If you are an commercial aviation enthusiast, this is the #1 place to visit in North America, no exaggerations. The staff is very friendly, its very educational, they have some great views of the runways, and the staff also gave us a secret location where we could have a spectacular view of planes take off and land. read more

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Fun little museum. It's so nice to learn about the history of the Flying Tigers. Awesome exhibits. Makes one nostalgic for the golden era of flying as well. The lovely airline attendants uniforms and the model airplanes. It was cool walking through the building. read more

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Interesting museum, though somewhat difficult to find. Watching the big jets passing by outside was a treat, though I think this place would benefit from a second-floor observing platform. The staff told me about Clutter's Park, just down the street, which has an outstanding view of the airport's south side. read more

Knowledgeable and friendly staff. Great place to watch planes land and take off. My 4yr old loved it!

This museum is a real gem. It is very inexpensive at $5 per adult, though they discount many categories of entrants. I should have taken lots of photos but there were so many things to look at and read that I didn't think of it and just took a few. If you want a good history of flight in general and LAX, this is a must visit. It's bigger than it looks from the outside. You can also listen in on airline radios and watch takeoffs and landings. read more

Flight Path Museum - Historic poster - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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A great little museum on the southern edge of LAX! If you're interested in the history of aviation and LAX, then you'll find this place very interesting! The staff are all volunteers and very knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. My favorite parts was seeing the different uniforms of different pilots and flight attendants through the years as well hearing the live flight control workers on the speakers. You can see the planes take off and land and hear the announcements on the control radio. It's only $5 and I definitely recommend it. I'd give yourself about an hour to take your time looking at everything. read more

Flight Path Museum - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

This cute aviation museum had lots of flight attendant uniforms from all different airlines, memorabilia organized by airlines, model planes of all sizes and some real planes outside. There was a room dedicated to the Flying Tigers, a movie room, and a dedicated space to space travel. The favorite part was listening to the air traffic controllers and seeing the planes on a computer that overlooked runways and watching the planes take off and land! Kids are free and general admission is $5. The docents are very kind and helpful and knowledgeable! read more

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Awesome museum packed with historic details and even has a library. The outlook is amazing and the folks running the place were knowledgeable and brilliant. Well worth visiting for the airplane enthusiast. read more

There's a ton of history here at this gem of a museum. Mostly since it's close by I watch the planes pass by landing and taking off. You can be escorted outside and see the vintage dc-3 and take great photos/videos outside. The museum itself has a ton of flight crew uniforms and branding of air carriers past to present. There's a library, space exhibit, and flight simulator training. It's staffed by volunteers whom gave a wealth of knowledge and have been or still in the industry. It's $5 to visit and if your an airport employee it's $3. I'm a member as it's fun just to hang out here. If you're a member or planning on going hit me up! read more

Flight Path Museum - Outside with plenty of parking - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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This place is amazing, and the staff, whom are volunteers, are the best. Full of knowledge and so helpful and friendly. read more

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This museum was pleasant, even though it was small. It had a lot of educational things inside. Me and my friends loved it, we loved the decorations inside. it was just an overall fun experience, highly recommend to go to the In-N-Out down the street after. read more

I live in the South Bay and have been "meaning to stop in" here for about 15 years. Finally made it last Saturday, bringing with me my 93-year-old retired TWA pilot buddy, Earl. The building is unassuming from the exterior, so I thought we'd swing through in an hour. Full disclosure: I don't have any real connection to this topic. I'm not especially interested in airplanes or space or anything. *Three* hours later, we had to leave but had barely begun to survey the huge, well-organized, attractively displayed collection! There is truly something for everyone, from flight simulators to fashions. I was especially interested in learning about the Gordon Bennett Balloon Race, a gas (not hot air) event that took place in Southern California 1979-1989, before returning to its native Europe. Check out the trophy sculpted by Paul Conrad, the Los Angeles Times' 3-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist. Be sure to walk out on the tarmac. A simple pleasure but fun to feel the wind in your face. But the best part was visiting with the four very lovely staff people. What a beautiful way to spend an afternoon. So glad I finally made it. read more

