With the weather ruling out many outdoor activities recently, I spent a few days catching up with the region’s rich collection of aviation museums. Though the Seattle area is known as a center of aviation, and can rightly claim to be a central force in aviation history, many local residents may not be aware of how extensive and interesting the various local museums celebrating this history are.
There are three major aviation museums between Seattle and Everett and all three are well worth a visit.
The Museum of Flight has more than 150 antique and historic planes on exhibit (and one space shuttle, lightly used, coming soon?). Located on the flight line of Boeing Field, the museum is a magnificent attraction. The collection features wonderful examples from the early days of flight, World War I and II, and all the way up to the Boeing 747, Concorde, and the SR 71 Blackbird. There is also a great selection of artifacts from the space age, including a nice selection of Russian space artifacts.
There’s an undeniable romanticism in viewing the old biplanes and fighter planes from two world wars. Up close, many of the planes seem larger than one imagines, while with others you can’t help thinking they were lucky to get off the ground.
Outside, in spacious viewing area, you can walk through the first Air Force One, first flown by JFK (and the scene of the famous photo of Lyndon Johnson taking the oath of office after Kennedy’s death). Considering the size and relative luxury of modern airliners, the Boeing 707 seams quaint, but still holds remnants of the swinging early days of the Jet Age.
Close by, the Concord, the only supersonic passenger jet ever produced, seems oddly cramped, particularly when you realize how much money it cost to fly on one.
One strange omission is the lack of what is, arguably, the most famous plane that Boeing ever produced–the famous B-17 Flying Fortress. (The omission is region wide; none of the local flight museums has a Fort.) The museum owns a restored B-17, but, sadly, it is not on view.
The museum has excellent interpretive signage for all the planes, and there is a generous selection of films to view throughout the collection. There are also four rides that will either make you giddily excited or airsick.
To fully view the collection and the films and rides, expect to spend the better part of a day. The Museum is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month (free after 5 p.m. on First Thursdays).
Up the road on the flight line of Paine Field in Everett is the Flying Heritage Collection. The museum features planes from the collection of billionaire/philanthropist Paul Allen showcased in a World War II-era hanger. Represented are many fighter planes from that same era. All the heavy hitters are here: the British Spitfire, the German Messerschmitt, the P-51 Mustang, and the Japanese Zero to name a few.
There are a quite a few interesting artifacts in the collection as well: a German “88” anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun (Thought by many to be the best piece of artillery used in the Second World War), a German V-1 “Buzz” bomb, and a Messerschmitt Me-163, a strange looking, flying rocket designed to intercept and shoot down American and British heavy bombers. For all the fear it must have put into bomber crews, it looks even more frightening to fly.
The special attraction at the Flying Heritage Collection is that there are special fly days in the summer when the public can see many of the planes in flight. It’s damn cool to see a P-51 or a Messerschmitt 109 buzz Paine Field. The fly days, held on Saturdays throughout the summer, are free to the public (the fly days are outside; admission to the museum on fly days is not free). They also are weather dependent, so call before heading up there. Usually, two or three planes fly in rotation through August, so check the schedule if you want to see a specific plane in flight.
The Flying Heritage Collection is open seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is closed on Mondays the rest of the year.
Also at Paine Field is the Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour. The Center allows visitors to view exhibits focused on the future of commercial aviation. The exhibits are interesting, the signage and graphics are easy to read and follow, and the whole exhibit space is clean and light filled. It’s a nice place to spend an hour or so getting updated on where aviation is heading. It is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The real gem here is the Boeing Tour, a chance to get inside the huge Boeing plant in Everett. Five minutes into the tour, you lose all sense of scale. The building is mammoth, and the enormity of what is going on there, an assembly line of airplane production, is simply awe-inspiring. You quickly realize that “the future of aviation” is happening in front of your eyes.
The historic importance of The Boeing Company is on display at all three of these museums, and should be. Boeing has been, and will continue to be, a vital key to aviation history in the past, present and future. Part of that history will can be seen on screen in the fall.
I recently attended a preview of a new, 3-D movie titled Legends of Flight which will hit the Boeing IMAX screen at the Pacific Science Center in September. The film documents the challenges of designing and building the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Though it feels at times like a corporate advertisement for Boeing, the film is interesting enough to maintain interest over the 45-minute run time. There are a few downsides, however. The animation sequences, touted in the marketing materials handed out at the screening, are somewhat weak. They reminded me of the many hours I spent as a kid playing with a Spirograph.
And, if you attend a 3-D IMAX called Legends of Flight, whatever else is true, you expect someone to put the camera in the nose of a plane and let viewers have a few moments to experience the sense of flying. For some reason, the filmmakers never did that. And there is one sin: the use of a computer generated image of an old Lockheed Constellation in flight.
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget about the cultural riches in your own back yard. The region’s flight museums are some of the finest in the world and they are all worth a visit. Do yourself a favor and drop by.
three museums and take a look at the heritage..