We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience

787

The Dreamliner represents such a quantum step forward in commercial aviation, that it is appropriate that Boeing created an innovative, one-of-a-kind centralized studio for customers to configure their 787. The 54,000 square-foot facility, designed with renewable materials, provides airline customers the ability to see, touch and experience the 787 catalog choices in a private, comfortable environment. Much of the design of this facility was undertaken by Disney Imagineering. Formerly, airlines would have to travel all around the world to all the individual vendors to customize their aircraft. To that end, Boeing has designed the Dreamliner to be standardized with approved components which simplifies design, production, and reportedly played a major role in the very surprisingly reasonable pricing. Prior to this philosophy, every airline had a specific Dash Code such as "223" for American - this designation represented airline's custom requirements. Now, with most of the innovation left to the premium cabin, Boeing has taken this standardized approach from non premium seats to lavs to fabric to binds, even down to coffee makers...the list goes on and on.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

Even components like bars, lavs, coffee makers, ovens, emergency equipment, trash compacters, galleys, surface materials and textures, and IFE's are standardized on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and are all able to be seen in one place at the Dreamliner Gallery.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

The overhead bins will be the largest in the industry. They are designed around the variety of roll-aboard bags that passengers typically carry. As a result, every passenger will be able to place a bag in the bin above.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

One of the most innovative by-products of the 787's composite construction is the weight savings that allow for much larger windows. Windows this large on a commercial jet haven't been seen since the original DC-8s, and even those weren't as big.

The 787’s windows are the largest on any of today’s airplanes (47 centimeters tall, 28 centimeters wide), 65 percent larger than the competition’s windows. This gives passengers a view to the horizon from any seat on the airplane, reinforcing their connection to the flying experience.

The window shades are dramatically different from other commercial jetliners. Electrochromatic window shades – rather than physical shades – give passengers the ability to dim the windows and still see the passing terrain.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

Customers can view products central to the design of their entire brand experience – from fabrics, curtains and floor coverings to a lighting lab – to enable brand differentiation.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

Boeing has constructed a non-functioning Dreamliner 787-8 flight deck mockup. Though retaining Boeing's traditional flight control systems, this cockpit is anything but traditional. Note: the new ergonomically seating, the standard heads up displays, the new LCD flight information screens, and Boeing's new standard Electronic Flight Bag.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

The crew rest area contain mockups of the crew rests areas for flight deck crew and F/A crews at the aft of the aircraft.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

The Galley Gallery includes a host of galleys that airline customers can see, touch and even operate in a fully functional kitchen equipped with the same levels of power found on an airplane. The room includes a full-scale cross-section of the 787 so airline customers can easily position and visualize the placement of forward, mid and aft galleys. A full-height eConfig screen enables customers to evaluate the galleys’ ergonomics. Airlines actually prepare and serve meals here.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

The Dreamliner has a very unique lighting lab. Illuminated by arrays of energy-efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs), both the brightness and the color of the sky-like cabin ceiling can be controlled in flight by the crew. Flight attendants can give passengers a sense of daylight when desired, and when they want to help passengers rest, simulate a beautiful nighttime sky. Standard for the first time on a jetliner, cabin lighting uses light-emitting diode in three colors instead of fluorescent tubes, allowing the aircraft to be entirely 'bulbless' and have 128 color combinations. This lighting can be programmed to match the destination, exterior lighting, as well as different combinations to match the progress of the flight.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

The seats and IFE gallery features rows of pre-certified premium seats from seat suppliers in the 787 catalog. The room enables customers to test seats, reconfigure seats to view pitch variation and select fabric and color options as well as seating for all classes of the cabin. These seats are all pre-approved and customers are persuaded to order from this catalog for economy seating. Due to the competitive and customized nature of Business and First Class seating, most of the major airlines opt to order and design seats other than what is seen here. This Gallery is impressive as for the first time, there's a single showroom for most seats so airline's can compare and contrast in a one-stop location. The IFE's are located in this room as well.

