Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame & Southern Museum of Flight

I was the guest speaker at the 2016 Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame (AAHOF) Banquet & Induction Ceremony this year. It was held in the Southern Museum of Flight (SMOF)—rather than a grand ballroom as in the past—and I’m so glad that it was.

Y’all, the Southern Museum of Flight has improved dramatically since I saw it. But don’t take my word for it, check it out yourself at:www.southernmuseumofflight.org

The AAHOF is housed on the second floor of the museum, so after you’ve seen many respected, old aircraft and engines downstairs, you can go upstairs and see many respected, old aviators. You’re bound to know some of them. I know you do, because — I just gotta brag about it — I’m in the AAHOF myself.

The Museum and the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BSIA) should have a symbiotic relationship (remember when “symbiotic relationship” was a hot topic among the intelligentsia?).

Most pilots are great fans of aviation museums, particularly one that is near an airport. The SMOF is 2.9 miles (per MapQuest) from the BSIA. 2.9 miles! That’s close, folks, and should be a cheap ride by Uber, Lyft, or taxicab!

I’ve looked at the websites for the museum and the airport and found nothing — repeat, nothing — about the museum on the airport’s site or about the airport on the museum’s site. Are they both missing out? I think so.

Seems to me that each should brag about the other. The airport could be the landing site for people going to the museum, and pilots going to the museum would thus be introduced to the airport. General aviation pilots, as we all know, are always looking for a great place to fly. In the past, they were likely to fly 50 miles away to eat a hundred-dollar hamburger for lunch among other pilots. Just think how great it could be to take the family/friends to a real, fascinating, based-on-history aviation museum.

Airports often give tours to student groups. Wouldn’t it be great for such groups to also take a tour of the museum on the same day?

Shouldn’t the museum website point out that the full-service BSIA airport is only 2.9 miles away?

Wouldn’t it be terrific if the Chamber of Commerce and other influential groups began to think of BSIA and SMOF as two important parts of the city’s history and appeal?

BTW, this is not my original idea. I first began to think of this when the Udvar-Hazy Space Center became thought of along with Dulles Airport and the downtown Smithsonian Museum.

Hey — if it will work in Washington, it should work anywhere!