ou can touch them. You can feel them. You can even get inside them. Yeah, it's an honest-to-goodness-up-close-and-very-personal, totally unique museum experience. What makes it so cool, is exactly that - it's a cool, refreshing temperature inside…while outside in the 116 degree blast furnace heat is an aging A-4 Skyhawk, an FA-18 Hornet and an A-6 Intruder (among other classics of the genre) that look as if they'd been baked in the sun .

Now, you're saying to yourself, what on earth is this guy talking about? Well for starters it's about a great love of my life, classic aircraft, and my first visit to a superb aviation museum in Palm Springs, California, USA. You wonder, at first glance if it's a mirage, as here you are in the arid, baking hot desert, but then as you look at the town, you see gorgeous green golf courses and elegant homes, all with greener than green grass lawns that are so lush and fulsome, you're sure it IS either a mirage or a Hollywood movie set.

As an aviation buff and longtime travel journalist, I've been lucky enough see up close and personal (but never like this!) many of the world's great aviation museums. A lot of them put their classic aircraft on display as if they were (because yes, they ARE!) often one of a kind, and can't be touched by any mere mortal. They're roped off and, heaven forbid you actually touched them, you're inviting the speedy wrath of security guards' who tell you that it's an absolute NO NO. "We do NOT allow you to touch our war birds," they say.

But that's one of the many things I love about the Palm Springs Air Museum. The aircraft on display are the original ones from the factory, and in THIS museum you can touch them, feel them and really get a sense of what it must have been like to actually fly in them. Even more surprising, is that many are still in flying condition, including a marvelous B-17 and a C-47.

The Inside of the Museum's C-47. As a WW2 buff I've always been fascinated by the Dakota, or DC-3, so it was marvelous to see inside the Museum's pristine C-47 (as the military called them) and gaze down its interior (in what now seems like a very narrow fuselage, compared to today's giants like the huge C-17 that can board around 102) and imagine the C-47 with its full load of 18 or so paratroopers, ready to jump out on the Normandy landscape in the D-Day invasion of June 6th, 1944.

107 miles, or 172 Km from Los Angeles, Palm Springs is about a two hour drive - and well worth every minute, as there is so much to do and see in Palm Springs. It's especially worth the drive to experience this one-of-kind aviation museum that your children -- and the whole family -- will find fascinating. That's particularly true on the 2nd floor in another unique room in this amazing museum, where you can sit at a PC and, with the help of a very "tech savvy" docent, engage in aerial combat and try to shoot down an enemy aircraft.

A thrilling and exciting video game that kids (and adults!) will love!

Scattered around the ceiling of this room, you'll also be entranced by a superb array of large, marvelous models of WW2 aircraft. Among the many full sized aircraft on display, are a B-25 Mitchell, F4F Wildcat, F4U Corsair, P-47 Thunderbolt, B-17 Flying Fortress, Supermarine Spitfire, P-51 Mustang, P-40 Hawk, and a F6F Hellcat.

Looks almost real - right! This is one of the Museum's superb models. Here the beautiful P-38 Lightning.

If you're a history buff, book and memorabilia lover, you'll also be captivated by a collection of some classic publications - would you believe they've got every issue of LIFE magazine, even its very first issue. This is just one of the many wonderful personal touches that make THIS museum so bewitching - like a sign that proclaims "KIDS…KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR GRANDPA!"

I've mentioned how special everything is, and that's lovingly expressed in a room where the entry sign says "THE ROAD TO WAR IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC." Inside you'll see a superb collection of model USN vessels, including a huge model of the battleship USS Missouri, and the classic aircraft carrier USS Lexington. Then over to the left in a corner, you'll see skilled mechanics working on a Stearman. Now then, how many Traveling Boy readers' know what THAT aircraft is!!!

Inside its air conditioned hangars, or outside on the tarmac, here is a one-of-a-kind museum that's fun, educational, incredibly interesting and has more sights, sounds and things to see that will make you wonder "how come I've spent 4 hours here, when it only seems like 30 minutes."

For times of operation, admission prices and other information, see www.palmspringsairmuseum.org.

To contact John: email jdcradio@cox.net

The Famous Tuskegee Airmen! On the right a P-51 fighter in the livery of the Tuskegee crews who flew the "Red Tail" Mustangs. Above is a huge 12 foot by 60 foot mural featuring 51 Tuskegee Airmen. They were an all African-American unit of the US Army Air Corps (Air Force) in World War II who escorted US bombers on raids over Europe, against German and other Axis targets. Interestingly, they were the only fighter unit credited with never having a bomber shot down that was in their protection.

A Classic "Aviator Pose." This wonderful figure is right outside the entrance to the Museum, and I love it because it shows how fighter pilots describe to their fellow pilots how they attacked an enemy aircraft. See his hands and the way he is describing how he attacked the other aircraft. He's wearing the outfits from that era - goggles, parachute on his back, a Mae West life vest, and leather helmet. Be sure to take YOUR picture alongside this unique statue.

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