The 787 cabin is wider than other mid-sized jetliners. Where width has the greatest impact on passenger comfort – at seated eye level – the 787 Dreamliner cabin is 38 centimeters (15 inches) wider than its competition. This creates more personal space for each passenger.

Wide seats: The wide 787 cabin provides more width per seat than any other commercial airplane – more than four centimeters per seat than its nearest competitor. In an eight-abreast economy seating arrangement, the wider fuselage provides the room for the widest economy passenger seats in the industry - 47 centimeters wide. A nine-abreast economy seating arrangement offers comfort similar to a 747 economy-class cabin.

Wide aisles: In economy class, the 787’s aisles are typically 55 centimeters wide. That is more than six centimeters wider than in typical twin-aisle airplanes. In business class, the 65-centimeter aisles will allow passengers to easily move past serving carts.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

------

Unlike the 787 Mockup at the Customer Experience which is used primarily for sales, this is a working mockup where all the design elements at the Dreamliner Gallery come together from the eConfig system and physical display galleries: lighting, lavs, seating, galleys, lavatories, fabrics, textures, and more. This is one of the final steps as airline's finalize their airline configurations.

Wide seats: The wide 787 cabin provides more width per seat than any other commercial airplane – more than four centimeters per seat than its nearest competitor. In an eight-abreast economy seating arrangement, the wider fuselage provides the room for the widest economy passenger seats in the industry - 47 centimeters wide. A nine-abreast economy seating arrangement offers comfort similar to a 747 economy-class cabin.

Wide aisles: In economy class, the 787’s aisles are typically 55 centimeters wide. That is more than six centimeters wider than in typical twin-aisle airplanes. In business class, the 65-centimeter aisles will allow passengers to easily move past serving carts.

We are very grateful to Adam Morgan, Kent D. Craver, Mike Lombardi, Scott S. Lefeber, and Van-Rex Gallard for this very unique experience.

=====

The Museum of Flight operates a Restoration Center at Paine in Everett, Wash. The center is home to approximately three dozen aircraft including the first Boeing 727, a Comet 4C, and the world's only flying Boeing 247. The public is welcome, but Airchive was given an extra special tour thanks to TC Howard and Tom Cathcart. You can tell you've arrived by the Learjet 23 parked outside.

The Museum of Flight owns, maintains, and occasionally fly the world's only Boeing 247.

-----

The Museum of Flight's Restoration Center at Paine Field in Everett, Washington is home to the world's first Boeing 727. This prototype 727 was the first of 1,831 made when production ended in 1984. Until the 737 broke its record in the early 1990s, the 727 held the sales record for the most popular jet airliner ever built. This particular airplane, N7011U is a Boeing 727-22 that was rolled out on November 22, 1962 and then first flew on February 9, 1963. Unlike many Boeing test aircraft, this 727-22 was delivered to United Airlines and entered commercial service, entering service on October 7, 1963. It flew mainline routes with United until January 13, 1991 when it was donated to the museum. Prior to the handover, it was repainted in its delivery colors. It flew 64,495 hours with 48,060 landings. Restoration began under T.C. Terry Howard and Steve Huemoeller in 1994. United has stripped many components off of the 727, though many were later donated back by UAL. When Fed Ex donated a Boeing 727 in 2003, restoration activities picked up. The plan is to get the plane to ferry flight condition within the next few years to get it down to the Museum of Flight's main museum at Seattle's Boeing Field. Volunteers, parts, and cash contributions are very welcomed by this passionate and motivated group. Contact crew chief Bog Bogash at 360-638-1698 and visit his site at http://rbogash.com/ual727tx.htm

Special thanks to Terry "T.C." Howard for spending the day with us at Airchive and giving such a fantastic tour, not only of the 727 but of the entire facility.

----

The Boeing 247 was the first modern commercial airliner. It was sleek, all metal, and flew nearly 50% faster than the tri-motors then in service. United and Boeing were co-owned so Boeing monopolized the orders with 60 orders for the airplane before it was even built. Rival major airlines such as TWA and American turned to the Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 which within a year rendered the 247 obsolete. Only 75 Boeing 247s were made from 1933 to 1934.

Special thanks to: Terry "TC" Howard and Tom Cathcart for the tour.

