On the last leg of our trip to connect with family on the West Coast, we stopped off to see a small but important museum that captures a broad spectrum of aviation history important to the area. The Oakland Aviation Museum is located in an old hangar at Oakland International Airport, and aircraft of many different vintages pepper the field around the museum and fill the inside.

Perhaps the most notable historical event that took place at Oakland International Airport was that it was site of Amelia Earhart’s take-off on her final flight. An eerie Earhart artifact at the museum was a print of her hand as interpreted by a palmist.

The most notable airplane there was the one that Roger learned to fly in.

One of the most recent additions to the collection was a model of a dirigible that had been made for the Boeing Company in 2000.

There was also a Russian MIG in excellent shape. All of these aircraft had been carefully restored; some looked new.

And what fascinated me more than the MIG was seeing the interior of an air balloon basket!

On the grounds outside the museum there was a wide variety of military aircraft from every recent war. And in the center of the museum was quite a surprise: the local model railroad club has a huge table set up with four sets of trains operating, clearly a labor of love for these individuals. The entire setup was based on a Bavarian theme, and that alone was well worth the $4 admission fee for the museum!