The Museum of Flight

The Museum of Flight

The aura of aviation – evidenced in the high-tech hangar look of the building design – starts from the moment you glimpse The Museum of Flight. Man’s fascination with flight is mapped for you to track: Leonardo da Vinci’s dreamy sketches, the Wright brothers’ first short success, to the soaring accomplishments of the Space Age.

When you step inside, you will be inspired by those who dared to dream big dreams. They struggled, solved the mysteries of powered flight, flew high, broke the sound barrier, and traveled into space.

T. A. Wilson Great Gallery

Dramatic both day and night, the museum’s Great Gallery is an architectural statement. Six stories of glass and steel – with 3,000,000 cubic feet of exhibit space – is an impressive showcase for aircraft.

Currently, you can see 39 full-size historic aircraft that trace the history of the first 100 years of flight. Taking full advantage of the space, 23 of these aircraft are suspended from the ceiling in an attitude of flight. Yes, that includes a nine-ton Douglas DC-3.

Consider that the Blackbird spy plane was designed to fly coast-to-coast in 58 minutes, and is still the fastest plane in the world.

Boeing Field Tower

Our appetite for how things really work is insatiable. Travel makes us all curious. Here’s an exhibit destined to engage kids and adults.

Museum exhibits experts created a way to demonstrate the environment in which air traffic controllers work, and how they keep air travelers safe in busy skies.

Learn how pilots communicate with each other and airport towers to navigate and stay safely separated from other airplanes.

Space: Exploring the New Frontier

There’s a lot to see and touch in this exhibit. Face it, this is likely as close as most of us will get to a moon landing.

Share the experiences of astronauts from the Pacific Northwest. Land the Apollo lunar module on the moon. Bring the space shuttle in for a perfect landing. Climb inside a full-size replica of the International Space Station’s Destiny Research Laboratory.

J. Elroy McCaw Personal Courage Wing

A brand-new 58,000 square-foot addition to the museum, the two floors of the Personal Courage Wing contain dramatic, interactive exhibits highlighting twenty-eight stunning World War I and World II fighter planes.

Highlighting the stories of courage, dedication, heroism and human spirit of those involved in fighter aviation, this exhibit presents the history, aircraft and memorabilia behind those human stories.

Museum of Flight Airpark

Examine and explore the giants of aviation legend in the museum’s outdoor section. Currently on display is America’s first Air Force One, the first 747, the original 737, a Boeing 727 and the sleek, unique – now sidelined – Concorde.

William E. Boeing Red Barn

The Red Barn, built in 1909, was The Boeing Company’s original aircraft manufacturing plant.

The Port of Seattle (operating authority of Seattle’s marine ports and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) donated the barn to The Museum of Flight in 1975 and moved it to its present location on the museum campus near Boeing Field.

In 1983, The Museum of Flight debuted in this historic location.

T. Evans Wyckoff Memorial Bridge

When you visit the Museum of Flight, you’ll see this bridge. One day, it will connect the buildings you visit with an expansion for aerospace education. Classrooms, a resource center, and library are part of the planned facilities.

These are necessary components to keep the museum out front, advancing its reputation as the world’s premier air and space museum.

Free Movies Every Day

The William M. Allen Theater is a perfect spot to relax and sample a program about aviation, space exploration, history or current events.

Chasing Horizons: Women in Aerospace

Open July 10, 2010 – Included with CityPASS

For many people, the word “aviatrix” causes them to remember Amelia Earhart, the American flier to whom the most recent temporary exhibit at The Museum of Flight was devoted. But Amelia was not the only woman who took up aviation as a career when most other pilots were men. In fact, women have been flying and participating in most aspects of aviation as long as their men counterparts have, including the “non-traditional” roles of aircraft engineers and test pilots.

Chasing Horizons will feature artifacts, including uniforms, from women in industrial, military, commercial, and sport aviation, as well as images, videos, and interactive activities.

When once you have tasted flight...

Watch this video, narrated by Harrison Ford, to get an inkling of what awaits you at The Museum of Flight. It closes with an antique quotation that seems to sum up aviation’s magical appeal: