame houses a rare collection of astronaut artifacts, including Wally Schirra's Sigma 7 Mercury spacecraft.

Expect a flood of emotions at the moving Astronaut Memorial, located six miles from the other exhibits. The names of the fallen astronauts from Columbia STS-107, Challenger STS-51L and Apollo 1, as well as those from training and commercial airplane accidents are emblazoned on the towering black granite monument.

Exhibits, tours and lectures span 100 years of aviation history.

In Cocoa, the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory (a.k.a. the Brevard Community College Planetarium and Observatory) includes exhibit halls, hands-on demonstrations, a rooftop observatory and large-format movie theater playing a variety of features.  


Military Action

The saying "the best things in life are free" surely applies to the National Museum of Naval Aviation, one of the largest and handsomely designed air and space museums in the world. The massive steel and glass structure features a life-size replica of the flight deck and island superstructure of the World War II carrier USS Cabot, with aircraft on deck and suspended overhead.

The Blue Angel Atrium encloses four suspended gleaming McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk jets once used by the Navy's flight demonstration squadron. More than 140 specialized planes represent Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aviation history.


Aviation History

From a 1913 baby biplane built by aviation pioneer Matty Laird when he was just 16 to ultralights, gyrocopters and World War II military planes, The Florida Air Museum tells a fascinating story. Exhibits, tours and lectures span 100 years of aviation history. Imaginative displays include a memorial to National Airlines, Howard Hughes' 1938 flight around the world and his fabled "Spruce Goose" megaplane.

Home to the Florida Aviation Hall of Fame, the museum is at Sun 'n Fun, the state's official aviation and education center and host of the famous Fly-In held late March to early April.

Fantasy of Flight in Polk City is a museum and attraction with vintage aircraft and heart-pounding rides. Take a simulated flight or a real one; soar through the sky in a bi-plane or return to how it all began - in a beautiful balloon.