The rain falls a lot in Washington so when such a day is a washout the locals head to the museums. A popular venue is the Museum of Flight just south of Seattle. The museum is claims to be the largest independent air and space museum in the world and has its beginnings with a group of enthusiasts who began to collect and preserve the planes and other memorabilia of historical importance. The site is impressive with over 175 aircraft housed in several large hangers. There are some of the earliest known airplanes including a very well-illustrated WWI and II display. Not only was the Battle of Britain covered but there is much more detail on the pacific war as befits an American Flight Museum. The impressive Great Gallery included early manned space craft and a wide range of iconic aircraft.
An overhead walkway leads onto the Aviation Pavilion which is covered but open on the sides. Here there is a British Airways Concorde in pristine condition, the Air Force One Boeing, and the prototype Jumbo Jet.
Concorde is a glamorous looking supersonic jet. The inside offered luxurious comforts with a journey of a few hours giving a fast trip across the Atlantic. The Concorde in the museum was known as Alpha Golf due to its registration code G-BOAG.
The Air force one was a specially built Boeing 707-153, and is known as SAM (Special Air Mission) 970. Four presidents flew on the plane including Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Johnson was sworn into office on board the plane immediately after the assignation of JFK.
The Jumbo Jet in the Museum is the first 747 ever built, known as RA001. The inside is cavernous as there are no seats. This was a test plane and it includes all the necessary surveillance equipment that were used during testing. The instrument stations do not take up that much space so you can appreciate the interior size of the aircraft.
Other highlights included visiting the space shuttle and walking down the payload cargo area. There are so many other aircraft to see and remember there are 175 of them! So much to see, so little time and definitely a wonderful place to bring your camera for a day out. I took many pictures and I have attempted to label the aircraft correctly. However, enthusiasts my wish to contact me to add further details and let me know and I will correct appropriately. The Museum of Flight web site is well organised and takes you through the online museum step by step although seeing the aircraft up close is a never to be forgotten experience.
If you enjoyed this blog then please read about my visit to the East Midlands Aeroparc. Not on the scale of the Museum of Flight but there are some iconic aircraft to see there as well.
