Located South of downtown Seattle and in the heart of “Boeing country”, the Seattle Museum of Flight boasts nearly 400,000 annual visitors and is recognized as one of the largest air and space museums in the world. With over 150 air and spacecraft, this museum is a hotspot for vacationing families, Boeing Company interns, and locals alike.
The Museum of Flight has several permanent exhibits, including an airpark across the street. In this exhibit, museum-goers have the opportunity to walk aboard a British Airways France Concorde, one of the only twenty ever built and one of the four outside of Europe. Visitors can also tour the Boeing 707 aircraft that served as Air Force One for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.
Cockpits for aircraft such as the SR-71 Blackbird are also on display and are situated so visitors can sit inside, observe the controls and pose for photographs with their family. Similar to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum in Virginia, the Seattle Museum of Flight also has an SR-71 Blackbird aircraft with attached D-21 drone. Other exhibits include the World War I and II fighters, Bush Pilots of Alaska, the 737 Airliner Theater, and several flight simulators. The museum also hosts a section detailing the rich history of the Boeing Company from 1916 – 1958. The William H. Boeing Red Barn, Boeing’s first manufacturing plant built in 1909, was donated to the museum in 1975 and contains rare historic pieces as well as a replica factory workshop.
The Seattle Museum of Flight also sits next to Boeing Field, so guests can watch air traffic takeoff and land. Aircraft ranging from Boeing commercial jets to small bi-planes can be seen flying to and from this airport throughout the day, providing visitors with an opportunity to view diverse aircraft.
For more information on the Seattle Museum of Flight, visit their website.