This Comet 4C Registration N888WA, was the first Comet 4C built and was originally used for flight testing before being handed over to Mexicana in 1960 as their first jet airliner. It carried between 80 and 120 passengers, had a range of 2,650 miles, and was the ultimate Comet. However by the time it was built in 1959, it had been eclipsed by the Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 707, in spite of its good safety record after the grounding of the Comet 1 in 1953 following several tragic accidents due to metal fatigue.

This plane was to be used by Paine Field based Richmond Air after Mexicana sold it in 1970, though these pans never materialized. It was eventually acquired in 1977 by Everett Community College, and then eventually donated to the museum. Since our last visit in 1999, the cabin is almost completely and very impressively restored though the wings, engines, and exterior are years away from completion. In fact, the vertical stabilizer (tail) is off the plane temporarily while it is partially in the hanger. It is being restored and on display in BOAC livery (which it never flew in) at the restoration facility of the Museum of Flight at Paine Field next to Boeing's Everett, Washington widebody plant. It will eventually be repainted to its original Mexicana livery and interior.

It is not being restored to flyable condition with the goal being to truck it down to the main Museum of Flight Airpark in Seattle as a static display. Volunteers should contact Bob Good RobtHood@aol.com to help on this remarkable restoration job, now the only Comet in the America's.

Special thanks to: Terry "TC" Howard and Tom Cathcart for the tour.

The term Link Trainer, also known as the "Blue box" and "Pilot Trainer" is commonly used to refer to a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930s and early 1950s by Ed Link. Two Link Trainers are on display at the Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field in Seattle, Washington. This one is in fully functional condition with the adjoining instructors table.

The Museum of Flight in Seattle is custodian of a USAF Boeing B-52G bomber at the Museum's Everett facility. This particular airplane, after flight testing, spent its entire life in-service with SAC, until placed on long-term loan with the Museum. Looking after elements of history and maintenance of this airplane is Bob Bogash, retired after 30 years with Boeing, the last ten of which were as Director of Quality Assurance in the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. Bob was instrumental in obtaining this historic aircraft from USAF originally, and in retirement, has become seriously involved with the Museum and the care of this and other airplanes. The airplane underwent major mods at Boeing, SAAMA, CAMS, OCAMA, and OK City. It's last overhaul date was 22 Feb 1989. Demilitarization in accordance with the START Treaty requirements was accomplished about 17 Aug 1992 while in storage with the Museum. Research has confirmed that this airplane was one of 110 G-models which saw combat duty during the Vietnam War as part of operation Bullet Shot/Linebacker.

Courtesy: www.rbogash.com

This Boeing 727-100C N124FE, is an ex-Eastern and retired Federal Express freighter (originally Eastern N8160G) being used as parts donor for N7001U - the first Boeing 727 which is under restoration at the Museum of Flight.

Courtesy: www.rbogash.com

The Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum at King County International Airport/Boeing Field. It has an Airpark across the street on Marginal Way with a restoration facility at Paine Field in Everett, WA. The Museum has many noteworthy aircraft in its 80 plus collection including the first presidential jet, VC-137B SAM 970, which served in the presidential fleet from 1959 to 1996, the prototype 737, The City of Everett: The first flight-worthy Boeing 747, and British Airways Concorde number 214, registration G-BOAG, one of 5 Aerocars, the only surviving Boeing 80A, An ex-Trans-Canada Air Lines Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation, an American Airlines Boeing 727, an SR-71, and much more. It has the entire Boeing Red Barn historical factory located adjacent to the main glass hall. We were lucky enough to spend the day with Boeing's Chief Archivist Mark Lombardi.

For more information on this fantastic museum, visit www.museumofflight.org/

There is also the "Red Barn", a registered historic site also known as Building No. 105. In the early 1900s it was Boeing's original manufacturing plant when aircraft were manufactured from fabric and wood. It was donated to the museum in the 1960s at its opening.

