The Museum of Flight in Seattle

The Museum of Flight in Seattle is the largest private aerospace museum in the world. Established in 1965, this nonprofit museum celebrates the history of air and space on the original grounds of one of the largest aerospace manufacturers in the world today. If you’re curious about Seattle's close relationship with the Boeing Company or just want to visit one of the city's unusual museums, head for the Seattle Flight Museum.

Perhaps the most breathtaking area of The Museum of Flight is the six-story glass-walled T. A. Wilson Great Gallery, where more than twenty full-size aircraft are suspended indoors. The two-story William E. Boeing Red Barn transports visitors back in time through the history of aviation and the earliest days of The Boeing Company. The William E. Allen Theater shows free films about air and space travel throughout the years. You can interact with the new J. Elroy McCaw Personal Courage Wing, where twenty-eight international fighter planes from the World Wars are punctuated with personal stories of valor and heroism, or wander outdoors to the Airpark, where the largest aircrafts are on display. Among these are the first Boeing 747 called The City of Everett, the first Air Force One presidential jet, and a British Airways Concorde. At the time of publication, the Seattle Flight Museum is building and bidding for one of the three Space Shuttles as the NASA program is ending. The Museum of Flight hopes to win one of the shuttles for display and complete its Space Gallery in 2011.

In addition to a comprehensive aviation library available to the public, the Seattle Flight Museum also hosts one of the largest K-12 educational air and space programs in the world. Outreach programs and group visits are popular to surrounding schools, and a summer camp travels throughout the states of Washington and Oregon each summer.

Located south of downtown Seattle, the Museum of Flight offers free parking, though it can also be reached easily by bus or taxi. It is an included attraction on the Seattle CityPass and the GoSeattle card. Digital audio guides are available for an additional fee.