When driving in from the Strip, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is not currently an easy airport at which to drop someone off in the “departing flights” drop-off area. The parking garage is much easier to find, and the people in the parking garage booths appear to be accustomed to having people with fresh tickets asking how to get to the departing flights.

Once inside the building, the signs are better, and McCarran is full of people walking to the gates. However, most people pass up one of its unique attractions. McCarran Airport is home to the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum. It’s on the second floor in the public area, not far from the “D” gates entrance. I stumbled upon it recently while walking to a departing flight.

Howard W. Cannon, like Patrick A. McCarran, was a U.S. Senator for Nevada. Cannon served from 1959 until 1983. The museum is a collection of artifacts relating to the history of aviation in Southern Nevada. Much of it documents the history of McCarran Airport, which started out as Alamo Airport, founded by George Crockett who also founded Alamo Airways. A large part of the museum comes from the Crockett Collection, donated to the museum by Mrs. George Crockett.

There’s no charge to enter the museum and no door, just a series of glass-enclosed cases with information about planes, people, history, and equipment. The range of material is surprising. One case holds some plastic airplane model kits (or at least the boxes) from decades ago. Another holds a collection of airline insignia pins. Among other things too numerous to list, there’s a radio compass control box from a C-47, set to the frequency of KENO, the first Las Vegas radio station.

You’ll also find information about some famous people. If you didn’t know who the Nellis Air Force base was named for, there’s a display about the life of William H. Nellis. Senator Pat McCarran gets a display, as do John A. Macready, Howard Hughes, and others I didn’t have time to examine.

From the first recorded flight in 1920 to the introduction of the jet and the role that women played in the area’s aviation past, Nevada’s aviation history is an intriguing tale to learn. Visitors wandering the museum will find more than 30 display cases as well as a brief video presentation that chronicles both local aviation history and significant events specific to aviation in Las Vegas. The museum is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

So if you’re in McCarran Airport with some time to look around, see if you can find the museum. It’s not much more difficult than finding the departing flights area. And you’ll probably learn a lot about the history of aviation in Southern Nevada that you didn’t know.

Click on a picture below to view the gallery