Hello everybody and today I will be writing about the Delta museum, which is situated near the airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Delta is the largest airline in the world by fleet size, and the second largest in the world by passengers travelled in the world, only behind American Airlines. With such a rich history and statistics that prove that Delta is a quality airline, this museum holds various answers to why Delta is one of the best airlines in the world. However, the ticket is pricey, so today, before you decide whether to go to this museum, I will be reviewing a breakdown of what you will see, so that you can make up your mind easier!
One thing to note is before making the trip to the museum is the place that this is located in. The Delta Museum, although located near the museum, is in College Park, in South Atlanta. This place is one of the most dangerous suburbs in the whole of Atlanta, known for dangerous crimes, robberies, and also homicides. Although we didn’t have any trouble visiting it, and you probably will not, it is important to know that you may be in danger.
When you enter the Delta Museum, you will see two main planes of theirs, the most notable one being the 747-400, which was actually the first one that Boeing ever produced, and was retired in 2015. You will see that later, as first you need to go into the main warehouse, which is titled ‘Delta Airlines’, to get your tickets. The basic tickets will give you access to everything except the simulation, which lets you fly an actual plane in a simulation, like pilots who are training do. You can also try to book this ticket, however, it is very expensive (around $400 USD on their website), and I would not recommend anyone to do it, unless you really enjoy airplanes, and want to be a pilot when you grow up, as that money is a lot compared to the ticket of approximately $21 USD per person.
After purchasing your tickets, you will see the main building. Here, you can first see a model size of one of the first airplanes that Delta Airlines flew. This is very interesting because you can see a life-sized model of the first airplane that Delta had. This is very interesting because it was powered via propellers, instead of engines, which meant the airplane moved slower. Also, it was interesting about how the plane was modeled. This specific livery was very old, and so was the airplane’s colour compared to new times.
Next was a small model of a plane that showed the important functions on how to control a plane, which was the rudder, the wings, and the nose. The rudder, which is located at the back of the plane where the airline’s logo is put, is important as it helps the plane move left and right by pointing in a direction where there is less pressure, and therefore helping the plane move that way. The wings help the plane get lift, as the air goes both above and below the wings which makes the air go down, and because every action has an opposite and equal reaction, the plane goes up. Finally, the nose is very important because it controls the pitch of the plane. If the plane pitches down, the altitude decreases because it is going down. If the plane pitches up, the altitude increases, but if it is pitched up too high, it starts decreasing because the angle of attack (how much the plane is pitched) is too high. Pitch helps increase the altitude or decrease for landing. After learning these functions, we were able to experiment by having a control system for the small plane where based on our actions, the plane would move. This was very fun, as we got to learn about the plane’s functions in a fun, playstyle way, which most people learn well about.
Additionally, we got to learn about simulations back in the day. Before the new fancy technology that made flying simulations super accurate, pilots used something called a Blue Box. A Blue Box is something that is controlled by another person outside of the plane, who can move the box up and down to create turbulence, and also pour water outside to mimic rain to make the training pilot used to the conditions that they could face in real life.
After that was a gallery about different types of things that Delta has changed over the years. One of the biggest examples was safety. Early in the days, people just wanted to start flying,a s it was a relatively new idea, and people didn’t really care about safety. However, as the years evolved, the need for safety has grown, especially after recent accidents. Delta took this on board, and they started implementing seatbelts and signs very soon after warnings. Also, another thing that Delta has changed is passenger comfort. I was very appalled to find out that in the early days, people couldn’t even talk to themselves on flights because of how loud it was, there were no seatbelts or entertainment, and there was no Air Conditioner. Thinking about flights these days, I couldn’t even believe trying to sit on these flights! However, as the popularity of flights increased, the demand of passengers also increased, which led to Delta amongst other airlines implementing better systems to help appease passengers, such as entertainment, snacks and Air Conditioner. The final thing that I found fascinating was that in the olden days, because there were no intercoms to make announcements on the plane, they had to give all messages to all passengers through a sheet of paper which had to be passed down through the whole line. Not only was it efficient, but it would’ve taken a lot of time, which would’ve made flights longer.
Now, to the next showcase, which showed a Delta Boeing Plane. This Plane had some of the seats still in it, but showed much of the history of Boeing. Much of this included the advertising of Boeing, and how they accompanied various people and brands to promote Delta. They also showed Air Hostesses, and had different mannequins of air hostesses working in the plane. They also show air hostess different uniforms and how they have evolved over the years. Personally, I think over the years the uniforms have become better as they are more ‘clean’ and composed compared to the flamboyant uniforms back in the day.
Finally, the star of the Show is the Boeing 747-400, which is shown outside of the Delta Museum. Here, you can see the first of Delta’s Boeing 747. On this, there are still some seats, and you can see both economy, and also first class. After the seats, we see lots of information. We can see different parts of the 747, and what they do to help the plane function. There is also a screen that shows a series of videos, on how this plane was moved from the airport (which is next to here) to this exact place, about the 747, how it was made and more information. We can also see a timeline of the 747’s history, and finally, you can also go on a wing view outside the plane to see the view!
Overall, the Delta Museum – although some places are pricey – is a great place to have fun and enjoy the history of one of the most successful airlines in American History.