Kitty Hawk Time Machine: Converting Small Spaces into Valuable Learning Places
22 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Museums, Exhibit Design Tags: Museums, education, exhibit, hands-on exhibits, learning, Wright Brothers, Katharine Wright, flight simulator, time machine
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When we acquired a room for the Joan L. Hrubec Aviation Education Center I was faced with a problem; what to do with this “walk-in closet” sized room that seemed too small to do anything with? The proposed room itself was already on the small side and if we converted this small room-inside-a-room into a mere storage space we would have lost valuable square footage. We talked about tearing down the walls, but that would have eaten up most of our budget. So, what to do?
What to Do?
In the meantime, while I was brainstorming for ideas, we were temporarily storing our Wright Flyer Flight Simulator in it. The simulator fit perfectly in the tiny room. Then it hit me! Why not use this room specifically for the Wright Flyer? I then set to work turning this tiny little room into a “time machine” that transports the visitor to Kitty Hawk in 1903 where Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first successful powered flight.
Putting it Together
I painted the walls to look like sand dunes and even hung artificial birds from the ceiling. On one of the walls I installed an interactive time line of flight, starting with kite flying in 5th Century B.C.E. China. Each entry on the time line is accompanied by a little door with different flying machine inventions painted on them. When the door is opened you can read about the contributions women have made with each of these aircraft. To further make this an interactive time line, the kite door is rigged to a pulley to give the feel the the visitor is flying the kite and reeling it in. On the opposite wall I mounted the biography of Katharine Wright, the Wright Brother’s sister, along with a binder of the Wright Brother’s sketches. No play area is complete without dress up clothes, so I mounted a clothing hook and hung period style costumes. To finish the room off, we hung a painting from our collection depicting Katharine Wright and her brothers at Kitty Hawk.
A Few Extra Details
Because I know kids like to be silly I like to add a few silly items wherever I can. In some of the pictures you may notice a stuffed penguin. Because I don’t want the kids to play with the Wright Flyer Flight Simulator without direct supervision I attached a notice onto the penguins foot to take the penguin to the room attendant to run the simulator. I also fashioned a cover for the flight simulator to look like a sand dune. On the outside of the door I created a dial the kids can switch between 1903 and present day.
The Result
The Kitty Hawk Time Machine is now one of our most utilized hands-on exhibits in the Joan L. Hrubec Aviation Education Center.