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We found ourselves minutes from this museum while waiting to meet up with family later. Had the best time!!! So much history & memorabilia!! The volunteers Nick, Scott and Tom were incredibly kind & helpful!! Highly recommend making this a stop when you have some time to kill @ LAX! read more

Flight Path Museum - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Great Flight museum right on LAX property. Amazing memorabilia, real uniforms, great historic airline relics and awesome LAX history along with great view of the runways 25 L/R. Amazing people work at the museum and the space section is very interesting as well. read more

The FLIGHT PATH MUSEUM is free and educational. They. have a lot of different items on exhibit. The entire back side of the building looks out onto the airfield so you can see planes take off and land. According to the people working here (volunteers???) you can book this place for special events too! read more

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I am a volunteer at the Flight Path Museum so of course I think the place is fabulous. The earlier reviews were wonderful but there have been a few changes that have occurred over time. Your can still go outside but you have to be escorted by one of us (and we are happy to do it). We can no longer let anyone on the DC3--she is a tired old girl and needs restoration so people don't fall thru the floor. Come for a visit. You'll be glad you did! read more

Took grandkids yesterday. They enjoyed it of course as they love air museums. Docents were awesome. Great spot for watching take offs from LAX. Both kids were free and as a vet I was $3 with ample free parking. If any cons its a little small. I would definitely stop by again if in the area. read more

More like 3.5 stars but rounding up due to the greeter at the front of the museum. Free lot parking. Would be perfect if only they would offer guided tours, since it's hard to fully appreciate without having more compelling background to the significance of the museum displays. read more

This unassuming little building off to the side along the perimeter of LAX; who knew it could hold such a wealth of flight memorabilia, history capturing the richness of this world renowned airport. Yes it has "learning center" in its name but that's a small part of this place. It's a multi-room museum that by telling the LAX story ends up covering much about the history of flight. Most everything here was donated in one form or fashion and you'll notice that when you walk in the front door and see the luggage that maybe your grandparents use. If you have a love of aircraft or a child that does, this should be a must stop. A visit is free to the public and there is a donation box at the inside entrance. Some on the staff are actually city employees but it's also made up of volunteers. Friendly and full of knowledge, ask a question and they will eagerly answer. But back to the features; there are small scale aircraft models throughout; a history of LAX through each decade; stories and photos galore. Lots of uniforms on display that were in style through the years. They should bring some of those styles back. Because of its location adjacent to the airport, some people come here just to watch the airport operations going on and aircraft takeoffs and landings. They even have a ground control radio tuned in so you can listen to the airport aircraft handling activity. Wall to wall windows give you a panoramic view. When you're ready, someone from the staff will escort you outside to tour the Spirit of Seventy Six. Make sure they tell you it's story. The museum is opened Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm. read more

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I travelled multiple times to LA area but my first time to visit this place Great place to learn about history of LAX and associated commercial and military aviations. Highly recommend to visit this place if you have extra time hang out near LAX. Especially kind staff let me into the executive spirit 76 as well!! read more

Flight Path Museum - Executive interior of spirit of 76 - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

My kids were off from school so I decided to burn some time at the LAX Flight Path Learning Center. This is a free museum. No awkward employees gathering 'forced' donation. The nice lady at the front was genuinely happy to see us. I don't think they get many visitors. :) Despite the name, we didn't see any radar machines or flight path monitors, not that we expected to. I have you very young kids and we weren't planning to spend much time reading the panels or looking at the model airplanes. There are displays about TWA and PanAm (I always wondered what happened to them), old stewardess uniforms, etc. If you like that kind of thing, you can probably spend 1-2 hours here without a problem. I took the boys to let them see the interior of an airplane and sit in the cockpit. And we sure did! A nice docent / museum administrator took us on a tour of the old private jet executives of 76 Gas Stations used to use. I'm sure she has lots of other things to do but she never rushed us as we sat and sat and sat in the pilot seats of the cockpit. She didn't complain of the heat - it was hot outside and probably 90 degrees in the old jet. She answered all of our questions and even let us watch a few commercial planes land and takeoff at LAX. The museum sit on part of the LAX Tarmac. One runway was so close the engine noises startled my toddler - h,e of course, thought it was the neatest thing and wanted to see more. Inside, there is a nice area where you can sit and see a video of how the Endeavor Space Shuttle was moved to Los Angeles. We enjoyed watching the video twice, back to back, while we sat in the air conditioning. Another lady came by to say hi. We didn't see any other visitors during our visit. A perfect visit for plane-crazed little boys. Our little secret for now! read more

