It’s Not About the Plane
(continued) But in my experience, I have found two distinct types of pilots in the world. There are those for whom flying and airplanes are an end in and of themselves. It's enough to feel the physical and mental challenge and exhilaration of flight and control; to understand the mechanics of the planes as fascinating and compelling mysteries of design; to know the freedom of the sky.
The second group of pilots are those for whom flying and airplanes are more of a means to an end; a way of exploring and learning about themselves, the world, and life in an emotional and visceral way. It's where airplanes take these pilots, literally and figuratively, and the vast array of possibilities and wonders they bring to mind, that makes the whole enterprise worthwhile.
• Kermit Weeks
I'm not sure which camp Kermit belonged to when he first learned to fly, but he is now most assuredly a member of the "means to an end" crowd. In fact, I think he might even be credited with developing that concept to a new level of art form. But what, exactly, is that end he aspires to? Ah. Well, to understand that takes spending some time with the wizard himself—not to mention a large mental capacity for processing esoteric philosophies and ideas.
"Flight is a metaphor that reaches to the core of what and who we are," Kermit tells me over coffee, before we even enter the museum. "It's about pushing our boundaries, reaching beyond ourselves and, in the end, freedom. Not everyone can relate to airplanes. But everyone shares a fascination for flight. Because flight is the most profound metaphor there is for what goes on inside of us. We soar in our imaginations and fly in our dreams. But I think what we're really reaching for, in all of that, is ourselves. My goal is to create opportunities to light a spark to encourage people to continue on that journey—from who they may think they are to who they truly are."
And how, exactly, does he intend to accomplish this lofty goal? A smile comes across Kermit's face. "Through the most profound method available," he says. "Entertainment."
Kermit's goals weren't always so ambitious. Twenty years ago, when he first bought the property in Polk City, Florida, partway between Orlando and Tampa, his goal was simply to have more control over his museum operations. For years, he'd operated the Weeks Air Museum at the Tamiami Airport in Miami, but he didn't own the property and flight operations were controlled by the county. Polk City offered a location close enough to some major tourist attractions to draw visitors, but far enough away to allow him to build his own runways and have more control over what went on there.
Plans for the new museum accelerated after Hurricane Andrew swept through the Miami area in 1992, completely wiping out the Weeks Air Museum hangar. Many of the aircraft were destroyed, and many others were damaged and scattered, including two of Weeks' WWII bombers, which were finally found on the edge of some woods more than a mile away.
Faced with the need—and opportunity—to start over from scratch, Kermit took a hard look at his business and what he really wanted to accomplish with it. "My initial dream was just a bigger version of the Weeks Air Museum, with lots of airplanes and hangars," he says. "But then I came up here and saw there was a higher standard for tourist attractions here. So I decided to display my airplanes in period hangars. And then I began to incorporate the idea of immersion experiences."
The concept has been evolving ever since. At the moment, the facilities and offerings are still modest—at least in comparison to what Kermit envisions for the future. For eventually, he plans to develop a layout similar to that of his Mouseketeer neighbor up the street, but with different eras of flight and historical time instead of Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. If his plans come to fruition, there will be a half-scale replica of the Grand Palais Exhibition Hall in Paris, complete with floating dirigibles, to house rides and thought-provoking experiences related to the early years of flight. There will be a first flight airfield, complete with a ride attraction that allows visitors to experience for themselves the undulating trajectory of the Wright Brothers' wobbly and brief first flight.
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