August 19 is celebrated as National Aviation Day in the US by NASA.
This is the birthday of Orville Wright who, with his brother Wilbur, made significant contributions to powered flight.
Having visited several space and flight museums in the US, I decided to explore one in my backyard.
In Pune, we have a large 3-storied Balasaheb Devras Aviation Gallery.
I took a bus and a metro to reach the PMC station from where the aviation gallery was within 500 meters of walking distance.
The sidewalk footpath has tactile paths to facilitate the visually impaired.
While walking on the sidewalk footpath from the metro station to the aviation gallery, patterns on the manhole covers grabbed my attention.
The letters PMC on the manhole covers mean Pune Municipal Corporation - the city council of Pune.
The entrance of the Aviation Gallery is nicely decorated and is accessible as well.
There was also a small cafe offering cold and hot coffee among other beverages.
The aviation gallery had a lavish waiting area with comfy sofas and a computerized ticketing system that accepted mobile payments besides cash.
They also had a small 5-seater auditorium for an aviation show for school children.
The aviation gallery had both scale models and full-sized original aircrafts and paramotoring gliders.
There was also a separate space section in the aviation gallery.
The other top attraction was a miniature airport which is popular with visitors.
Summary:
Ticket: INR 25
Time: 8 am to 9 pm
Parking: Free
Accessible: Yes
Nearest Metro: PMC Metro Station, a 500-meter walk.
Here’s a list of my previous Aviation Museum and Gallery visits:
1. Kennedy Space Center Orlando, Tour with Tips and Alerts
2. Atlantis Spacecraft at NASA Kennedy Space Centre Orlando
3. Saturn 5 Rocket and the Independence Space Shuttle Tour in Houston
4. The Aviation Pavilion at Museum of Flight in Seattle
5. Inside the Air Force One Aircraft at Museum of Flight in Seattle
6. Visit to the Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita
7. Cosmosphere Space Center: 4 Hidden Stories and Astonishing Facts
8. The Charles Simonyi Space Gallery in Seattle Museum of Flight
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Thank you for the insightful comments and your appreciation @mariefrahman 
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@TusharSuradkar ji, I liked your post about the Aviation Gallery in Pune. The photos are beautiful, and the travel tips are very useful. Thanks for sharing.
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Sehr interessanter Beitrag mit schönen Bildern, in so einer Cessna bin ich auch schon geflogen.
@TusharSuradkar
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Thank you for the appreciation @PrasadVR 
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Wow! That must have been a wonderful experience @Annaelisa
Does it make a lot of sounds inside, when flying in smaller aircrafts like the Cessna, as they show in the films
Thank you for the appreciation for the post
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cellent post, nice photos, @TusharSuradkar .
I will definitely visit this one. It is not much famous and advertised too.
Cheers!
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You got it absolutely right @AjitThite
Such a huge place, in the heart of the city, near the PMC bus stop, yet no one knows about it.
Not even me 
It does not show up easily when we search for Museums in Pune on Google Maps.
Maybe because it is called a gallery.
I suggested them to rename it as Museum - at least on the Maps.
But I think technically now that is also not possible.
They have to change in so many places.
I found it here, while walking in front of BalGandharva
Then I scanned the QR to get the Google Maps.
Then it was only 200 meters from BalGandharva east gate
This is the lane adjacent to the Congress Bhavan that goes to the Gaothan, only 100 meters from there.
And it is a huge place.
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@TusharSuradkar
Nein, ich habe es wenigstens nicht als unangenehm empfunden. Im Hubschrauber ist es wesentlich lauter.
Wir waren mit 4 Personen zu einer Flugsafari in Kenia unterwegs.
Es war spannend die großen Wildtier-Herden zu sehen.
Gefahren Highlight bei der Landung auf einer Sandpiste, kurz vor dem aufsetzen wurde bemerkt, das Fahrwerk war nicht ausgefahren., beim 2. Anlauf funktionierte es dann
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That gives me goosebumps @Annaelisa
Riding in a flying object over a herd of wild animals.
If you can share any photos from the plane or helicopter, I’d greatly appreciate it
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@TusharSuradkar
Leider habe ich davon keine Fotos weil man ganz fasziniert in das Geschehen vertieft ist und auch ja nichts verpassen möchte.
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Yes, I have the same thoughts @Annaelisa
Whenever I go to a place, like a Tiger Safari in India, I watch the tigers instead of taking photos.
That is an opportunity not to be missed.
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@TusharSuradkar
Mit dem Hubschrauber bin ich über den Grant Canyon geflogen und das war auch eine besondere Erfahrung
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@TusharSuradkar
I must have passed millions of times from there but never thought of it being located there. Any way, yes, I will definitely drop in there sometime.
Cheers!
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@TusharSuradkar
So eine Tigersafari ist ja auch beeindruckend, es sind ja gewaltige Tiere und schön anzusehen
aber auch nur mit dem richtigen Abstand 
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@TusharSuradkar very interesting gallery.kids get many information about aircrafts, balloons.
Thanks for your detailed information.
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what an awesome place thank you for sharing @TusharSuradkar it’s very informative as well as educational.
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Thank you @Supriyadevkar
Yes, this is primarily aimed at educating students and many picnic groups are visiting here.
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It’s great to know that Pune has such a well-equipped and informative Balasaheb Devras Aviation Gallery. With facilities like a cozy waiting area, a state-of-the-art ticketing system, and even a small auditorium for kids, the gallery seems to take great care of its visitors. 
The miniature airport and special space section certainly add to the attraction of this place. 
It’s also cool that the gallery has good accessibility with tactile paths on the sidewalks. Again, thank you for sharing, it makes us want to visit this gallery too! 
