Just outside of Muenchen we came to Beer Land -- acres (literally) of pallets stacked six high with kegs of beer, bottles of beer, and cans of beer. I'm assuming that this was an extra cache of beer just for Oktoberfest.
We got off at the main station in Muenchen (i.e., the Hauptbahnhof) and then transferred to the subway. The Muenchen subway differs from Berlin's in that all the different lines share a common platform whereas Berlin had a separate set of platforms for each line. I think this actually works better (less running around when you need to change lines), but it requires that you pay more attention to which train you're getting on to. It also makes for a busy station -- trains were going through every two to three minutes. When we got to Ismaning our hotel was right across the street from the station.
We had a bit of time left in the afternoon so we decided to go to Deutsches Museum's aviation facility (Flugwerft Schleissheim). That was on a different subway line, so we decided to ride out to the airport and change lines there rather than in downtown. Unfortunately, when we reach the airport I realized that our ticket was only for two zones and didn't cover the airport -- had we gone through downtown we'd have been fine, but at that moment we outside the valid range of our ticket. Rather than take a chance we purchased an additional ticket to cover the airport zone, but that was an expensive way to reach the museum.
The museum was smaller and less formal than the Smithsonian, but still had quite a few exhibits. As I looked around I realized that there's a lot about German aviation that I don't know -- very few of the aircraft were familiar to me.
One of the first planes we saw, and one that particularly impressed Beth, was a human powered plane that set a speed record in 1985.
In the spirit of cycling, I found an interactive exhibit that demonstrated the power of blowing air. You didn't actually go anywhere, but it was still fun trying.
I thought the most interesting plane was a prototype for a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) transport plane. It has two big jet engines for normal flight plus eight itty bitty jet engines (four to a side) stuffed in pods at the ends of the wings for take-off and landing.
Another one of the displays was a cockpit from a fighter that you could try on for size. I enjoyed checking out the various controls and switches. Contrary to what Beth might tell you, I was not making "swooshing" or "rata-tat-tat" sounds while sitting in the cockpit.
It isn't often that you find switches with labels like "Rockets", "Bombs", and "Arm Nose & Tail".
Another interesting item was a gas powered starter motor for WWII era jet engines. It sat at the front of the engine and spun up the main shaft until the compressor was going fast enough to start. You'd kick the whole thing off by reaching down the throat of the engine and pull-starting the starter motor -- much like a chainsaw or lawnmower. A rather ignoble start for the latest in jet fighter technology.
One of the later items we saw was a single-person glider used for training German pilots for well into WWII. The student would get a bit of classroom instruction then they'd strap them into the glider and shove them off a hill. I think this is the same training regime used by some birds with their babies -- probably with similar results.
After we finished with the museum we took the subway back to our hotel (this time via downtown) and then caught dinner in the associated restaurant.
The map below shows Zell am See in the lower right and Muenchen (actually, Ismaning, the suburb we're staying in) in the upper left.
View 2009.09.30.location in a larger map
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