![\"Johnny](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/johnnyMc-bio-photo-web.jpg\")
<\/a>CEO James Kidrick, who has authorized many changes in the eight and a half years he\u2019s been in charge, said it\u2019s a place to have fun and gain a high quality experience.<\/p>\n
Along the way are interactive exhibits like the MaxFlight\u00ae and F-35 simulators, a kid-zone, 3D\/4D movie theater plus dynamic, hands-on and ever-changing traveling exhibitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, we would like to have more space,\u201d Kidrick said.\u00a0\u201cFor instance, it would be difficult to fit in a B17 or B24 [WWII bombers]. If we add an aircraft we have to take something out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the visitor has no reason to be disappointed in the way aircraft are displayed. Highlighted might be the working flying replica of Lindbergh\u2019s Spirit of St. Louis, the actual Apollo 9 Command Module spacecraft and the only real GPS satellite on display in the world.<\/p>\n
Artifacts on hand come from the Wright Brothers, Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and other aviation and space pioneers.<\/p>\n
As an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum is also is a member of the prestigious American Alliance of Museums.<\/p>\n
Kidrick singled out a replica of the 1911 Curtiss pusher (engine and propeller behind the pilot\u2019s seat) biplane that was among the first to take\u00a0off and land from a ship.<\/p>\n
Kidrick recalled his days as a Navy pilot when he landed and took off from carriers while flying an A4 Skyhawk and A7D Corsair. He retired as a commander after 21 years in the service.<\/p>\n
He explained that life at the museum goes far beyond the exhibits where between 225 and 250 volunteers carry the workload there and at the Gillespie Field Annex in El Cajon.<\/p>\n Besides docents on the exhibit floor, others are in the research library and in the workshops where replicas are constructed.<\/p>\n He said the workshops here and at Gillespie are a mixture of veterans from the aircraft industry and those who are willing to learn.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes time to build replicas from scratch, maybe as long as six to 10 years,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cHowever, it will take less time to reconstruct a damaged plane like the Ought F40-7 Corsair we now have on display.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve built a bunch of things for the USS Midway [Museum] with the equipment we have in our working area,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Kidrick gambled when he added the non-aircraft theme Ripley\u2019s Believe It or Not exhibit last year.<\/p>\n Because of the public\u2019s response, he said his \u201dteam\u201d voted to continue the show through this year with a 50 percent changeover.<\/p>\n Key fundraisers are the popular annual Hall of Fame banquet and a golf tournament.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n New BPOC Exec<\/strong><\/p>\n Balboa Park Online Collaborative, a non-profit organization that provides strategic support and technology development for cultural institutions,\u00a0announced Nik Honeysett as the new chief executive officer.<\/p>\n Honeysett joins BLOC from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where he was the head of administration. He will assume his new role on June 2.<\/p>\n As the technology backbone of the 27 Balboa Park cultural institutions, BPOC is responsible for\u00a0website development and park-wide wireless access to in-gallery technology.<\/p>\n Honeysett replaces Vivian Kung Haga, who served as the executive director since May 2012 and is relocating to Japan.<\/p>\n Zoo gets $6 million grant<\/strong><\/p>\n San Diego Zoo Global has received an education gift\u00a0of $6 million from the Price Family Charitable Fund, a permanent endowment for San Diego Zoo Global\u2019s education programs for Title 1 schools in San Diego County. It\u2019s the largest gift Global has ever received.<\/p>\n \u201cHands-on learning is one of the most important opportunities we can provide for our students,\u201d said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. \u201cIt\u2019s engaging, it\u2019s relevant and it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryun\u2019s record celebrated<\/strong><\/p>\n The 50th anniversary of Jim Ryun\u2019s extraordinary feat to become the first high school boy to run a sub-4 minute mile was celebrated at San Diego\u2019s historic Balboa Stadium on June 5.<\/p>\n A national coalition including representatives from the San Diego Track Club, Bring Back the Mile, Competitor Group, Inc. and Ryun himself announced plans for a Jim Ryun Festival of Miles, a summertime celebration in San Diego to honor the milestone achievement.<\/p>\n Ryun was the first high school runner to break the four-minute mile as a junior at Wichita East High School in Wichita, Kansas. On June 5, 1964, on a clay track in Compton, he ran 3:59. Then as a senior, he ran 3:55.3 \u2014 a mark that stood for 36 years. ESPN has rated him the number-one high school athlete of the century, beating out Tiger Woods and LeBron James. A three-time Olympian (1964, 1968 and 1972) and silver medalist at the 1,500-meters, Ryun eventually was elected as a United States Congressman from Kansas.<\/p>\n \u2014After an award winning, 38-year sports writing career with the San Diego Union and authoring three books, Johnny McDonald now considers writing a hobby. He enjoys covering aspects of the port district, convention center, Balboa Park, zoo, and stories with a historical bent. You can reach him at johnny23@cox.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The flight pattern at the San Diego Air & Space Museum goes straight through with adventurous aircraft history from the Wright Brothers to space exploration.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":235659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Exploring Balboa Park June 2014 - Johnny McDonald","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>