Flight Path Learning Center – Museum

This is a must see if you have a long layover in LAX or live in SoCal just looking for something different to do. I am happy my son put this on his «To Do» list while visiting in December. The staff is wonderful and really take pride in their museum. To see the history of LAX, the commercial airlines, and even the Flying Tigers. Put this one on your «To Do» List, it’s worth the time.

My kids were off from school so I decided to burn some time at the LAX Flight Path Learning Center. This is a free museum. No awkward employees gathering ‘forced’ donation. The nice lady at the front was genuinely happy to see us. I don’t think they get many visitors. :)
Despite the name, we didn’t see any radar machines or flight path monitors, not that we expected to.
I have you very young kids and we weren’t planning to spend much time reading the panels or looking at the model airplanes. There are displays about TWA and PanAm (I always wondered what happened to them), old stewardess uniforms, etc. If you like that kind of thing, you can probably spend 1 – 2 hours here without a problem.
I took the boys to let them see the interior of an airplane and sit in the cockpit. And we sure did! A nice docent /​museum administrator took us on a tour of the old private jet executives of 76 Gas Stations used to use. I’m sure she has lots of other things to do but she never rushed us as we sat and sat and sat in the pilot seats of the cockpit. She didn’t complain of the heat — it was hot outside and probably 90 degrees in the old jet. She answered all of our questions and even let us watch a few commercial planes land and takeoff at LAX. The museum sit on part of the LAX Tarmac. One runway was so close the engine noises startled my toddler — h, e of course, thought it was the neatest thing and wanted to see more.
Inside, there is a nice area where you can sit and see a video of how the Endeavor Space Shuttle was moved to Los Angeles. We enjoyed watching the video twice, back to back, while we sat in the air conditioning. Another lady came by to say hi. We didn’t see any other visitors during our visit.
A perfect visit for plane-​crazed little boys. Our little secret for now!

TLDR: come visit this place. It’s awesome!
My cousin’s plane was delayed for two hours and we can’t just sit in in&out and do nothing. After googling what to do around LAX, I found this place to be right next to LAX. My cousin always like plane since he’s a little kid. So we decided to just go check it out.
I didn’t have high hope for this museum when I saw the outside of it. It looked like a regular government place with no fun decoration. Only a simple sign saying it’s flight path learning center. But I was wrong. There are so many plane models and flight staff uniforms! The staffs there are very helpful. You can tell they really care about all the visitors and they are also very knowledgeable.
We watched two short history videos and got to see the inside of a plane. My cousin had such a great time there the two hours delay seemed like nothing!

I had some relatives come into LAX on a very short layover and looked for something to do that was close to the airport but wouldn’t wear them out too much. We went here and had a great time. None of us are flight fans, but we enjoyed our tour and our guide. We stayed until 3, when they close. Parking was easy, and there is so much to see and read, that I could have stayed longer.
Directions from the airport: One Unilocal reviewer said to look for the «Imperial Terminal» sign on Century Blvd., but we couldn’t find the sign. You have to go under the Sepulveda tunnel south to Imperial Hwy, then make a right. The Learning Center is not well marked with a sign so you will need to watch the street numbers. We used an app my cousin had on his phone to find it.
I do plan to go back again!

The best place to go to to see up close airplane models and an actual airplane you are allowed to walk into and take pictures. It was a great learning experience for my nephew of 4 years of age. Also, customer service there was great! Must go!!!

A place you must visit!
As much as I’m terrified of Airplanes Ann (our lovely tour guide), and Eleanor, whom was working the front desk made me feel at ease while educating my son & I about the facts of aviation.
This lovely place is free… YES…F-R-E-E, but they do accept donations. (Please leave one, it’s well worth it.)
Now let me rewind really quick. The parking was very quick and easy, we were only one of two cars on the lot. Score! LoL
When you walk in there is a folder to sign in, (name, address, email). Immediately after signing in Ann, our guide was waiting to greet my son and I. She is such a wonderful lady. Very pleasant, funny, knowledgeable, and great with keeping everyone’s attention. My son and I learned so much from her! He even left with a goodie bag for answering a specific question about the Museum at the end of his visit. (I won’t tell what the question was, that’s cheating. LoL)
Ann took us around the museum and explained many different things about the history of the airplanes, the history of LAX, and a myraid of other things. We even had the opportunity to board the DC-​3 that’s there on the outside of the museum. My son loved it!
You’ll also have the opportunity to see many planes depart and arrive into LAX (bring a camera… It’s great to see!!)
There was also a short movie we watched about the Endavour. The process it took to get it here to California, tour the city, and the hanger it was stored in until the time to transport it to the California Science Center. Great history!
Oh! I also don’t want to forget that we were able to listen to the men and women who worked the Control Tower give permission to the planes for landing.
This is a great place for the young and young at heart (LOL). Grab everyone you know and visit the Flight Path Learning Center Museum. You’ll be impressed!

