Join us for the kickoff to the Skagit Skies Airshow AND help raise funds for the Children’s Museum’s Aviation Exhibit! Spend an evening watching aircraft fly, meeting airshow performers, and learning about our new installation!
We are excited to have the opportunity to help kick off the Skagit Skies Airshow AND raise funds for our next interactive installation – the Aviation Exhibit! This unique, 21+, evening event will take place at Skagit Regional Airport, on the ramp in front of True North Bakery. Surrounded by the aircraft that will feature in Saturday’s airshow, you’ll have the opportunity to watch some flying, meet the pilot performers and show sponsors, see our airplane, learn about the exhibit, participate in fun STEAM activities for grown ups – including a balsa glider competition- and there will even be a special parachute demonstration by the US Army Golden Knights Parachute Team!!
Thanks to Port tenants Chuckanut Brewery – South Nut Taproom, True North Bakery, Garden Path Fermentation, SVC Cardinal Craft Brewing,& Westland Distillery you’ll be able to sample food and drinks as you enjoy the evening’s events. Tickets are available for those 21+; include tasty Bites from True North and 2 drink tickets.
**The event was wonderful! Thank you all who attended, supported and participated! If you were unable to attend, or wish to support the exhibit, you can still make a donation to the Aviation Exhibit – click here!**
Thanks to Corporate Air Center we have a raffle for a 1-hour scenic flight in a Bell 407 helicopter, over the San Juan Islands!! The raffle winner will get to invite 4 guests (total of 5 passengers) on the flight! This is an amazing raffle item for us, and an incredible opportunity for a family or a group of friends to see our beautiful area from the air!! The raffle was drawn at the conclusion of the Skagit Skies Airshow on June 28 – Congratulations to winner Michelle!!
Thanks to ASA (Aviation Supplies & Academics) we have a raffle that will set the winner up with all the necessary books and supplies they need, including an ASA Pilot Briefcase, to get their path to a pilot’s certificate off the ground! Kit includes: The Complete Private Pilot by Bob Gardner, The Complete Private Pilot Syllabus, FAR/AIM, Private Pilot Test Prep, Airman Certification Standards Private Pilot Airplane, Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide by Michael Hayes, High-Wing Aircraft Visualized Flight Maneuvers Manual, Student Flight Record: Private, Flight Planner Form (2 sheets), The Standard® Pilot Logbook in black, Fiberboard E6-B Flight Computer
Ultimate Rotating Plotter, Student Sectional Aeronautical Training Tool and ASA Pilot Briefcase. Raffle tickets are $25/ticket and are available online. This is a fantastic item for anyone interested in launching their flight training! **We plan to leave this raffle open beyond the Skagit Skies Airshow**
A Partnership with Bravo 369 Flight Foundation, Dyberg Aviation, Skagit EAA 818 & the Port of Skagit
Scope of Project
In keeping with the Children’s Museum of Skagit County’s practice of having true-to-life exhibits like the Kenworth truck cab, Ranger tug and Barnhart crane to provide visitors with hands-on learning opportunities,
the Museum is now partnering with Bravo 369 Flight Foundation to develop an immersive, interactive aviation exhibit using a two-seat, general aviation aircraft, Microsoft Flight Sim, new flight-following technology and Virtual Reality headsets.
The goal of this exhibit is to inspire the next generation of aeronautical professionals – engineer, pilot, mechanic, controller – in addition to recreational pilots and aviation enthusiasts by putting them into the cockpit of an aircraft where their imaginations can soar. With a wide range of children and care-givers coming to the Museum, we are well-positioned to spark an interest in aviation to all visitors, no matter their age or socio-economic status.
Details
The Children’s Museum of Skagit County sees some 70,000 visitors per year from all over the region and the globe. It is the only children’s museum of its size north of Everett, WA – now occupying 15,400 square feet at Burlington Plaza in Burlington, WA. (See above image for initial rendering of the proposed exhibit of the aircraft.) With the Museum’s proximity to the Skagit Regional Airport, the multiple flight destinations in the area and the community’s commitment to ingenuity and entrepreneurship, fostering a love of aviation including everything from design to maintenance, support to piloting, seems ripe for the picking. Youth aviation activities at Skagit Regional are well established and growing, and there has been keen interest in the Museum housing a flight simulator for visitors of all ages to use. Flight training begins at general aviation fields in small aircraft and can be started at a relatively young age – solo at 16 years, license at 17 years. Utilizing a general aviation airframe for an exhibit makes the platform a suitable scale for museum visitors and for the current exhibit space. The greatest challenge will be securing a rugged airframe that can withstand the use of 70,000 visitors/year, be retrofitted to house a flight simulator, and which can provide the realistic experience of moving the flight controls on an aircraft. Cause and effect and gross-motor experiences are critical in child development and are the root of good stick and rudder flying! A Zenith 701 was recently sourced and secured for the exhibit, and is awaiting prep at Skagit Regional Airport (Right: first-draft concept rendering of the exhibit – HKP Architects.)
The role of Bravo 369 Flight Foundation is two-fold. In addition to the unique historical story that the organization tells – about the United States Lend-Lease program with Russia during WWII – founder Jeff Geer has been instrumental in imagining and facilitating how an aircraft can be an interactive museum exhibit, how flight sim technology can be retrofitted to that aircraft, and through his own project pursuits how flight-following technology could allow users to ‘fly’ with pilots via the Microsoft Flight Sim Software. The Bravo 369 team has long sought an education partner to test the platform, and with the successful installation of this exhibit, the Children’s Museum of Skagit County could be that partner.
The project has already started its taxi roll with Dyberg Aviation’s Mike Dyberg committing to Wing It Wednesday (now called Take Flight Friday due to a schedule change!) at the museum – an all-ages, aviation-themed pop-up that covers a wide range of topics from weather and clouds to parts of an airplane, airport signs, navigation and a lot more. We recently took delivery of the Zenith 701 from King County’s Aviation High School program, and our local EAA Chapter has been instrumental in the disassembly and transport of the aircraft! Lastly, we have been given the use of the Port of Skagit’s VR headsets and local VR flight to share from time to time.
Fundraising Goals
The Children’s Museum of Skagit County has budgeted an initial fundraising goal of $70,000 to complete this project. While most will be financial need, some can be met through in-kind support. Community partners and suitable grantors are now actively being sought for this exhibit. Please contact Cate Anderson, Executive Director, or Kate Simmons, for more information or to participate.
