The Great Gallery in the Museum of FlightThis past weekend we were able to go to the Museum of Flight, near the Boeing airfield just south of Seattle. Love it! We were disappointed that we didn't know what it included beforehand, because we didn't leave ourselves enough time. Did you know they have the first Air Force One jet, a 747, and a Concorde you can tour? We didn't—at least until we were reading the brochure after we left. We also missed the only Mars Viking lander on Earth—oops! We are already planning to go back on the museum's free day.
Honestly, this was one of the cooler museums I have been to, both because of it's size and depth of things to see. The Museum of Flight not only covers airplanes, but also space flight. The museum also had a lot of interesting simulators—including ones where you are an astronaut in space trying to capture the Hubble.
A cockpit you can climb in. It features a recording telling about the controls you are playing with.Some of the exhibits in the museum:
The Great Gallery—(Shown in the top picture.) The huge glass gallery with 43 historic aircraft, from the Wright brothers on down.
The Boeing Red Barn—The first place Boeing manufactured aircraft. It takes you through the old processes of building a plane.
WWI and WWII exhibits—Features planes and stories from the men and women of the great wars. See planes like the Red Baron flew!
The Airpark—Tour the first Air Force One, Choncorde, and a Boeing 747 and 737. The Airpark is not always open, so check times. It closes at 3:30pm in the winter and 4:30pm in the summer.
Space Gallery—(Be sure to find the main one. There was also a smaller section about space in the Great Gallery.) Bring in the space shuttle fo a safe landing, land the lunar module on the moon, and climb inside a fill size replica of the Internation Space Sation's Destiny Research Laboratory.
The Tower—In a real tower that overlooks Boeing's test field, see what air traffic controllers do.
And the KIDS' FLIGHT ZONE—This area contains REAL planes with REAL parts for kids to discover. They even have a hot air balloon kids can ride to the ceiling and gliding simulators.
The Great Gallery—(Shown in the top picture.) The huge glass gallery with 43 historic aircraft, from the Wright brothers on down.
The Boeing Red Barn—The first place Boeing manufactured aircraft. It takes you through the old processes of building a plane.
WWI and WWII exhibits—Features planes and stories from the men and women of the great wars. See planes like the Red Baron flew!
The Airpark—Tour the first Air Force One, Choncorde, and a Boeing 747 and 737. The Airpark is not always open, so check times. It closes at 3:30pm in the winter and 4:30pm in the summer.
Space Gallery—(Be sure to find the main one. There was also a smaller section about space in the Great Gallery.) Bring in the space shuttle fo a safe landing, land the lunar module on the moon, and climb inside a fill size replica of the Internation Space Sation's Destiny Research Laboratory.
The Tower—In a real tower that overlooks Boeing's test field, see what air traffic controllers do.
And the KIDS' FLIGHT ZONE—This area contains REAL planes with REAL parts for kids to discover. They even have a hot air balloon kids can ride to the ceiling and gliding simulators.
The Kids Flight ZoneOther Tips: Audioguides are available, but for/with kids, I wouldn't recommend it. On Saturdays and Sundays at 11:15 and 1:15, Bank of America puts on free, hands-on kids' workshop. You can find locations in the lobby of the museum.
The museum is free the first Thursday of every month, and unlike some museums in the area, it's large enough that there still should be enough room for everyone.
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