The Museum of Flight

One of my other destinations was the Museum of Flight.  I'd visited there the last time and I enjoyed it so much that I had to visit it again.  This time, I decided to take the bus which was an adventure of its own.

 This is the original home of the Boeing Airplane Company.  It was moved here from its original location about two miles away.  It was opened to the public in 1983 after 8 years of restoration.

 One of the things that I like about the museum is the fact that most of the planes are in very well lit areas. They are also laid out to be very photography friendly.  I think this is an early Boeing plane.

 An F-104 starfighter.

 A model of the USS Nimitz.  I'm not sure what scale though.

 A Boeing P-12 Peashooter.

 Not sure what kind of plane this is.

 And F-4 Phantom.

 Kaydet.

 Gee Bee.

 Probably one of my favorite commercial planes, the DC-3.

 Another one of my favorite planes, the SR-71.  I believe this plane still holds the speed records for a production aircraft.  If you notice the plane above, it is a D-21 drone and was used for missions where it would be potentially too dangerous for the SR-71.

 A Coast Guard helicopter.

 An A-4 Skyhawk.

 Another view of the DC-3.

 A P-38 Lighting.  I thought that it was interesting that the plane said "Wyandotte Michigan".

 A P-51 Mustang.

 Another view of the P-38.

 A Spad.

 A Concorde.  The Concorde was a joint development between the British and French and represents the only commercial supersonic plane (the Soviets had a commercial plane similar to the Concorde but I don't think it ever achieved regular flights).  It first flew in 1969 and became operational in 1976.   A total of 20 aircraft were built and it was retired in 2003.

 I forget how much a ticket on the Concorde cost but it doesn't look like it was worth it.  This picture gives you an idea of just how cramped the aircraft was.  Although one of the cool stories of the Concorde was that it was used by Phil Collins during Live Aid.  He did his show in London in the morning and then flew to Philadelphia to perform another set that night.  He might have been the only performer to perform in two continents in one day.

 A view of the cockpit.

 The first Boeing 737.

 The first 727.

 A view of the first Jet Air Force One.  And a picture of another relic from a bygone era.

 A view of the communications equipment.

 The cockpit.

 The outside of Air Force One which was a converted 707.

 A Constellation.

 The first 747.

 A B-17 that was rebuilt by Boeing employees.  I believe this one is capable of flight.

 A B-47 Stratojet.

 A Harrier jump jet.

 The front of the Harrier.

 An A-6 Intruder.

This is the F-14 Tomcat.  It is by far my favorite aircraft.  Sadly it is no longer in service.