Museum Of Flight, Seattle

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Located near Boeing Field, the museum has a world class collection of aircraft. There is a section devoted to Boeing's history in manufacturing aircraft. There is a display room with aircraft ranging from the DC-3 to a Lockheed Blackbird. A new wing has aircraft of war from the First and Second World Wars. Across the street is the Concorde, Kennedy's Air Force One, and a set of Boeing aircraft. Docents roam the floors to answer questions. There is a small cafe where hot lunches are available.

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This tip has to do with the "main campus" of the museum of flight. There are actually several other locations operated by the Museum of Flight, and this is the location most people think of when they think of the Museum of Flight.

Naturally located south of downtown Seattle at Boeing Field, and still surrounded by some of the Boeing plant, you will find the Museum of Flight.

Set against the stark white of the huge museum of flight building is a bright red structure called "The Red Barn" which is where the Boeing company originally started building airplanes. Today, reasonably completely restored, the bottom floor of this structure includes exhibits dedicated to Pacific Northwest flight pioneers, plus early equipment that was used to fabricate airplanes during those pioneer days.

To the left and right of the red barn are vast exhibitions halls that include everything from the very early days of flight (even small testaments to baloon equipment) up to and including space travel. Sections of aircraft have been cut apart to reveal how they are built. Two layers of the exhibition hall on the north side of the museum are dedicated to World War I (top floor) and World War II (ground floor).

Above the big exhibition hall on the south side, you will find a small room dedicated to the science of flying, including an examination of birds.

There is a child's exploration area that includes a place where they can actually touch real aircraft.

There is a model of an airport control tower that includes live voice feeds from radio traffic from the Boeing field tower and aircraft taking off and landing. While there isn't a huge amount of air traffic here, there is some, and you can see the planes take off (video taken from museum tower display) and land from this tower display.

As of this writing, the most recent addition to the exhibition halls is an entire Amelia Earhart exhibit.

Across the street (you can cross at the traffic light, but it is highly recommended to use the overhead walkway) you can visit several airplanes up close, including an older model of Air Force One and a British Airways Concorde.

As of this writing, there are two flight simulators inside the largest of the exhibition halls in the museum. These are not included in the museum price, and are fairly expensive.

So, there is a lot to see here, and you will probably spend a good part of a day here, especially if you want to read all of the exhibit signs and really learn what is being shown here. You may want to come with a fully charged cell-phone battery, as the museum features a number of audo presentations that go with the museum displays. You will find numbers written on the displays that feature cell phone audo tours.

You will find special events also happen here, such as the current visit of a restored B-17 with ground tours.

Hours: Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Otherwise open 10 to 5, except on 1st Thursdays, when it is open until 8 (and free after 5). The air park on the other side of the street, where the airplanes are on tour, is only open until 4, and closes in the event of inclement weather. Admission is $15 for adults, $8 for youth, with several price discounts offered to groups, AAA membership, and other situations. This admission price includes admission to both large exhibit halls plus the display aircraft at "The Airpark" across the street.

Photos:

Photo 1: The Red Barn: Boeing's first airplane plant, and a landmark along Marginal Way since most of the rest of the buildings are white or grey. The parking lot is on the south side of the big exhibition hall behind and to the south of this building.

Photo 2: Historic aircraft of various types that hang from the ceiling in the largest of the exhibition halls in the museum.

Photo 3: Historic war aircraft inside the exhibition hall on the north side of the museum.

Photo 4: "The Airpark" located on the opposide side of Marginal Way from the museum, and included with the admission price. You will find a British Airways Concorde and an Air Force One plane on display here.

Photo 5: Pieces of the space display.

Photo 6: Exterior of the British Airways Concorde. This is one of the first pieces of the museum that you come to if you are coming to the museum from the north. The musuem parking lot is on the south side of the museum, and on the opposite side of the road from this aircraft (though the aircraft is not rooted to one spot, and it is possible for them to still move it).

Photo 7: Inside the British Airways Concorde.

Photo 8: Inside the Air Force One.

