Flugwerft Schleissheim

Gliders large and minuscule.

Our Saturday adventure took us to the Flugwerft Schleissheim, a branch of the Deutsches Museum dedicated to airplanes.  The museum is located on an old military airfield.  It was established in the early 1900s as Bavaria worked towards independence and then served as a Germany air base through both World Wars.  The Americans used it post World War II and turned it back over to the Germans in 1975.  The Museum acquired the land in the 1980s, after the buildings had fallen into disrepair, and began the long job of prepping the space to what it currently is.

How many planes can you count?

All five in one picture, Hooray!  There was a real cockpit here.
They enjoyed pushing the buttons and moving levers.

Jonathan said he loved the museum, I think everyone enjoyed it.  We were all in awe of the planes.  There were early prototypes of flying machines that mimicked birds wings, hot air balloon baskets, gliders in all different shapes and sizes, military planes, research planes and aviation prototypes.  They had a blimp that we saw fly around a bit as well as a miniature glider circus as they called it.  These tiny gliders were powered by a cable attached to a pot in the middle of a small section of the room.  It was funny to watch the kids follow the gliders around the space, around and around and around again.  The kids had a great time exploring and leaning.  A lot of the information was in English so we could absorb a lot.

Everyone wanted a chance in this cockpit.  Can you believe all those dials and gauges?

Hyrum was telling the boys about his grandpa who flew in the Air Force.

One of the most interesting stories was a plane built by a family in East Germany.  They were caught and imprisoned the day before their planned escape from East Germany.  They had built a tiny plane out of what they had available.  The longest piece of equipment was only 4 meters long.  At their trial, the plane was deemed flight worthy.  They were found guilty and imprisoned for a year before they were deported to West Germany.

The gliders from above.

The military planes from above.  Jonathan couldn't miss those.

On the way home, we walked through the gardens at the Schleissheim Palace (or Schloss if you want a tongue twister!).  It was beautiful Fall afternoon.  It was definitely a day I could do again.

Carpet of leaves down this perfect row of trees.  I love it!

Hannah decided she didn't want to live here.  Too many toilets to clean!