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Great little museum with a lot of replicas and uniforms of the past! If you're in the area, it's great for a visit with a lot of friendly staff and volunteers who are very well informed! read more

Flight Path Museum - Entry area with actual uniforms from the past - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

LAX best kept secret, Great collection of airline artifacts presented by very knowledgeable retired airline employees for most. You can also tour the resident corporate DC3 parked on the ramp. Depending of the volunteers availability, you can also snap some photos of the cargo planes parked on the next ramp. Free parking is a plus. The Museum is on the way to Clutter's park (aka the hill for additional plane spotting). read more

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Excellent experience the food service was orderly and Suficient and the retires at the event were happy and excited to visit and meet old flying friends of past flights. read more

Really stoked I finally got a chance to visit the Museum! Last time I came they were closed due to a private event. I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting, HOWARD, who just started with the Flight Path. He was the Supervisor for United Airline's Flight Attendants, based out of LAX. He knew one of my late personal friends who passed recently, Pamela Weber. It was such a pleasure discussing how PAMELA was instrumental in testing new Uniforms for United & what a lovely person she was. Couldn't have made for a better day. Especially loved visiting the, "Uniform Room!" And the celebrity photos were terrific! read more

Flight Path Museum - What remains... of stage ll rocket - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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This is a great little museum. It's Free and the folks that volunteer here are great! It's a fantastic history of LAX and many of the airlines that have served this airport. They also have a section on the aerospace industry covering the local area's industry and contribution to space. They have an extensive collection of aircraft models. A great exhibit and collection of vintage airline uniforms. There is a whole room dedicated to Flying Tigers (pre-cursor to FedEx). It's located right in LAX airport so there is a great view of arriving and departing aircraft. This is a small little gem of a Museum. Could certainly see most of it in under an hour if you were short on time or could spend a few hours here if you want. read more

Pro: +Free ! (Donation is accepted) +Lots to see, can easily spend few hours. +Free Parking +Have a DC3 in the back of museum, that you can see and take picture. +Photograph allow include flash. +Friendly Staff + A lot less crowded due to small profile of the museum. Cons: -Most outsider or even locals do not know this Museum. -Display doesn't show brief history of the item, ask the staff for more info. I didn't know this museum till i did a local museum search near the Manhathan Beach. This one is free too, if you had kids or has any interest in aviation, you should definite come here, is located very close to LAX. read more

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In this nondescript building on the outskirts of LAX, there's this museum managed by former pilots and flight attendants, displaying artifacts from generations of commercial airlines. It's deceptively extensive. At first you think it's just going to be a single room exhibit area, but there are actually several rooms and a labyrinth of hallways. Some spaces loaded to the ceiling with vintage stewardess uniforms. Yes, expect to see authentic Pan Am and TWA wear. Some of the hostess costumes are pretty silly, particularly this one that looks like a bad golden tissue paper tunic. The museum also includes a Douglas DC-3, which can be toured when one of the ladies is available. It's out on the tarmac, and you get a great view of planes taking off and landing at LAX. The DC-3 has Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes' names inside, though it's mostly speculated that either of them actually flew the plane out back. Either way you can sit in the cockpit (in fact, it's encouraged for your photos). They also carry a few artifacts from the Flying Tigers, models of many different military planes, old tourism posters, and other odds and ends like samurai armor and a golden crown made during Korea's Silla Dynasty around 500 AD. The Flight Path Museum is completely free, though you're required to sign in and they do seem to keep close track of where people come and go and how many people were in groups here and there. read more

