Qualla: Fantasy of Flight https://qualla.com/fantasy-of-flight en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/j/b/fantasy-of-flight-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Fantasy of Flight https://qualla.com/fantasy-of-flight Fantasy of Flight: Introduction https://qualla.com/fantasy-of-flight/ Photo credit Valder137, CC BY 2.0. A corroded Douglas DC-3 once stood nose-down in the dirt alongside Interstate 4, a mannequin dangling from its tail wheel by a parachute. The mannequin was dressed as Santa Claus at Christmas, Uncle Sam on the Fourth of July, a Pilgrim at Thanksgiving. Some motorists were horrified. Others slowed down to see what the dummy would be wearing next. That roadside spectacle captured something essential about Fantasy of Flight: it was never interested in being a conventional museum. It was the fever dream of Kermit Weeks, a man who has spent four decades acquiring, restoring, and flying aircraft that most people only know from grainy wartime footage.

Read more: Fantasy of Flight on Qualla

Image: Valder137 | CC BY 2.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/j/b/fantasy-of-flight-wp/djjb-fantasy-of-flight-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Fantasy of Flight: From Wreckage to Wonder https://qualla.com/fantasy-of-flight/ Photo credit Valder137, CC BY 2.0. Kermit Weeks incorporated the Weeks Air Museum in 1981, but the collection took shape in 1985 when he purchased 36 aircraft from the Tallmantz Aviation collection. The museum opened in March 1987 at Tamiami Executive Airport near Kendall, Florida. Then Hurricane Andrew arrived in...

Read more: Fantasy of Flight on Qualla

Image: Valder137 | CC BY 2.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/j/b/fantasy-of-flight-wp/djjb-fantasy-of-flight-from-wreckage-to-wonder.mp3 0:06 2 full Fantasy of Flight: The Immersion Gambit https://qualla.com/fantasy-of-flight/ Photo credit Valder137, CC BY 2.0. What set Fantasy of Flight apart from every other aviation museum was its immersion environments. Visitors entered through the fuselage of a World War II-era Douglas C-47 Skytrain, complete with a seated paratrooper in full kit and a Jumpmaster standing at the open side hatch. A ...

Read more: Fantasy of Flight on Qualla

Image: Valder137 | CC BY 2.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/j/b/fantasy-of-flight-wp/djjb-fantasy-of-flight-the-immersion-gambit.mp3 0:06 3 full Fantasy of Flight: An Empire of Wings https://qualla.com/fantasy-of-flight/ Photo credit Valder137, CC BY 2.0. The collection grew to become the largest privately owned assemblage of vintage aircraft in the world. The inventory reads like an encyclopedia of powered flight: a Ford Trimotor nicknamed the City of Philadelphia, a Consolidated PBY Catalina, a Short Sandringham flying boat, Spi...

Read more: Fantasy of Flight on Qualla

Image: Valder137 | CC BY 2.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/j/b/fantasy-of-flight-wp/djjb-fantasy-of-flight-an-empire-of-wings.mp3 0:06 4 full Fantasy of Flight: Turbulence Ahead https://qualla.com/fantasy-of-flight/ Photo credit Netweave, CC BY-SA 3.0. Grand plans for a themed destination called Orlampa, featuring villages devoted to different eras of aviation history, never fully materialized. The site was too far from Orlando's established theme parks to capture casual tourist traffic. On March 4, 2014, Fantasy of Flight anno...

Read more: Fantasy of Flight on Qualla

Image: Netweave | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/j/b/fantasy-of-flight-wp/djjb-fantasy-of-flight-turbulence-ahead.mp3 0:06 5 full