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# Museum of Flying extends hours, adding after-school window for visitors
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/museum-of-flying-extends-hours-adding-after-school-window-for-visitors/
- Published: 2026-09-23T10:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T09:59:59.000Z
- Author: Maaz Alin
- Tags: Business, Airport

The Museum of Flying at Santa Monica Airport is extending its daily hours to give families a new after-school window to explore its aviation collection, a change officials say is driven by rising demand.

Beginning Thursday, the museum will stay open an hour later, welcoming visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Previously it closed at 4 p.m.

"Our hours of operation are changing from Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.," said James Roberts, the museum's director of operations. "The new hours take effect on Thursday, September 24th."

Roberts said the decision was a response to growing interest, and that the timing lined up with the return of the school year.

"Yes, this is due to growing demand," he said. "We decided to make the change now that school has started for the fall, we noticed that from 3:30 to 4:30 we have had increased activity and interest in visitation. We believe we can offer a time frame after school and before dinner for guests to come and enjoy our space before heading home for the evening."

The nonprofit museum, at 3100 Airport Ave. on the south side of the airport, traces its identity to the Douglas Aircraft Company, which called [Santa Monica home](https://www.smdp.com/santa-monicas-dreams-of-water-self-sufficiency-go-down-the-drain/) for more than four decades and built over 10,000 aircraft there during World War II.

"Here at the Museum of Flying, we are the last entity of the Douglas Aircraft Company," Roberts said. "We have original artifacts, photographs and model airplanes from the original Douglas Aircraft factory that spanned most of the north side of the Santa Monica Airport."

Among the holdings, Roberts said, are "award winning murals, original artwork, the original Douglas Board Room table and rare photos related to the Douglas Aircraft Company and its founder Donald W. Douglas Sr." He added that the collection "also represents every aspect of aviation, giving us a little of something for every enthusiast."

The extra hour is aimed in part at younger visitors. The museum has leaned into hands-on exhibits in recent years, and Roberts said it has "created a new emphasis on interactive activities and exhibits geared towards the inspiration and education of children of all ages." He said there are "currently 5 fully interactive and hands on exhibits to explore and engage with."

A marquee attraction, he said, is a full-motion flight simulator: "The Museum also offers a full motion MaxFlight simulator which can perform 360 degree motion over two axes, it is the only one of its kind in Los Angeles!" The museum also displays more than 300 aircraft models, "with more to come in the very near future," Roberts said, and operates a store selling everything "from children's toys to high end aviation collectibles."

The museum's current collection chronicles flight from its earliest days into the jet age, with roughly a dozen to nearly two dozen aircraft. Highlights include a replica Wright Flyer and a Lockheed Vega — both donated by 20th Century Fox and featured in "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" — along with an outdoor Douglas DC-3 monument, a North American F-86 Sabre, a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and a FedEx Boeing 727-200 nose section. Visitors can climb into open cockpits, including a Boeing 727 cockpit where they can monitor the airport's control-tower radio and view the runway. The museum also hosts the California Aviation Hall of Fame.

Founded in 1974 as the Douglas Museum and Library by Donald Douglas Jr., the museum grew to a collection of more than 50 aircraft before closing in 2002 for financial reasons. It reopened in its current roughly 22,000-square-foot facility on Feb. 25, 2012.

The museum's longer-term future is tied to the fate of the airport, which is scheduled to close at the end of 2028, with the land planned for a park. Roberts said the museum expects to remain open regardless.

"The pending propositions for the future of the Airport would not affect our ability to remain open and operating, although not having the airport would definitely affect our ties to aviation and the active airspace," he said. "We are dedicated and looking forward to continuing to create new opportunities for growth and development at the museum and to offering much more for the community to experience and enjoy."

More information is available at [museumofflying.org](http://museumofflying.org/?ref=smdp.com).