A Visit to the Ultimate Glider

Last summer, I took a five day trip to Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia. This trip was the highlight of my year before I had even boarded the flight to Charlotte. The next day after arriving in Charlotte, we drove to a nearby museum called Carolinas Aviation Museum. This museum houses the US Airways Airbus A320 that Chesley Sullenberger (Sully) and Jeffrey Skiles piloted and made an emergency landing on the Hudson River. I couldn’t wait to see the airplane in person! When I walked through the door I could see the tail of the US Airways plane in the distance, above the surrounding aircraft, and tears came to my eyes. It was incredible to see all of the damage up close and to really get a full understanding of how incredible this landing was. Being so close to a part of an amazing story was really wonderful. The other aircraft within the museum were very intriguing as well. The next day, we drove three hours to Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta, we had a tour set up with a person who works within the Delta Avionics Facility. Before the tour, we checked into a hotel right at the airport which had stunning views of all the runways. Early the next day we drove to the Delta Facility for our tour. On the tour, I saw engines that were being repaired, different kinds of aircraft that were receiving maintenance, and even got the opportunity to board a brand new plane that was only 15 days old! On the brand new aircraft I got to sit in the first class seats (for free)! They also invited me to sit in the captain’s seat before an actual captain even had! It was an absolutely incredible and memorable trip to see some of the behind the scenes action at one of the world’s busiest airports, as well as the famous plane that successfully landed on the Hudson.

Photos from Taylor’s trip, during which she saw the plane that Sully landed in the Hudson and the Delta Facility.