Topeka may be the capital of Kansas, but Wichita is the "Air Capital of the World."
A little explanation: When you think of early aviation, you probably think of the Wright Brothers’ maiden flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C. But several factors caused aviation pioneers and manufacturers to cluster in Kansas.
It is relatively flat, with steady winds that helped early, underpowered aircraft take off and land. It had an oil millionaire, J.M. Moellendick, whose employees Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman founded Beech Aircraft, Cessna Aircraft and Stearman Aircraft in the 1920s and 1930s.
And with these manufacturers and more churning out aircraft during World War II, Wichita easily persuaded Congress to build even more here since the city was safe from enemy bombing.
As a result, Wichita became the Silicon Valley of aviation. After the war Bill Lear founded Learjet here, facing stiff competition in the corporate-jet market from the Cessna Citation. Today, many other aircraft and parts manufacturers—Airbus, Beech, Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, Spirit and others—have operations here, and any aircraft you fly in likely has something in it that comes from Wichita.
Through it all stood the modest Wichita Municipal Airport, an Art Deco beauty that was one of the nation’s busiest airports in the days before transcontinental flights. Taken over for military pilot training in the 1950s, the airport was later acquired by Wichita and today houses the Kansas Aviation Museum (316.683.9242; www.kansasaviationmuseum.org).
The museum has been undergoing an extensive renovation to restore it to its appearance in the days when Howard Hughes would eat at the lunch counter and Fred Astaire once danced for fellow passengers while awaiting his flight.
Today the atrium, upper atrium and a conference room are available to groups, who can also tour around aircraft such as a Boeing 727 airliner, a KC-135E air tanker, a Boeing B-52D Stratofortress and one of the last, ultra-sleek Beech Starship corporate jets.
Kansas aviation history is by no means confined to Wichita.
Salina saw Steve Fossett take off from Salina Airport and circle the world on his own without refueling, landing there again some 67 hours later.
And in Topeka, the Combat Air Museum (785.862.3303; www.combatairmuseum.org) features a wide array of primarily U.S. aircraft and trainers, from a Curtis JN-4 "Jenny" biplane up to today’s F-14 Tomcat jet fighters.
Groups can also enjoy recreations of World War II USO performances here, complete with costumed singers and dancers showcasing 1940s favorites.