Museum of Flight

The Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in the city of Tukwila, immediately south of Seattle. [5] It was developed in 1965 and is fully certified by the American Alliance of Museums. As the largest private air and space museum on the planet, it likewise hosts large K-12 academic programs. [6]

The museum attracts over 500,000 visitors every year, [2] and likewise serves more than 140,000 trainees yearly through its onsite programs: a Challenger Learning Center, an Air Travel Learning Center, and a summertime camp (ACE), as well as outreach programs that take a trip throughout Washington and Oregon. [7]

History

The Museum of Flight can trace its roots back to the Pacific Northwest Aviation Historical Foundation, which was founded in 1965 to recuperate and bring back a 1929 Boeing 80A-1, which had been found in Anchorage, Alaska. The remediation happened over a 16-year duration, and after completion, was placed on display screen as a focal point for the museum. In 1968, the name "Museum of Flight" first appeared in use in a 10,000 sq ft (900 m2) center, rented at the Seattle Center. Planning started at this time for a more long-term structure, and preliminary ideas were drafted. [8]

In 1975, The William E. Boeing Red Barn was gotten for one dollar from the Port of Seattle, which had actually acquired it after Boeing abandoned it during World War II. The 1909 all-wooden Red Barn, the initial home of the company, was barged 2 miles (3 km) up the Duwamish River to its existing place at the southwestern end of Boeing Field. [9] [10] Fundraising was sluggish in the late 1970s, [11] and after restoration, the two-story Red Barn was opened to the general public in 1983. [12]

That year a financing campaign was launched, so capital could be raised for building of the T.A. Wilson Great Gallery. In 1987, Vice President George Bush, signed up with by four Mercury astronauts, cut the ribbon to open the center on July 10, [12] [13] [14] with an expansive volume of 3,000,000 cubic feet (85,000 m3). The gallery's structure is integrated in an area frame lattice structure and holds more than 20 hanging airplane, consisting of a Douglas DC-3 weighing more than nine tons. [8]

The museum's education programs grew substantially with the structure of an Opposition Learning Center in 1992. This interactive exhibition enables trainees to experience an Area Shuttle objective. It consists of a mock-up NASA objective control, and experiments from all locations of space research.

Completed in 1994, the 132-seat Wings Cafe and the 250-seat Skyline multipurpose banquet and conference room increased the museum's footprint to 185,000 square feet (17,200 m2). At the exact same time, one of the museum's most widely recognized and popular artifacts, the Lockheed M-21, a customized Lockheed A-12 Oxcart designed to bring the Lockheed D-21 reconnaissance drones, [15] was put on the flooring at the center of the Great Gallery, after being completely brought back. [16]

The very first jet-powered Flying force One (1959-1962, SAM 970), a Boeing VC-137B, was flown to Boeing Field in 1996; it got here in June and was opened to visitors in October. [17] [18] Retired from active duty earlier that year, [17] it is on loan from the Air Force Museum. Originally parked on the east side of the museum, it was driven across East Marginal Way and now resides in the museum's Aviation Pavilion, where it is open to public walkthroughs.

In 1997, the museum opened the very first complete scale, interactive Air Traffic Control tower exhibit. The tower neglects the Boeing Field runways, home to among the thirty busiest basic aviation airports in the country. The display uses a glance into what it is like to be an air traffic controller.

The next significant expansion was opened in 2004, with the addition of the J. Elroy McCaw Personal Courage Wing, called after J. Elroy McCaw, a location business owner, entrepreneur and World War II veteran. [19] [20] [21] North of the Red Barn, the wing has 88,000 square feet (8,200 m2) of exhibition area on 2 floors, with more than 25 World War I and The second world war airplane. It also has large collection of design aircraft, consisting of every aircraft from both wars. [22] Much of these aircraft were from the collection of the Champlin Fighter Museum, previously in Mesa, Arizona, [19] [23] which closed in 2003. The wing opened on June 6, the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day. [21]

In June 2010, the museum broke ground on a $12 million brand-new structure to house a Space Shuttle it wanted to receive from NASA, called the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery. [24] [25] The new structure includes multisensory displays that highlight stories from the visionaries, designers, pilots, and teams of the Space Shuttle and other area related objectives. The gallery opened to the public in November 2012. [26] [27]

