Many parents know: it's easy to entertain a child at the airport by watching planes take off and land. But what if you didn't have time to do this on your family's trip to Madrid? Then you can see the planes at the Spanish Aviation Museum. Admission is free, but combining the tour with other Madrid sights isn't easy as the museum is outside the city.
Museo de Aeronáutica y Astronáutica exhibition is housed in 7 hangars and the open air. Here you can see aeroplanes built at different times and in other countries. These include the Wright Brother's Flyer biplane, the Vilanova-Acedo aircraft, the Dornier Do J Wal flying boat of the 1920s designed by Dornier Flugzeugwerke, the first light bombers and fighter jets and helicopters. Around 150 aeroplanes and helicopters and many more aircraft models are on display.
During a tour, you will learn how many different tasks aviation performs: planes and helicopters are involved in search and rescue operations, are used in agriculture, are engaged in design and research work, and finally, are used for surveillance.
The aviation museum in Madrid also focuses on other aspects of aeronautics. In the hangars, you can see aircraft engines, onboard instruments and equipment for aerial surveillance, flight simulators, satellites and pilots' equipment. In the outdoor area, airfield equipment is displayed.
Documents and photographs about the development of aviation are collected in the museum building. Famous pilots, record flights, exploits of aviators — the history is traced here from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.
The downside of the museum is that the information is in Spanish only. But if there are aviation experts amongst you (or at least Spanish speakers), you can learn a lot.
