Credit: Rachel Hoggan

We have another fun post from a new contributor to share with you today. Over the next few weeks we will have quite a few new contributors join us and I’m so excited because these moms and dad are quite the explorers and are out and about all over Southern California.  Our post today comes from Rachel Hoggan and she shares about her experience at the Flight Path Learning Center at LAX. Here is what she has to say.

I am always looking for educational and fun places to visit with my kids. A few months ago, we discovered a hidden treasure in Los Angeles–The Flight Path Learning Center in LAX. I have two sons and a husband who all love airplanes, and this museum did not disappoint us. The museum is located on the south side of the LAX airport at 6661 W. Imperial Highway. It is appropriately named “Flight Path Learning Center” because it is right next to an area of the airport where cargo planes take off and land. Even if there had been nothing else to see in the museum, my kids would have been content to watch the planes. The museum has great viewing areas to watch planes–both inside and outside. The inside viewing area included binoculars, a step-stool, and even a set of headphones we could put on to listen to the actual communications from the air traffic control tower. Outside, we were able walk right onto the tarmac with a museum docent. We were lucky enough to be on the tarmac when a large cargo plane landed right in front of us.

The museum also included three or four rooms with an impressive collection of model airplanes, artifacts from various airlines, historical photographs, and more. I loved seeing the various uniforms that flight attendants have worn through the years. There were some outlandish outfits that flight attendants used to wear. And my kids absolutely loved the full-size DC-3 airplane outside the building that they were able climb into and pretend to pilot. Best of all, the museum was completely free, including free parking. If you are in the area and you love planes, I highly recommend visiting the Flight Path Learning Center. For more information, you can visit their website here.