Aviation Heritage Park & Museum in Bowling Green, Ky invites the public to Open Cockpit, a rare opportunity to get an up-close look inside the historic aircraft displayed throughout the park. Admission and all Open Cockpit activities are free. Food will be available for purchase from Drop It Like It’s Tot.

Viewing platforms will give visitors a pilot’s-eye view of the carefully preserved and restored cockpits of Marine One, the Panther, Shooting Star, Phantom 550, Aardvark, and UH-1 Huey. Knowledgeable docents, many of them pilots, will be stationed throughout the park to explain the aircraft, answer questions, and share the remarkable stories of the men and women who flew them.

Inside the museum, visitors can do more than look. They can climb into the cockpit of the Northrop T-38 Talon and take the pilot’s seat. AHP&M’s T-38 honors Bowling Green native and NASA astronaut Terry Wilcutt. T-38 aircraft have been used to train generations of NASA astronauts, including every astronaut who walked on the moon.

NEW THIS YEAR: THE KIDS’ FLIGHT PLAN

Open Cockpit will include even more hands-on fun for young visitors. A STEAM bus outside the museum will offer children’s activities, while the museum classrooms will feature opportunities to explore drones and Sphero robots. Additional activities may be announced as plans are finalized.

All that exploring can work up an appetite. Drop It Like It’s Tot will be outside the museum with tater tots, hot dogs, drinks, and other food available for purchase.

Bring the family, meet the pilots and docents, explore aviation technology, and see AHP&M’s aircraft from an entirely new point of view.