The Boeing Model 40 was a United States mail plane that became the first aircraft built by the Boeing company to carry 2 passengers. It was of conventional biplane configuration. Originally designed to compete for a US Mail contract in 1925, it was rejected in favour of the Douglas M-2. Only 80 were built. Of the 2 left in the world, only 1 is airworthy.

The Aerocar was a "roadable" airplane certified for use as both a plane and an automobile. The prototype was completed in 1949 but not certified by the Civil Aeronautics Administration until 1956.

The Museum's Aerocar III began as the sixth and final Aerocar I. In the late 1960s, Taylor bought it back after it had been damaged in a road accident. He updated and redesigned the car section, leaving the wings essentially unchanged. Thanks to its large Lycoming 0-320 143-horsepower airplane engine, the Aerocar was quite sporty and by all accounts, it was also quite stable and pleasant to fly.

Of course the most remarkable feature of the Aerocar is its ability to transform from automobile to aircraft -- a process that takes about 15 minutes. The Aerocar can either tow its wings and tail like a trailer, or simply leave them at the airport. To get ready for flight, the driver/pilot first connects the driveshaft (flip up the license plate to make the connection) in the tail. Then, the wings swing around into position and are pinned into place. The flight controls -- movable steering wheel and rudder pedals -- slide into place automatically. The engine cannot start unless every connection has been properly made, an ingenious safety device.

Description Courtesy of: The Museum of Flight Website

The first presidential jet plane, a specially built Boeing 707-120, is known as SAM (Special Air Missions) 970. This aircraft, as well as any other Air Force aircraft, carried the call sign "Air Force One" when the president was aboard. Delivered in 1959 to replace Eisenhower's Super-Constellation, the high-speed jet transport is a flying Oval Office with a modified interior and sophisticated communication equipment. It was modified to B "Turbofan" standard in the early 1960s. SAM 970 has carried presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon as well as VIPs such as Nikita Khrushchev (on his tour of the U.S.) and Henry Kissinger (secret advance trips to China).

By 1962, SAM 970 was replaced by a newer Boeing VC-137C., Sam 2600 and 2700 during the Kennedy Administration, but SAM 970 remained in the presidential fleet ferrying VIPs and the Vice-President until June of 1996.

This aircraft is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force. It resides across the street from the museum in the Airpark.

Until the mid-1920s, American commercial airplanes were built for mail, not people. Boeing's Model 80, along with the Ford and Fokker tri-Motors, were a new breed of passenger aircraft. The 80 first flew in August 1928 and was working along Boeing Air Transport's route two weeks later. The 12-passenger Model 80 and the more-powerful 18-passenger 80A (re-designated 80A-1s when the tail surfaces were modified in 1930) stayed in service until 1933, when replaced by the all-metal Boeing Model 247.

The Museum's Model 80A-1, equipped with three Pratt & Whitney 525-horsepower "Hornet" engines, was retired from service with United in 1934. In 1941, it became a cargo aircraft with a construction firm in Alaska. To carry large equipment, including a massive 11,000-pound (4,950 kg) boiler, a cargo door was cut into the plane's side. After the war, the 80 was stored and then discarded. It was recovered from a dump in 1960 and eventually brought to Seattle for restoration. It is the only surviving example of the Boeing Model 80 series.

A passenger flying in Boeing's earlier Model 40 was in for an uncomfortable trip. The 40 was designed for mail -- people were secondary, packed like sardines into the cold and noisy fuselage. The advent of the Model 80 brought some comfort to travel. The 80A had room for 18, a heated cabin, and leather seats. There was individual reading lights and the lavatory featured hot and cold running water. Although the 80 had a luxurious interior, flying was tough by today's standards: the cabin wasn't pressurized, engine noise made conversation difficult, and despite heaters, the cabin was sometimes very cold.

In 1930, Miss Ellen Church, a student pilot and registered nurse, convinced Boeing management to hire female cabin attendants for their Model 80 flights. Until then, it had been the co-pilot's duty to pass out box lunches, serve coffee, and tend to the passenger's needs. Church reasoned that the sight of women working aboard the Boeing 80s would alleviate the passenger's fear of air travel. She and seven others, all nurses, became America's first stewardesses. Serving on a trial basis, they were very popular and became a permanent part of American commercial aviation.

