Ready for Takeoff

Seeking to mimic the historical aspects of the museum's new show, National Air and Space Museum special events director Linda Hicks used details of the commercial airline industry to debut "America by Air" last Wednesday. The 15,000-square-foot permanent exhibit was five years in the making and documents American history through the lens of flight.

According to special events manager Meg Caulk, more than 500 guests attended the soiree, including donors and friends of the museum. Before the program began, guests waited amongst long-standing permanent exhibits, where an airport lounge (complete with leather couches) created a focal point for the space, and two Cold War-era bars served martinis in vintage-looking glasses. As guests arrived, Northwest Airlines flight attendants—of all ages—greeted them wearing vintage uniforms. (Northwest and Boeing sponsored the evening.) The flight theme continued with attendants serving cocktails made with miniature bottle of liquor from airline trolleys.Professionally recorded airport announcements emanated from loud speakers, pulling guests toward the red curtain that kept the exhibition out of site. "America by Air" was revealed to trumpeting music, and guests entered the new space via a runway (with an airport cart bearing a "Follow Me" sign guiding them), as Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me" played overhead.

Hicks divided the space into four distinct themes—1920s, '30s, '50s, and Jet Age—each with its own bars and catering menu. Occasions Caterers served up a buffet menu of lamb chops, ginger pears, chestnut risotto, shrimp cocktail, and an assortment of side dishes. For dessert, a miniature conveyor belt—mirroring a luggage carousel—offered small pastries alongside vintage luggage. The pilot-garbed Odyssey Band entertained with Rat Pack-era tunes.