Do you or your kiddos love airplanes, spaceships, rockets, or all things flight related? Then you NEED to know about this new exhibit that will be opening at The Leonardo museum in August!
This is The Leonardo’s first ever in-house Utah built exhibit! FLIGHT will be opening on August 6th and you can be a part of the kickoff event!! How exciting!!
If you haven’t ever been to The Leonardo, I can’t recommend it enough! It is somewhere between a regular museum and a children’s museum in that they have hands on exhibits as well as Huge Blockbuster Exhibits that they bring in from around the world.
I’m so excited about this HUGE home-grown exhibit on Flight!
The Leonardo needs help in bringing this exhibit to life. If you back with $30 you get 4 tickets to the exhibit, bomber hat and goggles, plus a treat at the cafe. Normal retail price for the tickets is $12.95/ticket, so this almost $5 off adult tickets and $3 off the lowest kids pricing. That is an amazing deal! Donate here!
If you want to attend the Kickoff Event on Aug 5th, you just need to donate $50.
More info about FLIGHT:
The exhibit is homegrown, right here in Utah! It is not a traveling exhibit like Body Worlds, Mummies of the World or Dead Sea Scrolls, but is a semi-permanent exhibit that will be on display for the next few years.
- The reason we chose an exhibit about Flight is because it was one of Leonardo da Vinci’s biggest passions during his life. And, since he is our namesake, we thought it would fit. We will have a full-sized replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s very first man-powered flying machine on display in the exhibit.
- The crowning jewel of the exhibit is a giant, C-131 aircraft. The aircraft is so large that to get it into the museum, we actually had to take off part of the wall of the building. Additionally, the wingspan is so big that it only clears the walls of the exhibit by six inches on either side. What’s better is that this isn’t just an airplane you can look at. You can get up on the wings of the airplane and run from one side to the other. You can get in the cockpit and mess with all the buttons, levers and gadgets. You can slide out the back of the airplane on our giant slide. You can even get in and take a look at the fuselage and how things are put together and learn how airplanes are built and work.
- The plane was actually flown on both commercial and military flights. It flew military dignitaries just after WWII and has spent the last 50 years in a boneyard in Arizona before we bought it and restored it. The plane has 2 million rivets in it, welded in by hand.
- In addition to the C-131, we have a Russian MiG-21 Fighter Jet that will be part of the exhibit.
- The exhibit also has interactives and activities that will teach visitors about three different types of flight. Buoyant flight (hot air balloons), Aerodynamic flight (airplanes) and Ballistic flight (missiles and rockets). There will also be a section on animal flight and the history of flight including Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine and a bi-plane that you can break apart and put back together.
- There will be an honest-to-goodness rocket pack, just like they use in the movies, except this one actually worked at one point. It doesn’t now, but you’ll be able to see the pack, mess around with it and discover how these things work.
- There will also be three hyper-realistic flight simulators provided by Rockwell Collins so you can get in and fly all sorts of missions, planes and other things to get your blood pumping.
- There are a few additional surprises I don’t want to spoil yet, but suffice it to say, it will be amazing.
How You Can Help
The exhibit needs it’s final funding dollars to so that everyone can experience the immersive, interactive experience that Flight will become. You can help by donating any amount, even $5 is enough, to help the exhibit come to life. For donors who wish to donate larger amounts, there are rewards and experiences to suit every budget. From opening day experiences to dinners with some of the most renowned pilots and astronauts from the state of Utah, there truly is something for everyone. But, most of all, we just need you to get the word out. So, donate $5 and tell your friends and help The Leonardo take Flight!
