If you’re a travel geek like me, you’ll appreciate this one. It’s one thing to walk through the airport and get on a plane with your eyes half-closed. But if you see the process from the inside, you might get a whole different perspective on the travel process.
In the desert of Southern California, the Mojave Air and Space Port has tours of its maintenance and research facilities on weekdays, which are led by the guy who actually refuels the planes.
In Tucson, Arizona, the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center is located on an Air Force base, where they store more than 4,000 retired military aircraft. Because it’s military owned, most of the facility is closed to the public. But you can take a bus tour to see the operations and retired planes with the nearby Pima Air and Space Museum for only $7.
If you’ve ever wondered how a commercial airport works, Cleveland International Airport has designed a tour that’s geared toward adults, not groups of school kids. That can get you behind the scenes of airport operations, and may even get you access to the TSA security tour and inside an airplane hangar.
But plan ahead, since you have to reserve a slot at least four weeks in advance.
Bottom line: even in today’s high-security airports, it is possible to go behind the scenes, which for me is a much more interesting experience.
Find more ways to appreciate air travel in our Airlines & Airports section.
And check out the rest of our Daily Travel Tips here.
