Harry and I caught the bus down to the The Museum of Flight at King Country International Airport (Boeing Field). The Museum has an impressive collection of aircraft from over 100 years of history. Boeing has a heavy representation as Seattle is the birth place of the company and the adjacent airport is still very much a collection of active company assets.
We began our tour in the Great Hall.
The Great Hall has aircraft ranging from the very first powered aircraft, a replica Wright Brothers Flyer (the original is in Washington)...
...To the SR-71 Blackbird.
The Great Hall has two cockpit sections that you can sit in. Above is the SR-71 & below, the F-18.
From the Great Gallery, we moved on to the Personal Courage Wing where the WWI and WWII aircraft are housed. This area is very well done and all seemingly quite new.
All of the aircraft are restored in pristine condition like the Corsair above. And each has an excellent information board and other associated artifacts.
The famous Spitfire above.
Above, the formidable P-51 Mustang
A number of aircraft from adversary air forces are also represented.
Between the Great Gallery & the WWII Gallery is the Apollo Exhibit where the Apollo 11 command module & a spent booster rocket are on display.
Next up, we walked over the bridge to the West Campus where there is the Space Gallery. It has a very odd full sized partial Space Shuttle that we ignored and moved through to the Aviation Pavillion which has some truely unique aircraft. Above in the foreground is a Boeing VC-137B 'Air Force One'based on a Boeing 707. The White aircraft in the background with the orange stripe is the prototype B747 Jumbo.
Above is a British Concorde that you can walk through.
One of the more impressive displays was the Boeing 787 Dreamliner prototype.
The display included this impressive Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engine.
Not to be over-shadowed by the commercial aircraft, the military aircraft were also well represented. Above is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortess. Below, the Boeing B-29 Super Fortress. Both were renowned WWII bombers.
The aircraft in the foreground is one of the very early commercial air liners, the Boeing 247D. Behind is is the predecessor to the formidable Boeing B-52, the Boeing WB-47E Stratojet.
Somewhat hiding under the wings of the passenger jets, is a small collection of navy aircraft. Above L-R. Grumman EA-6B Prowler; Grumman F-14A Tomcat; Boeing CH-47D Chinook.
Above, a retired Blue Angels A-4F Skyhawk & an MD AV-8C Harrier.
While we were admiring the myriad of aircraft in the Aviation Pavillion, this beast landed on the runway in front of us. It is a test aircraft that is part of the Boeing 777X program. The airfield is a test site for some of Boeing's development aircraft.
Set up outside the museum boundary is this mighty Boeing B52G Stratofortress. The sheer size of these aircraft is phenominal. Little wonder, they are able to wreak havoc on enemy strongholds.
The dining hall and balcony overlooks the airstrip, so if you're a bit of an aviation fanatic, it's the perfect place to stop for lunch. There are plenty of private jets that take off and land on this busy air strip and if you are lucky, you may even see one of the 777X or 737-Max development arcraft.
The Museum of Flight is very impressive and I thoroughly recommend a visit if you are in Seattle.
King Country Airport is a delivery site for Boeing where they put the final touches and fit outs on the aircraft before they are delivered to customers. There is an array of commercial jets (mainly B737s) all lined up in one area with many different liveries. Adjacent to the Museum, is the Military delivery Center where they are currently fitting out the KC-46 Pegasus refuelling tankers (above) and the P-9A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (below).
For Harry & I, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. Kerri would have been bored out of her brain.
