<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/DSC_0950.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-991" title="Tulsa Air and Space Museum" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/DSC_0950.jpg" alt="Tulsa Air and Space Museum" width="512" height="340" /></a>

We're known for our oil days here in Tulsa, sure, but did you know that we also have quite a history in aviation? <a href="http://www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com/history.php?nav=aboutus">It's true</a>.

<a href="http://www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com/">The Tulsa Air and Space Museum &amp; Planetarium</a>, off of 36th Street North and practically <a href="http://www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com/directions.php?nav=visit">across the street from Mohawk Park</a>, is how we honor that history, as well as Tulsa's pioneers of the science and the industry.<!--more-->It's also an interactive way to teach our kids about what all can happen in between the beginning and the end of that whole what-comes-up-must-come-down story. At 19,000 square feet, it's a rather robust teaching tool, too.

First, let's talk about the TASM planetarium.

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Did you know that TASM is home to the only planetarium in northeast Oklahoma?

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It's true.

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When we visited TASM last week, we arrived just in time for an afternoon showing of Extreme Planets.

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We parents, we were transfixed. A movie about roiling planets in other solar systems, all beneath at 50-foot dome? Heck, yes. We love this kind of thing.

But after about five minutes, the two-year-old in our party was, shall we say, ready to explore elsewhere.

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So, we headed across the walk to the museum.

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TASM isn't the kind of museum where there are as many do-not-touch signs as there are exhibits. It's a place where kids are encouraged to pursue whatever piques their curiosity, whether that means climbing into the cockpit of a jet or launching a space shuttle.

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Tulsa's first aviation event involved a smoke balloon, which took flight on Independence Day 1897, just a few months before our city's incorporation. Who knew?

<em>It's a bird...it's a plane...no! It's a balloon full of smoke!</em>

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I like smoke-filled balloons as much as the next waxen, possessed-looking little girl, but an F-14 Tomcat? That really gets my goat.

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Purrrrr.

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And what's not to love about a Bell 47K Helicopter?

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Fact: During my grandfather's service in the Army in Korea in the 1950s, he survived a helicopter crash.

Needless to say, the ground has felt pretty darned good under his feet ever since.

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Calling all gearheads...

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/DSC_0918.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-983" title="Tulsa Air and Space Museum" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/DSC_0918.jpg" alt="Tulsa Air and Space Museum" width="512" height="340" /></a>

Check out this engines exhibit.

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Purdy, idn't it?

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And...<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Taylor_(character)">Tim the Tool Man Taylor</a> just blew a gasket.

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This was my favorite spot at TASM - the American Airlines exhibit.

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Back in the day (the 1950s and '60s), no one would have thought to wear their stretchy pants to the airport. Traveling was a formal affair, and the appropriate dress was required, both of passengers as well as airline staff.

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I wasn't the only one interested in this particular exhibit.

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What can I say? The kid loves airplanes.

You might even say he LURVES them.

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Yeah. I think you could definitely feel safe in saying that.

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Ooo - a six-foot-long model Viper F-16...

...In a wind tunnel. In which you can use the control stick and rudder pedals to pitch, roll and yaw that thing until the cows come home.

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The Tulsa Municipal Airport terminal was built in the height of the heyday of art deco architecture. TASM has re-created much of the styling of that 1932 building, which included the welcoming angel over the entrance and its trademark aviation motif.

Artifacts from the TMA are featured inside this exhibit.

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Built in Tulsa just a year earlier than TMA, this Spartan C-2 was an effort of the Spartan Aircraft Company to sell less-expensive aircraft during the Great Depression.

Cool, huh?

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Right now TASM offers the Extreme Machines exhibit, a hands-on group of ways kids can learn how simple machines can make life a lot easier for us human types. Munchkins have the chance to do stuff like try to hoist themselves into the air using a pulley (or, as they'll find is easier, a system of pulleys) and how a series of gears, levers and belts can work together to do big things.

Who knows, parents. You might just set a mechanical engineering career in motion by taking your child to see this exhibit.

Or, it might be a chance for you to give your child a lesson in the proper wooing of ladies.

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"Shucks, ma. I struck out <em>again</em>."

It's okay, baby. One day, you'll succeed. And I'll be really, really mean to the lucky woman until she proves she's worthy.

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Monster-in-law ain't gonna have nothing on me.

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My son's favorite thing to do right now is something he likes to call <em>push the button</em>. Whether it's at the elevator door or at the coffee grinder in the morning, this kid completely freaks out if he doesn't get to push the button. It's his favorite.

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This was the precise moment when TASM became my son's new favorite place in this world.

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<em>Push the button!</em>

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To top everything off, TASM is home to a playground right next door to an active runway.

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It's pretty awesome when a plane flies overhead.

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Want to get the most out of you visit to TASM? <a href="http://www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com/admission.php?nav=visit">Schedule a tour</a>. And/or, check out <a href="http://www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com/education-guide.php?nav=education">this TASM education guide</a>.

<strong>Tulsa Air and Space Museum</strong>
Where: 3624 N. 74th E. Ave.
When: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sunday, 1-5pm
How much: $12 for adult, $10 for seniors (62 and over), $10 for students and military, kids between 4-7 are $7 and kids age 3 and under get in free (admission prices include a ticket to a show in the planetarium)
Call: (918) 834-9900
Web: <a href="http://www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com/">tulsaairandspacemuseum.com</a>