Seattle Museum of Flight

A couple weeks ago we visited the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field here in Seattle.

Greeting us as we arrived outside the entrance was this Lockheed 1049G Super Constellation. The "Connie" was the last of the piston-powered airliners introduced (1954-5) before the jets took over as the aircraft of choice for commercial airlines. This one has the wing tanks that almost doubled its flying range. 

The museum is an amazing place. To do it justice, two or three visits would be required. We went in not long after opening at 1015 and ended up leaving at 1630 not long before closing time. We did our best, and covered all the main exhibits but I'm going back again to spend more time.

There are forty-some volunteer docents who are very knowledgeable. We joined one for a twenty-minute initial tour and noticed other docents throughout the museum waiting to give mini-tours or answer questions. 

This replica of the Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer hangs near the entrance.

This is another replica but it is one of three very accurate and detailed reproductions of the original built by the Wright Experience in Virginia. It is has been tested in a NASA wind tunnel and has a fully operational 12 horsepower, water-cooled engine. 

I took the photograph from this angle to show the juxtaposition of the Flyer and the space hardware (Mercury Capsule reproduction and the Resurs 500 capsule recovered off our Washington coast in 1992) behind the blast curtains. Those items will soon be moved to the remodeled space exhibit, see below.

A thorough exploration of the T. A. Wilson Great Gallery could take most of one day. Here we see the Lockheed M-21 Blackbird (fastest plane) and the Gossamer Albatross (man powered & probably the slowest) among many others.  

This Boeing Model 40-B was one of the more successful early air mail delivery models. 

Another look at the Great Gallery, this time from the east end. Lots of planes. I could have spent one whole day just in this gallery.

Inside the NASA Full Fuselage Trainer (FFT). The FFT is a full-scale
 mockup of the space shuttle orbiter built and used at the Johnson Space
Center in the 1970's to train astronauts.

As you can see the FFT doesn't have wings. It was used to train astronauts for duties and procedures inside the orbiter. We will need to return to this area in the future to visit the new exhibit: The Space: Exploring the New Frontier, which have the rest of the Museum's space hardware on display.

Across East Marginal Way to the south is the newest addition to the museum, this covered but open-walled building houses a Boeing 747, a Concord, a B-29 and many other aircraft. Self-guided walk throughs are available for several of these aircraft.

This Huey was delivered to the Army in Vietnam in 1970 and was used in various other roles until retired in in 1994 and obtained by the Museum from King County.

Here a frustrated fighter pilot (son Glenn) tries out the cockpit.

Ikuko and I paused for a photo op just before heading over the sky bridge to the new
part of the museum.

As I've mentioned, we (at least I) could have spent much more time visiting this museum. The McCaw Personal Courage Wing has two floors, the upper floor features WWI aircraft and below are the exhibits of WWII planes. Another wing worthy of more time.

The Boeing Red Barn, original manufacturing facility, was barged up the Duwamish, restored in 1983 and became the first of the permanent exhibits. I could spend several more hours admiring the exposed wooden framing and static exhibits in this building. 

I'll keep an eye on the news for the opening of the remodeled Space Exhibit, then I'll schedule another visit. Meanwhile, if you haven't visited this museum, I heartily recommend you take the time to see some original history of Seattle in a grand venue.