Tuna
Tuesday 19 March 2024
A better start to today than yesterday. We headed back to the Museum of Flight which is beside Boeing’s own airport, and in amongst the incredible number of buildings that are labelled Boeing on the map. You aren’t allowed to drive around them as there is always a man in a white booth watching you. Our plan for today was to finish off all the bits we didn’t get to yesterday. Our first priority was the Aviation Pavilion, which houses many more planes, 18 planes plus one helicopter. Ok, 18 planes many not sound all that impressive after yesterday, but each one of these planes has a history, is beautifully restored and maintained and you get to wander through four of them!
The four we wandered through were:
- Concorde. This Concorde flew the last British Airways commercial flight before Concorde stopped flying in late 2023.
- Boeing VC-137B “Air Force One” a 707-120 and is also known as SAM970. It was the presidential plane for US presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.
- Boeing 747, RA001. This actual plane was the first 747 ever built by Boeing. It was used a lot for testing of technology development and engines and is presented in it flight test configuration.
- Boeing 787 Dreamliner, ZA003 was the third Dreamliner to be built.
There was also a B-17 Flying Fortress (in working and flying order), B-29 Superfortress, WB-47E Stratojet, Harrier Jump Jet, Tomcat and a Chinook Helicopter. Each aircraft on display has its own story and history. This pavilion took us about 2 hours to wander through.
It was then a wander through the Space Gallery which all things spacey in relation to the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
Our last stop was the B-52G Stratofortress Midnight Express which sit at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park.
As our knees and feet were feeling a little sore from all the standing and walking, we decided that 3.5 hours was our limit for today and headed home. We still have to do the WWI and WWII Galleries, but that will be another day.