Most reading probably remember US Airways Flight 1549, “Miracle on the Hudson”, scheduled to fly from La Guardia Airport in NYC to Charlotte, North Carolina, piloted by Captain “Sully” Sullenberger on January 15, 2009. 15 years later, the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, formerly the Carolinas Aviation Museum opened in the summer of 2024 at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). I had the pleasure of working with architects Progressive and contractors Rodgers Builders to photograph this museum.
The location is sited next to the airport adjacent to one of their runways. There are three buildings, the entry building, main gallery, and a renovated airplane hangar (which still remains under construction). A signature canopy, engineered by Novum Structures hovers and takes flight over the entry. The airplane hangar was painted to match a similar color appearance to the new building.
Looking towards the entry, a red gate opens into the tarmac exhibit.
The sheltering canopy appears translucent in day and opaque at night, embedded with LED lighting underneath.
Once inside, visitors are greeted by ticketing and the gift shop. This first building also houses staff offices.
Anyone who’s followed my past fine art knows I love juxtaposition and creating visual tension. I used these methods particularly on the exhibit tarmac in framing and scaling to the surrounding buildings. Besides the entry building, I’m photographing big box metal structures, therefore implemented combining with exterior and interior display as often as possible. Below I’m using the elevator and fuselage of a cargo airplane looming over the appearance of the main gallery entry.
Inside the gallery is an incredible display of various aircraft and electronic displays, including a continuous replay of the Miracle on the Hudson including eyewitness and passenger testimony.
It’s amazing how intact the surviving airplane is after such an event!
Again, using tension and juxtaposition to frame various displays underneath a tear in the metal skin underneath the Airbus’s wing.
A maker space where kids of all ages can create devices and test them in flight! Views carry from inside out towards the tarmac and entry building.
Again, using the cargo jet and an army fighter in comparison to the bright red walls of the entry building.
Finally a shot from inside the museum office’s underneath the entry building canopy out towards the tarmac with evidence of the setting sun shimmering off the main gallery structure. Another museum down, this was a really fun shoot!
