History on the Wing
Last weekend, I took my dad to Seattle’s Museum of Flight for Father’s Day. It’s something we do every year and we both enjoy it. Since I was very young, my dad instilled in me a love of airplanes and flying. A major yearly vacation was a trip up to the Abbotsford International Airshow in Canada. I can remember standing on baking hot pavement with hands clapped over my ears as the Blue Angels roared overhead in their F-4s (I have just dated myself for airplane enthusiasts). Those were spectacularly noisy airplanes. But I digress.
The Museum of Flight is an amazing, world-class aviation museum. A popular myth is that it’s the “Boeing Museum of Flight” or the “Boeing Museum”. The museum is actually privately operated, although Boeing is a major donor and has supplied a number of planes and other artifacts.
The museum has a number of exceptionally interesting planes. It has one of only four Concordes on display outside of Europe. Next to it is the first jet to serve as Air Force One (used by Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon), and the next plane over is the first flying prototype of the Boeing 747, named “City of Everett” for the location of the factory where it was produced. The largest artifact is the original Boeing factory, known as the Red Barn, now a functioning part of the museum.
It’s a sizable museum, requiring a full day or more to see it completely. If your time is limited, don’t miss the Great Gallery (pictured above), the Personal Courage Wing (containing an outstanding collection of fighters from World Wars I & II), and the Airpark, across the street from the museum, where the largest aircraft are displayed. If you have any interest in aviation, it’s an experience not to be missed.
