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Home peterBlogThe Museum of Flight in Seattle
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The Museum of Flight is a fantastic museum that keeps getting better as the years go by. I first visited the Museum of Flight as a child when the entire museum consisted of the Red Barn that was part of the original Boeing Aircraft factory. Since that time, the museum has made several additions including the Great Gallery, which holds a prototype Blackbird, F4 Phantom, a replica of the Wright Flyer and many more recognizable and significant aircraft. After the Great Gallery came Air Park across the street which houses prototypes of the 727, 737 and 747 as well as a Concorde and the first jet powered version of Air Force 1 that carried Nixon, Kennedy and LBJ. Most recently, the museum added the Personal Courage Wing to its north end. This two level exhibit hall features WWI war birds upstairs (including the very first fighter aircraft ever created) and WWII fighters downstairs. The docents who lead the PCW tours are mostly old veterans who really know their stuff and spin a good yarn to boot. The Red Barn is still at the museum as well, having been revamped in 2004-05 as a tribute to the early years of the Boeing Company. It is interesting to see how the museum's exhibition styles have evolved over the years from the encyclopedic, object centered displays of the old Red Barn and the Great Gallery, to the more story driven and immersive environment of the PCW. The museum continues to evolve, grow and improve today. Most recently, TMoF managed to secure a contract putting them in line to receive a space shuttle once the fleet is decommissioned early in the next decade. In order to accommodate the new addition, the museum has plans to build a new space wing across the street next to Air Park. This much needed addition will replace the diminutive collection of space artifacts currently on display in the Great Gallery. Furthermore, upon completion of the new wing, The Museum of Flight will rival The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in size.
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