5 Weird Things Shipped by Air
Shipping by air is a great way to get things delivered to faraway locations, quickly. But, what about those weird things that don’t seem like they would be able to be shipped by airplane? Would any other delivery type be as fast and reliable or even take on the challenge? Let’s take a look at the top 5 weirdest things we know of that have been shipped by air.
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- NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery -
On April 17, 2012, NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery was transported from Florida to its’ permanent home at the Steven F. Hazy Center, a Northern Virginia extension of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. While bringing a space shuttle to a new home sounds amazing, the way that it arrived is much more interesting. Discovery was shipped to Virginia by a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, which means the Space Shuttle was riding piggy back on a modified Boeing 747 plane. The final flight was viewed by many people in the Washington D.C. area, due to a delayed landing flight path that circled the area for the spectators.
- NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery -
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- Manatees to the Cincinnati Zoo -
Manatee Springs is a rehabilitation center for injured or orphaned manatees located in the Cincinnati Zoo and has joined the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership. In order to transport a manatee from Florida facilities to the Midwest center, special open air, large, padded containers were designed. The animals are accompanied by a veterinarian during the flight to monitor health.
- Manatees to the Cincinnati Zoo -
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- Parts of the Titanic -
A portion of the doomed ship’s hull and 180,000 lbs of other relics were carefully packed and shipped from Milan, Italy to Georgia for a traveling exhibition called “Titanic: the Artifacts Exhibition”. Since then, other portions of the recovered ship and artifacts have been flown to museums and displays around the world.
- Parts of the Titanic -
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- China’s Famous Terracotta Warrior Statues -
The Terracotta Army was discovered under farmland in 1974 just east of where China’s first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, was buried. It is believed that this army of life-size terracotta statues was intended to protect the Emperor in the afterlife. More than 8000 soldiers, chariots, horses and other artifacts were discovered. These fascinating sculptures have been on display in China, but there were plans to include the warriors in traveling exhibitions. So, how do you transport members of this fragile, 2,000 year-old army? By air, of course. After 2 years of planning, the Terracotta Warrior statues began traveling worldwide to exhibitions in special vibration dampening shipping containers and controlled temperature cargo areas.
- China’s Famous Terracotta Warrior Statues -
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- Ship, You Will -
A Lego store in Tennessee once flew a pre-built Lego Star Wars Yoda statue as a Christmas gift for a fan. Master Builders in the model shop at the Lego offices also ship their creations to destinations all over the world.
- Ship, You Will -
At Alaska Air Forwarding, we’ve shipped some interesting items too, from replacement parts for fishing boats, concert stage setups, and construction equipment – just to name a few. We are your air freight connection with the delivery expertise, knowledge, and experience…no matter how remote you are.