Photo 9: Monument to Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson between the Red Barn and the pedestrian walkway

Photo 10: This is the pedestrian walkway that is one of the good landmarks that lets you know you are getting close to the museum. The main museum parking lot is south of this walkway, while the bus stops are almost directly under it.

Photo 11: One of the flight simulators in the msuem.

Photo 12: one of the other flight simulators in the museum

Photo 13: Example of a cell phone tour label on one of the displays in the museum.

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I highly recommend that you visit the Museum of Flight. There are planes on display outside the museum including the Air Force One. While waiting for your tour inside the plane, you can watch the video on the history of the Air Force One - the President of the United States official plane. There are shows at the theater- student volunteers perform skit for the tourist to watch. There are rooms with audio and some cockpit simulators where you can try piloting a fighter plane!

The entrance fee is usually $16 per person. However, it is free on the first Thursday of the month.

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If not for the invention of planes, we wouldn't be writing for virtualtourist.com! Now, we can fly all over the world and see the beauty of nature, wonders of man's creation and experience the cultures of the world!

Hop into your car or into the bus and get into the Museum of Flight! There are so many planes on display inside and out the museum - from the first flight of men to the plane that is as fast as the speed of sound!

Check the bomber planes, the passenger planes, the Airforce One (President of the U.S. official plane), the Concorde One, the British Airways plane, the bi-planes, the Blue Angels plane, etc.

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How about maneuvering a spaceship? At the Museum of Flight, there is a station where you can actually have a virtual experience of piloting a space ship! There are three stations to choose from: two seats for pilots and one - standing up as a pilot. The sides of the seats are like the control of the space ship. A huge screen in front shows how you are doing as a pilot and it shows the earth and the space. It is a great learning experience how astronauts control the spaceships vis-a-vis the amount of fuel the space ship has- you need to land the spaceship before it runs out of fuel otherwise, you crash!

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Entry to the Airpark is included with admission to the Museum of Flight. The Airpark is located across the street from the main museum entrance. The visitors to the museum should be sure to check out the Airpark, as it contains a couple of gems.

The Airpark includes the actual Air Force One from the era of President John F. Kennedy. Air Force One that is on display is a Boeing VC-137B. Museum visitors can walk through the airplane. You can see the inside of the actual aircraft that Present Kennedy used.

Another aircraft on display is a supersonic Concorde. Visitors can also walk through the Concorde. What I found surprising was the spartan interior and lack of amenities that one would expect on luxury transportation.

Also on static display at the airpark are additional Boeing airliners. These include a 727, a 737, and a 747. These other aircraft are currently not allowed to be boarded by visitors. However, they provide an excellent backdrop for Air Force One and the Concorde for judging size and scale of those historic aircraft.

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The Museum of Flight is an outstanding aviation museum. It chronicles the history of flight from its origins to present day. Aircraft from the past 100 plus years are on display and well represent the record of flight. Most of the aircraft are original historic airplanes, while a few reproductions are exhibited to fill some gaps where authentic models are extremely rare or simply not available, such as the Wright 1903 Flier. The original Wright Flier is located in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.

The museum’s collection is vast. Plan on spending several hours if you want experience the museum in full. Also wear some good walking shoes.

The Museum of Flight is segmented into various themes. The Great Gallery holds aircraft from virtually every era of flight. Other segments are more specialized such as Personal Courage Wings that hold aircraft from World War One and Two. Here are the various segments of the museum:

--Dream of Flight
--Great Gallery
--Bill and Moya Lear Gallery (Space)
--William E. Boeing Red Barn
--Personal Courage Wing – World War II Gallery
--Personal Courage Wing – World War I Gallery
--Airpark
--Exterior Aircraft

To entertain both little and full grown kids, the museum has two flight simulators. One will shake you around a bit while the other is more static. Naturally a gift shop is available. They have a cafeteria where we enjoyed a decent lunch.

I will describe some of the various galleries in the following tips.

After entering the Museum of Flight, you will encounter the Keith W. McCaw Dream of Flight Lobby. Hanging overhead, as if floating above you, are several early gliders. Some have the appearance of giant birds rather than mad made vehicles. The Dream of Flight is a wonderful introduction to the museum and is well position near the entrance of the Great Gallery where the entire history of powered flight is described.