Visiting Museum of Flight in Seattle on Friday 3/3

4 hours is about the right visit time in my opinion. When I was there, I was with people who were ready to leave after 2 hours and I had to rush. Lots of interesting exhibits on several levels. Also, their gift shop has all kinds of neat toys for kids. I still have several balsa wood airplanes in a Boeing livery. Have fun!

 

Post up your experiences please.. interested in both when next in the US..

 

Please let me know when you plan your visit. I think that it would be fun to meet you there since I have some things in the museum. I worked with the originator of that organization in 1964, Harl Bracken. He never lived to see what a great thing it is now but he dedicated everything he had in his life to get it started.

 

I don't know if I can be there on 3/3/17 but I will try to meet you. Let me know , please.

 

Hi Bob, I would be much honoured to meet you and very much look forward to it..

I'm in the process of re-organising life and liquidating assets and once all sorted and resettled will book up the trip.. I already have a rough route in mind to span WA->FL covering both aviation and photographic interests.

Hopefully before end of the year as I want to do outside stuff too and I'm not much of a fan of freezing on top of a mountain if I can help it!

 

I was stationed in Seattle twice and loved every single minute of it. Phenomenal restaurants in and around downtown. My favorites are Dahlia Lounge and Barolo. Etta's for seafood, Cutters for a drink after touring Pikes, Pink Door for breakfast, Elliott's on the wharf, and Pure Seafood inside Pikes.....

Four hours in the museum is about right. Not sure when Hops n Props is this year, but if you can swing, I'd time your tour for that day.

 

Tell your friends they can take a boat ride. The one that goes thru the Ballard locks is quite interesting and they also point out the "Sleepless in Seattle" house boat on the tour.

 

H&P was yesterday, the 25th.

 

That is an incredible museum. If you're interested and it's open, the Shuttle Trainer (full size mockup of the Space Shuttle that you can climb around in) is a highlight.

 

I was thinking about things at the MOF in which I was involved over the years.
The earliest was in 1952 when I worked at Plant 1 on the Duwamish River and Plant 1 was the "Red Barn" as they now call it. It was used for tool and supply storage but in the years before then it was where the 314 Clipper was built and before that, a lot of older Boeing airplanes. I tried to help Harl Bracken when we were trying to launch the Pacific Northwest Aviation Historical Foundation. No one was interested and there wasn't a penny given to it. It somehow hung on and eventually the Red Barn was moved to Boeing Field after being saved from demolition and monied individuals and groups began to wake up to the aviation history here in Seattle and supported what is now a world class aviation museum.
I was involved in getting several airplanes purchased by the museum and I was in charge of the restoration of the L-3 hanging in the pavilion . I made a drawing of the Model 80 transport that shows the entire airplane inside and out and it was used in the restoration of the one on display at the MOF. I applied the exterior markings on the Boeing P-12 when it was restored by O.W. Tosch and Lew Wallick. They sell prints of the B-29 cutaway that I did for the 50th anniversary of that airplane and I have a painting someplace in the cellar. Enough of this, but the museum is a must for anyone visiting Seattle. Up north at Paine Field there are two more world class museums, Paul Allen's flying collection and John Sessions flying collection and on top of that , there is the tour of the Boeing plant and Future of Flight. This place will keep you busy for a couple of days.

 

I'm going to make sure allocate all the time necessary to see these wonderful things.

A QANTAS mate of mine recently lent me a book on the early aviation history of Lord Howe Island (about 300 mi off east coast Aussie) and it was fascinating.. used by the RAAF for PBY/Catalina nav training out of Rathmines base and also serviced by Sunderlands of the then QANTAS Empire Airways and Tasman Empire Airways (the precursor to now Air New Zealand).

Of the 2 remaining Sunderlands one is in Kermit Weeks collection.. I see it's not currently on display from their website.. but I'm somehow going to see if it's possible to see this important piece of Australian aviation history and seaplane to boot.. (or flying boat as they seemed to like to be called).

 

No cameras allowed but I thought it was a great tour. Well worth it.

 

I'm sure it is classified. As an aside, Boeing has a small museum in the vicinity with a bunch of older aircraft outside on display and cameras are allowed.

 

If you're going to Paine Field for the Boeing tour, also be sure to visit the Museum of Flight annex (on the east side of the airport) and Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection (on the south side). Also the Historic Flight Foundation (on the west side at the south end) is worthwhile. Paine Field is now truly "the Chino of the Northwest"!

(Remember, for the Boeing tour, get there early and you'll probably have to sign up for a time slot later in the day, which may give you time to visit those other places. The Boeing facility has a decent museum of their own, and a fantastic gift shop.)

 

Paine's website has links to all the attractions' websites:

Visiting | Paine Field, WA - Official Website

 

Hey Bob, did you know Bob Lamson?
Lamson L-106 Alcor Glider | The Museum of Flight

 

I remember the name but I can't place him. A lot of names escape the associated faces now. Sorry.

 

It just popped into my head. I remember Bob Lamson working with Dick Baxter on a crop duster design, the Lamson Air Tractor..

 

How do you pressurize a glider cockpit? Bottled gas? Small compressor?

 

I had the pleasure of working with him, along with a few other Boeing 'old-timers', on the prototype blended winglets which are now installed on nearly every 737 in the world. Like you they had a ton of practical knowledge that every engineer should have had the opportunity to listen to and digest. Bob took great pride in his glider and the fact that it is hanging in the gallery at the Museum.

 

I didn't know about the glider but I remembered the name of the other guy that was involved in the Air Tractor, Kit Carson. No joke. That's the name. He was a Boeing test pilot and really nice guy.