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A place you must visit!! As much as I'm terrified of Airplanes, Ann (our lovely tour guide), and Eleanor, whom was working the front desk made me feel at ease while educating my son & I about the facts of aviation. This lovely place is free...YES...F-R-E-E, but they do accept donations. (Please leave one, it's well worth it.) Now let me rewind really quick. The parking was very quick and easy, we were only one of two cars on the lot. Score!! LoL When you walk in there is a folder to sign in, (name, address, email). Immediately after signing in Ann, our guide was waiting to greet my son and I. She is such a wonderful lady. Very pleasant, funny, knowledgeable, and great with keeping everyone's attention. My son and I learned so much from her! He even left with a goodie bag for answering a specific question about the Museum at the end of his visit. (I won't tell what the question was, that's cheating. LoL) Ann took us around the museum and explained many different things about the history of the airplanes, the history of LAX, and a myraid of other things. We even had the opportunity to board the DC-3 that's there on the outside of the museum. My son loved it!! You'll also have the opportunity to see many planes depart and arrive into LAX (bring a camera.... It's great to see!!) There was also a short movie we watched about the Endavour. The process it took to get it here to California, tour the city, and the hanger it was stored in until the time to transport it to the California Science Center. Great history!! Oh! I also don't want to forget that we were able to listen to the men and women who worked the Control Tower give permission to the planes for landing. This is a great place for the young and young at heart (LOL). Grab everyone you know and visit the Flight Path Learning Center Museum. You'll be impressed! read more

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If you like aviation, you'll like this museum. As others have said, not impressive from the outside but room after room of items inside. Each seeming to have more stuff that the others. Unlike other museums, almost all items are right there in front of you. If you have children (or adults for that matter) that like to touch and pick things up, keep a close eye on them to protect the exhibits. They are in the open so you can get a closer look, not to pick up and examine. This place seems to run on donations so drop something in the box so it can survive. The volunteers were great to us, walking us out to the DC-3, inviting us into it and (as said by other reviewers) encouraging us to sit in the cockpit. It is very cool to be right on the tarmac, watching the modern planes land a couple of hundred yards in front of you. Bring you camera, take lots of pictures and take your time to read through the information on the displays. You could easily spend hours here if you read them all. Hope you get to try it, enjoy! read more

Flight Path Museum - This was amazing to me. The small scale model of the DC-3 that is sitting outside - the other is the A300 - to the same scale! - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

A hidden gem, such nice and passionate people working there. With great collections and a cool spot next to LAX

This museum is truly a hidden gem, in the sense that you would never know it existed if you were simply driving by unless you found it online earlier. Whenever I'm in the area and I have a few hours of downtime, I usually go up to Imperial Hill to do some aviation photography. I read on a forum about this museum, which is right across Imperial Hill, and was surprised to know such a huge collection exists in plain sight. The commercial aviation memorabilia collection displayed here is the most extensive I have seen in any aviation museum. Stewardess uniforms, sample menus, playing cards, pins, etc. If there's a collectible piece from the good old days of flying with Pan Am, United, American, TWA, SAS, or any other major international airline, they've got it on display. In contrast, they also have great exhibits concerning the future of aviation and how it affects LAX, such as a Boeing 787 exhibit, posters from the first A380 service to LAX, and lots of information about the current Tom Bradley Terminal expansion. If you're a model geek like me, they have many display cases full of them. Also, make sure to check out the exhibits behind the conference room. They have a wonderful flight simulator set up, as well as an exhibit on satellites and space solar power (my line of work that I was quite surprised to see). Most of the workers you'll meet here are volunteers, and will be more than happy to answer any questions and give you a tour of the place. If you ask, they can take you to see the DC-3 outside (pending weather). I've also been told they take people out to the runway, which is a dream for any aviation photographer, but only on days with good weather and high demand. This museum is perfect for any commercial aviation enthusiast and best of all, its free! read more

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Such a cute spot staffed by volunteer aviation enthusiasts. Definitely stop in if you have the chance.

