Museum of Flight

Aerospace, Est.1983

The Museum of Flight, based in Seattle, Washington, is one of the largest air-and-space museums in the world.

It features more than 150 aircraft and spacecraft that are now a part of the nation’s history. Visitors not only get a eyeful of those historic aircraft, but also are permitted to board some of them.

The museum is one of only 750 institutions in the United States that are fully accredited by the American Association of Museums.

The Museum of Flight was established in 1983 at Boeing Field, the Boeing Company's original manufacturing site. The historic site was donated to the museum by the Port of Seattle in 1975. Boeing’s original hangar, nicknamed the Red Barn, is one of the museum's prime exhibits.

A major part of the museum’s exhibits is housed in the Great Gallery, a six-story, glass-and-steel hall containing three million cubic feet. Thirty-nine full-size aircraft are on display there.

The aircraft represent various periods of American aviation history. They include the Concorde supersonic airliner, America's first Air Force One, the first 747, a 737, a 727, and the Aerosonde, the first unpiloted aircraft to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean.

The experience of viewing the historic aircrafts is complemented by the museum’s flight simulators. The simulators employ such special effects as wind, smoke, and motion to give visitors the unmatched illusion of flying an aircraft.

The museum’s library and archives are believed to be the largest on the West Coast. The archive materials and aircraft serve as important source material for researchers, teachers, filmmakers, and authors.

Each year more than 80,000 school children from Washington State are treated to the museum’s instruction programs, which are specially designed to evoke interest in math, science, and technology. The Museum of Flight is an independent, nonprofit entity, and depends on donations and gift sales to cover operational expenses. Each year, two to four aircraft are added to the collection. The museum also accepts aircraft and historic materials from individual collectors and companies.