Great place for kids who love to learn about our flight history. My 8 yr old daughter loved it. The staff is very friendly and informative.

This unassuming little building off to the side along the perimeter of LAX; who knew it could hold such a wealth of flight memorabilia, history capturing the richness of this world renowned airport. Yes it has «learning center» in its name but that’s a small part of this place. It’s a multi-​room museum that by telling the LAX story ends up covering much about the history of flight. Most everything here was donated in one form or fashion and you’ll notice that when you walk in the front door and see the luggage that maybe your grandparents use.
If you have a love of aircraft or a child that does, this should be a must stop. A visit is free to the public and there is a donation box at the inside entrance. Some on the staff are actually city employees but it’s also made up of volunteers. Friendly and full of knowledge, ask a question and they will eagerly answer.
But back to the features; there are small scale aircraft models throughout; a history of LAX through each decade; stories and photos galore. Lots of uniforms on display that were in style through the years. They should bring some of those styles back.
Because of its location adjacent to the airport, some people come here just to watch the airport operations going on and aircraft takeoffs and landings. They even have a ground control radio tuned in so you can listen to the airport aircraft handling activity. Wall to wall windows give you a panoramic view.
When you’re ready, someone from the staff will escort you outside to tour the Spirit of Seventy Six. Make sure they tell you it’s story.
The museum is opened Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

This place had a lot of model plane, pictures of history of LAX and some old uniforn worn by the flight attendent of the old days. Overall, a cool place to hang around while you are in the neighborhood and need to kill some time. The senior folks tending this place were very friendly and helpful. Thank you. Add one star since this place was free admission.

Wasn’t sure about this place before going but now I’ve been I wish I’d gone sooner! Easy parking (free) and absolutely loads to see, so it caters to both quick visits focused on looking around at all manner of air travel items, or in-​depth visits where you could spend hours pouring over everything. The DC-​3 out on the tarmac is the jewel in the crown, make sure you have one of the docents take you out there. This place is about the closest you can get to LAX’s southern runways and people of all ages will love watching the planes takeoff, land and taxi. The folk who staff this place are really knowledgeable and their passion for air travel and pride in the museum really sines through. I’ll be bring back more LA visitors to this spot now that I know about it. Highly recommended!

What a cool place! We had so much fun here, got to listen to the flight tower, watch runways, go inside an old place, look at 100’s of different flight uniforms. It was just a very cool, historical experience.

I decided to bring my kids here but wasn’t sure how they were going to like it. The website made the museum out to be a lot about models and stewardess uniforms. I almost didn’t take them. I’m glad I did, though. We all enjoyed it very much.
The docents were not only very knowledgeable, they were also approachable. Everyone I spoke with had retired from an airline, which gave them a unique perspective. They all seemed very proud of this. My kids went running off on there own to look at the exhibits and it didn’t take long for one of the docents to begin teaching them all about tower/​aircraft communication protocols.
Soon after she’s taking us in to the DC3. An actual retired aircraft that’s sitting on the runway. The interior is in great shape and my kids actually got to sit in the cockpit and mess with all buttons. The only instructions were to have fun and be a bit gentle on the controls. Other than that the kids were practically flying the plane.
This place was a blast. Keep in mind that, other than the aircraft, there aren’t a lot of hands on exhibits, so if you need that sort of thing, this place might not be for you. However, it’s worth a visit just for the DC3. Who knows, you may end up staying for a few hours like we did.

