Art and Airplanes

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: Friday evening, we headed downtown to the Seattle Art Museum. It was a special occasion as it was Annabelle's first time having her art hanging in a museum.

She, along with many other Seattle Public Schools students had art in the annual show.

Just inside the doorway, she checked in at the artists' table. She received a sticker identifying her as an artist, a nice certificate, and an event program.

 We found her artwork near the rear of the exhibition. 

I'll let her tell you a bit more about the experience.

WINGING IT: Saturday morning, we were up at 6:30 to make sure we could have Annabelle down to The Museum of Flight by 7:15. The occasion: A special meeting of Amelia's Club and a chance to visit the Alaska Airlines facility at SeaTac.

It looks like part of her day included a slide show about everything from how to fly a plane to how to become a pilot.

 I like the sense of humor in the slide below. 

 The visitors were definitely asked to take their opportunity seriously.

I'll let Annabelle tell you a bit more about her day. ...

Alaska Airlines Aviation Day was an event I went to as part of my Amelia’s Aero Club, a club for middle-high school girls that are interested in aviation. When I arrived at the Museum of Flight, I joined my group and we got on the bus to Alaska Airlines. The first thing we did when we reached the building was watch a few presentations by pilots and employees of Alaska Airlines. They talked about how planes fly, why they fly for Alaska, and how we could become pilots, too. After watching the presentations, my group came together and took turns in the flight simulator used by real pilots! The simulator had a large, curved screen in front of it so it actually looked like you were pulling in to the airport. Me and my friend, Isabell, took turns and successfully landed the plane twice!

                  (the photo below is a small model of the flight simulator)

Our next stop around the offices was a room where flight attendants showed us the self-defense they learn and how they evacuate planes in an emergency. There was a training dummy (named Bob) that they used to show how to use parts of your body like thumbs, to poke at an attacker’s eyes; your elbow, to deliver fast and tough jabs to the abdomen; and your feet to stomp in their way and kick them. After the small training on self-defense, my group worked our way into the model plane, where the flight attendants briefed us on what was going to happen. A (recorded) safety briefing began to play, before it was interrupted by the attendants telling everyone loudly to get our heads down and grab our ankles in a bracing position. After the plane “landed” they told everyone to get up and out of the way (so they could check the damage) and the two in the front directed everyone to fold their arms and step off onto the slide. The attendants said the rules state they need to be able to evacuate everyone in 90 seconds or less.

Before I knew it, we went for lunch in the plane hangar and sat right next to a plane. Once everyone was finished eating, we walked to a few small planes and learned a bit about US customs and what they prevent. Our group went back to the flight attendant’s room to kill some time, and then we left. It was a fun day, and I love learning more about aeronautics!

She certainly got an up close view of some pretty planes!

 Below is a photo of some of the things that didn't make it through U.S. Customs checkpoints.

CJ enjoyed his moment in the sun at the Museum of Flight. Earlier in the day, he purchased his first two domain names. Look for more information about those in posts to come.