Show Notes
While we get Season 10 ready we're bringing you this episode from our friends at the Federal Aviation Administration's Podcast, The Air Up There. Find our transcript here. Did you know that airplanes have two black boxes and they are actually orange? Or that airplanes have closets? Or that one of the tools used to fix an airplane’s auxiliary power unit is referred to as a fishing rod? In this episode we’re talking with Max, aka Airplane Facts With Max, an aircraft mechanic who hosts social media videos that cleverly blend airplane fact with fantasy fiction. Tune in as Max shares his favorite airplane facts and takes us behind the scenes of his career as an aircraft mechanic, where safety is at the forefront with little margin for error. You will find out what it takes to be an aircraft mechanic, a trade skill career that offers unique hands-on experiences, excellent compensation, and plenty of job prospects. Plus, hear the story behind the inception of Airplane Facts With Max. Whether you're an AvGeek, a fantasy geek, or just curious about the world of aviation, join us to celebrate one of the behind the scenes heroes of aviation – aircraft mechanics! As a wise grey wizard once said, “you shall not pass” up listening to this episode. Share with your friends, family, colleagues, hobbits, elves, rangers and other friendly folk of Middle-earth. Learn more about what it takes to become an FAA-certificated aviation mechanic. Meet Our Guest: Max is a certified Aviation Mechanic with Airframe and Powerplant ratings who creates social media content as Airplane Facts With Max.
More from AirSpace
Operation Mincemeat is a hit Broadway musical, and it's based on a remarkable true mission that saved hundreds of lives and helped win World War II. This musical has everything you could want in a screwball comedy: spies, dead bodies, big personalities, romance, double-crossing, and an American pilot who crash-lands into the story at the worst possible moment.
Star Trek: The Original Series only aired for three seasons (1966 to 1969), but it launched a fanbase that transformed pop culture. Trek fans pioneered letter-writing campaigns, cosplay, and modern fan conventions. They reshaped the franchise, fan culture, and even real science on Planet Earth. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, we hosted a live taping of AirSpace at the Museum all about the history and cultural impact of Trek and its fans. Matt and Emily were joined on stage by Museum curator and Trek expert Dr. Margaret Weitekamp and a very special guest: actor Jonathan Del Arco, who played Hugh the Borg on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard. In this episode, we talk about Trek and its fans from the early days to today, including some personal Trek connections shared with us by fans who came to see the show. We discuss how (and why) we interpret Trek at the Museum and the Trek objects in our collection--including Leonard Nimoy’s prosthetic Spock ear tips, our many tribbles, and the 11-foot studio model of the Starship Enterprise from The Original Series (whose display case just got a major glow-up). Jonathan also shared how he got cast on The Next Generation and what it was like to come back for Picard, and told us what it’s like to be on the other side of the table at fan conventions (and about the first time he met Nichelle Nichols--at a hotel ice machine!). Thanks to our guests in this episode:
We’ll be back with new AirSpace episodes on October 8th. In the meantime, here’s something a little different. AirSpace co-hosts Matt and Emily recently guest-starred on Escape This Podcast, where they played through a custom audio escape room. Listen to find out if a geologist and a museum curator have what it takes to escape a spacecraft filled with an unusual amount of puzzles… Speaking of escape rooms: keep an eye on the National Air and Space Museum’s event page for more info on our very own escape room program at the Museum this December. We’ll have more to say on that soon, but we’re cooking up something really fun! Special thanks to Dani Siller and Bill Sunderland at Consume This Media for collaborating with us on this episode and designing an out-of-this world story for our crew. To view the images discussed in this episode, use this link: https://www.consumethismedia.com/s19airspace. Find the transcript of this episode and more information at https://airandspace.si.edu/airspace-podcast/escape-bonus. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter at https://s.si.edu/airspacenewsletter.
In honor of the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, we're looking back on our 2020 episode about the Broadway musical Come From Away. If you’re a Broadway fan, you’ve likely heard about Come From Away—the Tony-award-winning smash-hit musical with a story firmly rooted in generations of aviation history. On September 11, 2001, 38 commercial airliners were diverted out of US air space to a small town with a big airport called Gander, Newfoundland. Come From Away puts a spotlight on Beverley Bass, American Airlines’ first woman Captain who commanded one of the aircraft. Our hosts sit down with Beverley to hear the story of her incredible career firsthand, and with Come from Away’s writers, Irene Sankoff and David Hein, to learn how they were inspired to write an entire musical about the biggest aviation hub you’ve likely never heard of. Early aviation history, pioneering pilots, and one community’s story of unity on a day of infamy—there’s a lot going on in this episode (but still no intermission). Thanks to our guests in this episode:
The National Air and Space Museum's newly renovated building in Washington D.C. includes a beautiful new art gallery to showcase the museum's extensive collection of art, much of which came from the NASA Art Program. This week, we're revisiting a classic AirSpace episode all about that program and its connection to the Museum. The NASA Art Program was organized beginning in the 1960s, where a small number of American artists got tons of access to launch sites, clean rooms, space suits, spacecraft—you name it, they painted it. The result was thousands of works that represented some (but not all, not by a long shot) of the most important art ever inspired by space exploration. In this episode, we sketch out the origin story of a space agency art’s program, explain where our museum enters the picture, and explore works within and beyond the NASA art scene. Thanks to our guests in this episode, artists Jamie Wyeth and E.V. Day. Find the transcript for this episode and more information at https://airandspace.si.edu/airspace-podcast/Art-Decade-Revisited.