This is a great place. The museum offers numerous models of aircraft, and plenty of historical treasures. The restored DC-​3 is a nice touch, but the proximity and the view of LAX is awesome. This is a good spot for plane-​spotters or people trying to film aircraft. You are pretty much on the runway, and aircraft are pretty close to you. You should visit this museum. The staff is nice and they are willing to talk and help you.

Such a great museum! Loved seeing the old airline uniforms, wings, first class dinner silver wear and getting to sit in an old DC3 plane from the 1930s. Must check it out !

This is an awesome place to come and reminisce about Commercial Aviation! The majority of the museum overlooks the South complex airfield (the busier side) at LAX so you get to see aviation in action! If you’re young or old, the Staff here will have you wearing a smile from war to eat before yore gone… Heck, you might even want to take on a career in Aviation by the time you’re done with your visit.

No day of plane watching around the skirts of LAX is complete without a stop at this sadly under-​attended museum in an old terminal off Imperial Highway.
Great aviation history with a Vintage LA twist.

If you like aviation, you’ll like this museum. As others have said, not impressive from the outside but room after room of items inside. Each seeming to have more stuff that the others. Unlike other museums, almost all items are right there in front of you. If you have children (or adults for that matter) that like to touch and pick things up, keep a close eye on them to protect the exhibits. They are in the open so you can get a closer look, not to pick up and examine.
This place seems to run on donations so drop something in the box so it can survive. The volunteers were great to us, walking us out to the DC-​3, inviting us into it and (as said by other reviewers) encouraging us to sit in the cockpit. It is very cool to be right on the tarmac, watching the modern planes land a couple of hundred yards in front of you.
Bring you camera, take lots of pictures and take your time to read through the information on the displays. You could easily spend hours here if you read them all.
Hope you get to try it, enjoy!

Pro:
+Free ! (Donation is accepted)
+Lots to see, can easily spend few hours.
+Free Parking
+Have a DC3 in the back of museum, that you can see and take picture.
+Photograph allow include flash.
+Friendly Staff
+ A lot less crowded due to small profile of the museum.
Cons:
–Most outsider or even locals do not know this Museum.
–Display doesn’t show brief history of the item, ask the staff for more info.
I didn’t know this museum till i did a local museum search near the Manhathan Beach. This one is free too, if you had kids or has any interest in aviation, you should definite come here, is located very close to LAX.

In this nondescript building on the outskirts of LAX, there’s this museum managed by former pilots and flight attendants, displaying artifacts from generations of commercial airlines.
It’s deceptively extensive. At first you think it’s just going to be a single room exhibit area, but there are actually several rooms and a labyrinth of hallways. Some spaces loaded to the ceiling with vintage stewardess uniforms. Yes, expect to see authentic Pan Am and TWA wear. Some of the hostess costumes are pretty silly, particularly this one that looks like a bad golden tissue paper tunic.
The museum also includes a Douglas DC-​3, which can be toured when one of the ladies is available. It’s out on the tarmac, and you get a great view of planes taking off and landing at LAX. The DC-​3 has Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes’ names inside, though it’s mostly speculated that either of them actually flew the plane out back. Either way you can sit in the cockpit (in fact, it’s encouraged for your photos).
They also carry a few artifacts from the Flying Tigers, models of many different military planes, old tourism posters, and other odds and ends like samurai armor and a golden crown made during Korea’s Silla Dynasty around 500 AD.
The Flight Path Museum is completely free, though you’re required to sign in and they do seem to keep close track of where people come and go and how many people were in groups here and there.

I’m extremely impressed by the museum. Both by its content and staff.
Came here with my nephews this past Saturday morning. The museum is open between 10 – 2 from Tuesday thru Sunday and is free, though I would recommend a donation since the museum has a large variety of historical items, planes and artifacts. From old luggage to old uniforms to vintage planes, the experience is quite enjoyable. There’s an old luxury plane from like the 60s «spirit of 76» you can step into the cockpit or take a seat in its luxury chairs.
One thing that really stood out was the staff, made up of former stewardesses and pilots. They were quite knowledgeable and very courteous. They even offered us free cookies and coffee at the end of the tour.
Great little hidden gem right by the airport and a great place to take kids or check out the history of LAX.