Great place to see if you have a long layover at LAX. The model planes and uniforms the air craft crew had to wear were awesome! I was here for 2hrs and still didn't see everything I wanted. There is so much cool history to read up on. read more

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I'm extremely impressed by the museum. Both by its content and staff. Came here with my nephews this past Saturday morning. The museum is open between 10-2 from Tuesday thru Sunday and is free, though I would recommend a donation since the museum has a large variety of historical items, planes and artifacts. From old luggage to old uniforms to vintage planes, the experience is quite enjoyable. There's an old luxury plane from like the 60s "spirit of 76" you can step into the cockpit or take a seat in its luxury chairs. One thing that really stood out was the staff, made up of former stewardesses and pilots. They were quite knowledgeable and very courteous. They even offered us free cookies and coffee at the end of the tour. Great little hidden gem right by the airport and a great place to take kids or check out the history of LAX. read more

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Our flight was delayed two hours, and thank goodness it was, because we had a blast at the Flight Path Museum! Knowledgeable former aviation workers staffed the exhibits and explained everything in riveting detail. Covers aviation from the earliest scientific inquiry to the potential developments in the next 25 years. There is an excellent view of the LAX runway. Some highlights include an aviation library featuring film slides, novels based in the air, and endless research opportunities. If you don't have much time, be sure to stop at the collection of stewardess and pilot uniforms from as early the 1940's. Why languish in a packed terminal when you could be adventuring in the Flight Path Museum! read more

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This was first, in a series of air museums. My niece and I showed up a little after opening. We entered a hallway with some luggage, signaling lights and what looked like a fuselage to a tiny plane. Already, I'm excited. What caught my attention was a TWA lighted sign that had the museum's hours on it. Kitsch! Entering the museum proper, there is a desk staffed by a volunteer. My niece signed the guest book for us. I began reading the information on the walls. Much of what is in the museum was donated by aviators and other flight staff people. There were multiple helpful volunteers, all of whom were just overjoyed to be there and see people come in. I loved seeing the actual uniforms from different airlines. Several defunct airlines had exhibits. I love old advertisements. There were two displays of posters featuring destinations around the world, sponsored by the airlines that had those flights. Some were just beautiful. Why don't we see artwork like that any more? A volunteer played us an 8 minute video that gave the history behind the LA World Airports. There is even a song about the LA International Airport. (It is kinda country, not my style, but a little catchy, nonetheless.) The building is deceptive. Every corner has more treasures to see. We stumbled into room after room of memorabilia, even in the office areas. I got the biggest kick out of seeing some of the chairs that are still used today in Terminal 1. I think they are super comfortable and was glad to see them "preserved" in the museum. You could hear the air controllers from one room. There is an actual plane that you can board, but we didn't ask for a volunteer to take us out there. We were only there for about 30 minutes, but I don't think we needed much more time than that. I think kids would get a kick out of some of the exhibits. Parking is free. Entrance is free. read more

Cool museum. Lots of good reading material/photos. The place is actually pretty big, I spent about 1.5 hours here. They allow you to go on the 1970s airplane which is pretty cool. Free to get it but you can donate money. Free parking. Go check it out. read more

Flight Path Museum - Museums Near Me - Los Angeles, California

The exhibits were mostly about the look of an airline with a collection of commercial airline marketing posters, souvenirs, and uniforms. Another area of emphasis was the historical growth of LAX. A DC-3 was the only plane on display, but guests can go inside which was probably the best part of the museum. Located next to the Imperial Terminal with free parking, the museum has a view of the across the southern runway of LAX. We stayed 30 minutes. read more

This museum is excellent! Along with the history of flight it has the history of Commercial Aviation, the clothing that the stewardess wore along with the captains uniforms too. Then you can also go on a 1946 Douglas DC-3 that was built at the Santa Monica CA manufacturing plant. It also has a room dedicated to space flight. In addition it is all free! If you have a couple hours to kill when you are in the area, even before or after a flight this is the place you can get your aviation history! I highly recommend the Flight Path Learning Center. read more