Though the museum did not receive one of the four staying Shuttles, it did get the Full Fuselage Trainer (FFT), a Shuttle bus mockup that was used to train all Space Shuttle astronauts. [26] Because it is a trainer and not an actual Shuttle, little group (no greater than 6 persons, minimum age 10, maximum height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)) assisted tours of the interior are readily available, for an extra charge. The FFT started getting here in different pieces starting in 2012. The cockpit and two areas of the payload bay got here by means of NASA's Super Guppy. [28] [29]

During the 50th anniversary events for Apollo 11 in 2019, the Museum of Flight hosted a taking a trip Smithsonian exhibit with the Apollo Command module Columbia, which was utilized during the first Moon landing. [30]

Aircraft on screen

The Museum of Flight has more than 150 aircraft in its collection, consisting of:

Exhibits and centers

On its grounds is the Personal Courage Wing (PCW) with 28 World War I and The second world war aircraft from numerous countries consisting of Germany, Russia, and Japan.

There is also the "Red Barn", a signed up historical site also called Building No. 105. Built in 1909, the structure was utilized during the early 1900s as Boeing's original factory. Through photos, film, narrative histories, and remediation of work stations the exhibits in the Red Barn show how wood airplane structure with fabric overlays were produced in the early years of air travel and supplies a history of air travel development through 1958.

In June 2007 the museum opened a new space exhibit: "Space: Exploring the New Frontier", which traces the advancement of space flight from the times of Robert Goddard to the present and into future commercial spaceflight.

Restoration facility

The museum preserves a restoration center at Paine Field in Everett with about 39 continuous jobs including a de Havilland Comet 4 jet airliner, a Jetstar, and the Boeing 2707 mockup, among lots of.

Museum of Flight Library and Archives

The Harl V. Brackin Library at the Museum of Flight was founded in 1985. Since 2011, it includes 66,000 books and signs up for 100 regulars; specializing in aerospace and air travel, it has an online catalog. [44]

The Museum of Flight Archives is accessible to the general public by means of the Kenneth H. Dahlberg Proving Ground. [45] It consists of countless pictures and countless linear feet of manuscript materials. Highlights of the collections include the Gordon S. Williams photographic collection, the Peter M. Bowers Photographic Collection, the David D. Hatfield Aviation History Collection, the Norm Taylor Photographic Collection, the Elrey B. Jeppesen Aviation History and Navigation Collection, the American Fighter Aces Association Archives, the Lear Corporation Archives, and the Wright Airplane Company Collection. [46]

In December 2017, the Archives released a digital repository. The website includes digitized materials from archival, library, and artifact collections. [47] In April 2019 the Archives started to make archival collections readily available and searchable online. [48]

Other facilities

In September 2013, Raisbeck Aviation High School (previously Aviation High School) opened in a new facility straight north of the museum's Aviation Pavilion. The school is operated by Highline Public Schools as a STEM school with a focus on aviation. The school runs in collaboration with the museum (which owns the land), Boeing, and other members of the regional air travel market. The center will also be utilized for the museum's summer season education programs when school is not in session.

Opened to the public in June 2016, the Aviation Pavilion covers the gap in between the high school and the Space Gallery. The cover permits airplane which were seasonally brought out, such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29 Superfortress, to be put permanently on display. Constructed as part of the extensive "Inspiration Begins Here!" campaign, the structure includes 18 of the museum's most iconic aircraft. The 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) roofing doubles the museum's display area, and was developed with aid from Sellen Construction and Seneca Real Estate Development.

In late May 2019, the museum opened the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Park including the totally brought back B-52G Stratofortess Midnight Express (59-2584) as the culmination of Project Welcome Home. Just west of the Aviation Pavilion, the park is totally free to the general public. [49]

