Seattle – Museum of Flight

Wednesday was to be our day off. Rain was predicted. John & Sue, Joe & Margaret, and Frank & I  planned to make a leisurely visit to the Museum of Flight. It was an attraction on our City Pass, had its own parking lot, and was an indoor activity. We drove south on I-5, leaving late morning.

The 13 mile drive took about 20 minutes.

When we walked inside the museum we were astounded at the extent of it. The Great Gallery at the south of the main building had planes suspended about it. It contained flight simulators all along a mezzanine. There were exhibits on the space program, the Russian space race, the bush pilots of Alaska, and other exhibits. A section devoted to the United States' space program had a full size replica of the Lunar Rover.

Planes were hung from wires all about the steel structure of the glass ceiling.
A surrounding mezzanine housed more exhibits and served the dual purpose
of giving visitors a closer view of the suspended planes.

This full scale replica of the Lunar Rover made me want to climb aboard and go for a ride.

There was a two-floor gallery to the north, devoted on the lower level to World War II, and on the upper level to World War I. In between the northernmost and southernmost galleries was the Red Barn, Boeing's first factory, containing the factory history and exhibits on the birth of aviation. Inside the Red Barn were the highly polished hardwood floors of the original factory and antique equipment that had been used to test and manufacture the early planes. For example, small bags of sand were stacked to varying heights on the wings to simulate pressure load distributions along the wing span and test the strength limit.

There is a simple, inconspicuous entrance to the Red Barn from off the lobby between two galleries.

The Red Barn of Boeing is in the foreground and the Great Gallery in the background.
Out of view in the closer foreground is the World War two level gallery building.

We visited all these galleries. Our tour of the World War galleries was a bit shortened time-wise
but then again, my brain, for one, was saturated with all the information.

As if these two galleries and the red barn were not enough, crossing the road, East Marginal Way, via an overhead covered bridge, led the way to a gallery of the space program that housed a full size replica of the space station which visitors could walk through. Nothing gives such a sense of size as walking in and about these models and replicas. Photos cannot grasp the vastness.

Frank is about walk across the bridge taking him to a space program gallery and
an outdoor field of planes such as Air Force One and the Concord. 

This aerial view shows the extent of the Museum of Flight. From upper left toward lower right:
the large planes such as Air Force One and the Concord, the Space Gallery with its replica of the Space Station, the World War I and World War II galleries, the bridge over Marginal Way,
Boeing's Red Barn, and the Great Gallery with its glass ceiling.

Because it was raining, we were not permitted to board the large outdoor planes but we were given a rain check to do so later in the week. We stayed until the museum closed trying to make up the for time we had not thought we would need at our late morning start. Outdoors were other sights to see. There was a B-29 being restored and there were lots of small private planes landing and taking off from the nearly air field.

This plane is in the process of being restored.
The B-29 had been badly damaged after years of being used as target practice to train naval aviators.

It was raining on our drive back to home base. I guess because it rains so much in Seattle, road and traffic conditions change rapidly. I found Seattle's approach to changing and conveying compensating speed limits interesting. The lighted overhead signs were very visible.

Those SPEED LIMIT 30 signs changed often and sometimes by lane.

Frank & I arrived back at home base before John & Sue and Joe & Margaret and found several fire engines parked directly in front of the house we had rented. My heart jumped into my throat and my first panicked thought was, "Did I leave my curling iron plugged in?" I asked one of the fireman what the situation was, and he told me that it had been a medical emergency with an elderly woman across the street but she was fine. Well, I am getting pretty close to elderly and they darn near had a medical emergency with me!

Notice the crossroads sign and the spire of the church in the distance.
Yes, this long hook and ladder engine was directly in front of our home base!

Once the second of the two trucks pulled away we could enter the driveway.
John & Sue and Joe & Margaret arrived after all vehicles had cleared away and the excitement was over.

For dinner that evening we had what I like to call a "Night to Remember" – remember what you had to eat the previous dinners. We reheated the hamburgers, lasagna, and chicken from the earlier nights and each person got to pick from the various menu items. We were a regular restaurant.

For entertainment that evening we played the game of iota™. In this game you add cards to a grid, making sure the number, color, and shape are either all the same or all different. As a group we did much better with this game. There was a logical right or wrong play and nothing was subject to interpretation. We remained friends.  ;•)

This game travels well. The iota™ tin measures  slightly over 2" x 2" x 1".

√ The colors are all different.      √ The numbers are all the same.
Whoops!      Shapes are both same and different!