Museum of Flight … a Feast for Aviation Aficionados

Sunday, 3 June 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 62F (17C) / 51F (11C)

Our destination today was the Museum of Flight in Tukwila, which borders Seattle to the north.  We had a date to visit with friends in the afternoon, so we left home early.  The plan was to be at the museum when the doors opened at 9:00a to maximize our time.  Luckily, the Sunday traffic was manageable and we did not have any delays to contend with.

We arrived to find East Marginal Way beyond the TA Wilson Great Gallery closed.  This did not come as a surprise as we had read that the museum’s Boeing B-52G Stratofortress 59-2584 Midnight Express was coming back home after being away for 26 years for restoration.  We’re talking a very big airplane here, so the road had to be closed to accommodate its arrival.  The closure had no impact on us.

Team Effort: Artist Larry Anderson

The Museum of Flight is “… the largest independent non-profit air and space museum in the world!”  Or so says the website.  Having now seen the campus, which consists of five galleries, I have no reason to doubt that statement.  We began our exploration at the Great Gallery.  Mui had purchased veteran tickets online — $19pp … a discount of $3pp over regular admission.  But we got our money back when we arrived at the museum.  Why?  Because we heard on KOMO TV this morning that admission was free to veterans today … a special offer that wasn’t noted on the website.

The museum was fairly deserted when we arrived just before 9:00a.  We wandered around the gallery, which has lots of interesting exhibits covering space and aviation topics, and some 50 historic aircraft on display, including the world’s only remaining M-21 Blackbird.  Some of the planes and drones are on the floor … others are hanging overhead.  A sub-gallery is dedicated to the Apollo program.  A room called the Tower has a view of the Boeing Field runway … with conversations between controllers and pilots piped in live.  Interactive exhibits and simulators complete this area.

An impressive collection of aircraft in the Great Gallery.

Before sending humans into space, the US and the USSR both sent animals.

We’ve all heard of the Mercury 7 astronauts.  How many of us have heard of
the Mercury 13?  This group consisted of American women who underwent some
of the same physiological screening tests as the men selected by NASA in 1959.
They were part of privately funded program, not part of the NASA program,

Curtiss Robin C-1 … This particular aircraft, dubbed The Newsboy, flew 380 miles per day for
the Daily Gazette of McCook, Nebraska to deliver 5,000 newspapers to 40 rural towns.  The newspaper bundles would be dropped through a hole in the bottom of the fuselage.

Nothing like learning to fly in an SR-71 Blackbird … a Mach 3+ strategic
reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed as a “black” project in the 1960s.
Though it is no longer in service, it retains the world record as the fastest aircraft.

Taylor Aerocar III … A "roadable" Aircraft certified for use as both a plane and an automobile.

With time running short, we skipped the Apollo Gallery and returned to it later.  Big mistake as the museum was very crowded by then and it was especially noticeable in this small gallery.  What did we do in the interim?  We went to the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery and to the Aviation Pavilion … both of which are accessed via the T Evans Wyckoff Memorial Bridge, which spans East Marginal Way.

As we walk across the bridge we listen to music from space-themed movies.

The centerpiece of the Space Gallery is a NASA FFT — full fuselage trainer … a full-scale mock-up of the space shuttle orbiter with flight-quality systems.  It was used by shuttle astronauts to train for their missions and learn how to live and work aboard the orbiter.  The only thing it’s missing is the wings … which the trainer doesn’t need, of course.  The payload bay is open to the public … the crew compartment is only accessible by tour.  We’ve been inside the crew compartment of a shuttle orbiter, so we didn’t regret the lack of time that forced us to skip the tour today.

A crew typically spent about 100 hours training in the FFT.

Left: The Museum of Flight has a tradition that calls for the last crew of any
aircraft to sign their names on it.  On the FFT that honor went to the crew of STS-135.

Right: Playing doctor, Mui diagnoses this crewmember with space sickness.

After checking out the other exhibits in this gallery, we went out to the adjacent Aviation Pavilion.  This is an outdoor area … covered to protect some 19 civilian and military aircraft ranging from a Concorde to a Dreamliner, to President Eisenhower’s Air Force One, to the Boeing 747 prototype.  The really nice thing is that most of the ‘big birds’ are open to visitors and one can wander around inside them.

An overview showing some of the aircraft in the Aviation Pavilion.

B-17 Flying Fortress … a four-engine heavy bomber that was developed by Boeing
in the 1930s for the US Army Air Corps.  It served the Allies well during WWII.

I join President Nixon in front of Air Force One for his meeting with Premier Enlai.

This specialized Boeing 707 was put into service to replace the Super Constellation that transported President Eisenhower.  It is the first presidential jet plane.  It flew several important missions, including flying Nixon to China in 1972 to meet with Premier Enlai.
This is also the aircraft that flew President Johnson to Dallas in November 1963.

A glimpse of the interior of Air Force One.

The City of Everett was the first 747 built.  It ushered in the era of the jumbo jet.
The exterior color scheme reflects its 1968 condition.

Leaving the pavilion behind, we retraced our steps.  We didn’t have much time left at the museum, but wanted to at least take a peek at the Personal Courage Wing of the Great Gallery, which highlights WWI and WWII aviation.  Had we known how crowded the Apollo Exhibit — our last stop — was going to be, we would have spent more time in these galleries and skipped the latter.  As it turns out, we had just enough time for a quick walk through the WWII exhibit and didn’t make it up to the WWI floor at all.

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.  On December 7, 1941, the P-40s were the most effective
aircraft to get airborne at Pearl Harbor.  The museum’s aircraft never saw action.

Apollo Command Module 007 … The first production-line command
module delivered to NASA, it was used as a test vehicle.

The Museum of Flight is huge and it can easily take a couple of days to do it justice.  Certainly it is a delight for anyone even slightly interested in aviation.

After our whirlwind visit to the museum, we drove to Kirkland to visit with Patty and Jack one last time before we leave Washington.  You might recall that this is the couple who hosted us for several weeks when we moved to the US in 1983.  We had a lovely time chatting about shared memories and talking about future plans.  We hope to see them again when we return to the PacNW.

Today’s outing pretty much wraps up our sightseeing plans for this road trip to Washington State.  Not that we’re leaving right away ... but more on that later.

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