Museum Of Flight

The Museum of Flight is a personal non-profit air and area museum in the Seattle city location. It lies 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 recognized by the American Alliance of Museums. As the largest private air and area museum worldwide, it also hosts large K-12 curricula. [6]

The museum attracts over 500,000 visitors every year, [2] and likewise serves more than 140,000 trainees each year through its onsite programs: a Challenger Learning Center, an Aviation Learning Center, and a summer season camp (ACE), in addition to outreach programs that travel throughout Washington and Oregon. [7]

History
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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 actually been discovered in Anchorage, Alaska. The restoration happened over a 16-year duration, and after completion, was put on display as a centerpiece for the museum. In 1968, the name "Museum of Flight" first appeared in usage in a 10,000 sq feet (900 m2) facility, rented at the Seattle Center. Planning started at this time for a more long-term structure, and initial ideas were prepared. [8]

In 1975, The William E. Boeing Red Barn was obtained for one dollar from the Port of Seattle, which had seized it after Boeing deserted it throughout World War II. The 1909 all-wooden Red Barn, the initial home of the business, was barged two miles (3 km) up the Duwamish River to its present location at the southwestern end of Boeing Field. [9] [10] Fundraising was slow in the late 1970s, [11] and after repair, the two-story Red Barn was opened to the public in 1983. [12]

That year a funding project was launched, so capital could be raised for building and construction of the T.A. Wilson Great Gallery. In 1987, Vice President George Bush, signed up with by 4 Mercury astronauts, cut the ribbon to open the facility on July 10, [12] [13] [14] with an expansive volume of 3,000,000 cubic feet (85,000 m3). The gallery's structure is built in a space frame lattice structure and holds more than 20 hanging airplane, including a Douglas DC-3 weighing more than nine heaps. [8]

The museum's education programs grew significantly with the building of a Challenger Learning Center in 1992. This interactive exhibit enables students to experience a Space 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 very same time, among the museum's most commonly recognized and popular artifacts, the Lockheed M-21, a modified Lockheed A-12 Oxcart developed to carry the Lockheed D-21 reconnaissance drones, [15] was placed on the floor at the center of the Great Gallery, after being totally restored. [16]

The first jet-powered Flying force One (1959-1962, SAM 970), a Boeing VC-137B, was flown to Boeing Field in 1996; it arrived in June and was opened to visitors in October. [17] [18] Retired from active service earlier that year, [17] it is on loan from the Flying force Museum. Originally parked on the east side of the museum, it was driven throughout 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 exhibit. The tower ignores the Boeing Field runways, home to one of the thirty busiest basic air travel airports in the nation. The exhibition uses a peek 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, named after J. Elroy McCaw, a location business person, business owner and The second world war 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 World War II aircraft. It likewise has big collection of design aircraft, including every airplane from both wars. [22] Much of these airplanes were from the collection of the Champlin Fighter Museum, formerly 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 began on a $12 million new building to house an Area Shuttle it hoped to get from NASA, called the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery. [24] [25] The new building consists of multisensory exhibitions that emphasize stories from the visionaries, designers, pilots, and crews of the Space Shuttle and other space related objectives. The gallery opened to the general public in November 2012. [26] [27]

Though the museum did not receive among the 4 staying Shuttles, it did receive the Full Fuselage Trainer (FFT), a Shuttle mockup that was utilized to train all Space Shuttle astronauts. [26] Because it is a trainer and not an actual Shuttle, small group (no greater than 6 persons, minimum age 10, maximum height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)) directed trips of the interior are available, for an extra charge. The FFT began showing up in numerous pieces beginning in 2012. The cockpit and two areas of the payload bay got here via NASA's Super Guppy. [28] [29]

During the 50th anniversary celebrations for Apollo 11 in 2019, the Museum of Flight hosted a traveling Smithsonian display with the Apollo Command module Columbia, which was used during the very first Moon landing. [30]

Aircraft on screen


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


Exhibits and facilities


On its grounds is the Personal Courage Wing (PCW) with 28 World War I and World War II airplane from several nations including Germany, Russia, and Japan.


There is also the "Red Barn", a signed up historic site also understood as Building No. 105. Built in 1909, the building was used throughout the early 1900s as Boeing's initial factory. Through photos, movie, narrative histories, and repair of work stations the exhibits in the Red Barn illustrate how wooden aircraft structure with fabric overlays were made in the early years of air travel and offers a history of aviation advancement through 1958.


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


Restoration facility


The museum preserves a restoration facility at Paine Field in Everett with about 39 ongoing projects including a de Havilland Comet 4 jet airliner, a Jetstar, and the Boeing 2707 mockup, amongst lots of.


Museum of Flight Library and Archives


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

The Museum of Flight Archives is accessible to the general public via the Kenneth H. Dahlberg Research Center. [45] It consists of countless photos and thousands of direct feet of manuscript materials. Highlights of the collections consist of 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 introduced a digital repository. The site features digitized products from archival, library, and artifact collections. [47] In April 2019 the Archives started to make archival collections offered and searchable online. [48]

Other centers


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


Opened to the general public in June 2016, the Aviation Pavilion spans the gap between the high school and the Space Gallery. The cover enables airplane which were seasonally highlighted, such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29 Superfortress, to be put completely on display screen. Constructed as part of the comprehensive "Inspiration Begins Here!" campaign, the structure includes 18 of the museum's most iconic aircraft. The 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) roofing system doubles the museum's exhibit space, and was developed with help from Sellen Construction and Seneca Real Estate Development.


In late May 2019, the museum opened the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Park featuring the completely restored B-52G Stratofortess Midnight Express (59-2584) as the culmination of Project Welcome Home. Just west of the Aviation Pavilion, the park is complimentary 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 be successful 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" (Press 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 News Release" Museum of Flight. Retrieved: September 8, 2011.
^ a b Ogden, 1986 p. 193.
^ Truett, Jim (September 7, 1977). "Real professional 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 taxiing". 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 expansion takes wing". Seattle Times. Archived from the initial on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
^ "Museum highlights individual guts in brand-new fighter wing". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Associated Press. November 12, 2003. p. 3A.
^ a b Tu, Janet L. (June 1, 2004). "Museum to launch 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 big quote for an area shuttle". Seattle Times. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
^ "Photo Gallery: How to display a retired space shuttle bus." Collect Space. Retrieved: February 4, 2011.
^ a b Broom, Jack (November 7, 2012). "Museum of Flight's Space Shuttle Trainer show 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 trainer 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' exhibition 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 arrives, calls Seattle home". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. November 6, 2003. p. B6.
^ Lawless, Jill (November 5, 2003). "Concorde jets get ready for quiet 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 a used 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 restored, 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 Memorial Park". Museum of Flight. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
Bibliography


- Ogden, Bob. Great Aircraft Collections of the World. New York City: Gallery Books, 1986.