See likewise

List of aerospace museums

References

Notes

^ Lentz, Flo; Martin, Sarah J. (December 13, 2017). "Landmark Registration Form". King County. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
^ a b "Museum of Flight Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Museum of Flight. p. 18. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
^ "Matt Hayes will prosper Museum of Flight CEO Doug King." Museum of Flight, July 12, 2017
^ "The Museum of Flight Welcomes Matthew R. Burchette as its New Senior Curator" (News release). Museum of Flight. July 2, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
^ "Museum of Flight". Yahoo Travel. Archived from the initial on November 11, 2014.
^ "Museum of Flight". Boeing Academy. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
^ "Museum of Flight/Aviation High Press Release" Museum of Flight. Retrieved: September 8, 2011.
^ a b Ogden, 1986 p. 193.
^ Truett, Jim (September 7, 1977). "Real expert in charge of flight museum". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. p. 17.
^ "Old racetrack now museum of flight". Ellensburg Daily Record. UPI. September 19, 1981. p. 19.
^ "Flight museum cabbing". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. October 22, 1980. p. A12.
^ a b "Air museum to open big gallery". Spokane Chronicle. Associated Press. July 6, 1987. p. A5.
^ "VIP's expected for flight museum opening". Ellensburg Daily Record. UPI. July 9, 1987. p. 7.
^ "Flight museum is open". Ellensburg Daily Record. UPI. July 11, 1987. p. 3.
^ a b "World's fastest plane Seattle-bound - slowly". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. September 11, 1991. p. B3.
^ Ogden, 1986 p. 194.
^ a b c Szabo, Liz (June 21, 1996). "Original Air Force One retires". Allegheny Times. Beaver, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. p. A4.
^ "First Air Force One to open for public tours this month". Seattle Times. October 8, 1996. Archived from the initial on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
^ a b Lalwani, Sheila (June 19, 2002). "Museum of Flight's growth takes wing". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
^ "Museum highlights individual guts in new fighter wing". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Associated Press. November 12, 2003. p. 3A.
^ a b Tu, Janet L. (June 1, 2004). "Museum to introduce brand-new warplanes wing". Seattle Times. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
^ "General History Fact Sheet." Archived December 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine The Museum of Flight, 2004. Retrieved: August 9, 2011.
^ Slivka, Judd (January 20, 2000). "Champlin Collection". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
^ Williams, Lauren C. (June 29, 2010). "Seattle's Museum of Flight breaks ground in its huge bid for an area shuttle". Seattle Times. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
^ "Photo Gallery: How to show a retired area shuttle." Collect Space. Retrieved: February 4, 2011.
^ a b Broom, Jack (November 7, 2012). "Museum of Flight's Space Shuttle Trainer display opens Saturday". Seattle Times. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
^ "Space Gallery Construction Has Begun." Archived March 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine The Museum of Flight, 2010. Retrieved: March 30, 2011.
^ Brown, Jack (June 30, 2012). "Super Guppy, with space-shuttle fitness instructor on board, touches down at Boeing Field". Seattle Times. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
^ "Museum of Flight Awarded Full-Fuselage Shuttle Trainer." The Museum of Flight. Retrieved: April 13, 2011.
^ McKenzie, Madeline (April 10, 2019). "' Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission' exhibit splashes down at the Museum of Flight". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
^ "First 747 called "City of Everett"". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. July 12, 1971. p. 16.
^ "The first 747 jet folds its wings for retirement". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. April 1, 1990. p. 7C.
^ "Concorde shows up, calls Seattle home". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. November 6, 2003. p. B6.
^ Lawless, Jill (November 5, 2003). "Concorde jets get ready for peaceful times ahead". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Associated Press. p. 3E. [long-term dead link] ^ Pyle, Richard (June 27, 2004). "Retired Concorde lands in museum". Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Associated Press. p. 8A.
^ Gitlin, Jonathan (December 20, 2023). "What would you do with an utilized Rolls-Royce Olympus engine from Concorde?". arstechnica.com. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
^ "De Havilland D.H. 106 Comet Mk. 4C|the Museum of Flight".
^ "Lockheed M-21 Blackbird." The Museum of Flight. Retrieved: September 2, 2011.
^ First Boeing 727, now brought back, takes final flight by: Siemny Kim Updated: March 2, 2016; KIRO-TV
^ "Super Constellation CF-TGE." rbogash.com. Retrieved: November 26, 2010.
^ "Alcor Lamson." Archived August 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Activate Media, 2006. Retrieved: May 20, 2011.
^ Said, Bob: 1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine, p. 46. Soaring Society of America November 1983
^ "Lamson L-106 Alcor Glider." Museum of Flight, May 2011. Retrieved: May 20, 2011.
^ "Start - OPAC Discovery".
^ "Proving Ground Information|Museum of Flight".
^ American Library Directory. Vol. 2 (64th ed.). Information Today, Inc. 2011-2012. pp. 2568-2576. ISBN 978-1573874113.
^ "The Museum of Flight - Digital Collections". mof.omeka.net. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
^ "Archives at The Museum of Flight". archives.museumofflight.org. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
^ "Vietnam Veterans Boneyard". Museum of Flight. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
Bibliography