Description courtesy of: Museum of Flight website

--

When first introduced into commercial service, the 727's original market forecast was for only 250 planes. But over 1,800 of the versatile and economic "trijets" were built between the early 1960s and 1984, and they were used by hundreds of airlines.

The Museum's 727 is equipped with three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17 engines with 16,000 pounds of thrust each. The three-engined airliner was the first of its type in the U.S., flying shorter routes, and able to operate from smaller airfields than Boeing's 707 and 720 aircraft. The aft location of the 727's engines allowed for improved ground clearance, less cabin noise on take-off, and reduced control problems should one engine become inoperative.

Before the 737 surpassed it, the 727 was the world's highest-selling jet transport. As of 2001, nearly 1,300 727s were still in service and the planes have flown well over 4 billion miles.

The 737 is the most popular jetliner in the Boeing airline family, and most popular jetliner ever built. Since 1967, over 8,000 "Baby Boeings" have been built or ordered. It has been in production longer than any other commercial airliner with series beginning at 100 (only 20 were ordered) and up to the ultimate 900ER now. There have been 3 major generations in the 40 plus years it has been in production with a new re-enging or replacement likely on the way which will keep it into production at least until 2020. This plane was considered a failure when it was first launched with Lufthansa being the launch customer (first Boeing non US launch customer), but as they say the rest is history.

The Museum's aircraft is the first production 737. The prototype made its first flight with Brien Wygle and Lew Wallick at the controls on April 9, 1967. Boeing used the 737 as a flight test aircraft before it became NASA's Transport Systems Research Vehicle in 1974. Based at the Langley Research Center in Virginia, the 737 was used to test many technological innovations including a virtual cockpit, electronic flight displays, and airborne wind shear detection systems.

On September 20, 1997, NASA retired the airplane and donated it to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It now had only a still very youthful 3297 hours total flight time. It was flown to Moses Lake, Washington where a more benign climate would allow it to be stored until it could be placed on permanent display at the Museum's main facility at Boeing Field in Seattle. The airplane was maintained in "active" storage, meaning it was kept airworthy and able to make the flight to Seattle with little advance notice or heavy maintenance required. In 2003, the Museum decided to move the airplane to an area on the west side of East Marginal Way, across from the Museum, that had been donated by Boeing for large aircraft display. In August 2003, a NASA team from Langley Research Center in Virginia inspected and tested the airplane to satisfy themselves that it was indeed airworthy. (Of course it was!) On September 21, 2003, having received authorization from NASA, the airplane made its final flight - 33 minutes - from Moses Lake to Boeing Field. It parked on the Boeing flight line, across the ramp from the stall it had been parked in when it made its first flight 36 1/2 years before. Brien Wygle, Captain on the first flight, was aboard for the last one. On Saturday, November 22, 2003, she was towed across East Marginal Way to join the first jet Air Force One, the 747 Prototype, Concorde, and other historic aircraft. She is now a mere stones throw from the Thompson Site factory, from which she rolled out in December 1966.

This aircraft, which never entered commercial service, is on loan from NASA, Langley Research Center.

Special thanks to www.rbogash.com for some of the history taken verbatim.

The "City of Everett", N747001, the Museum of Fight's aircraft was the first 747 ever built - serial number 001 and in fact is the world's first "Jumbo Jet". On 30 September 1968, the first 747 was rolled out of the Everett assembly building before the world's press and representatives of the 26 airlines that had ordered the airliner. Over the following months, preparations were made for the first flight, which took place on February 9, 1969, with test pilots Jack Waddell and Brien Wygle at the controls and Jess Wallick at the flight engineer's station. Despite a minor problem with one of the flaps, the flight confirmed that the 747 handled extremely well. The 747 was found to be largely immune to "Dutch roll", a phenomenon that had been a major hazard to the early swept-wing jets.Later, this aircraft served as a testbed for 747 systems improvements and new engine developments for other Boeing commercial jets, including the state-of-the-art Boeing 777 engine program. Its last flight was in the late 1990s. The 747, however remains likely to be remain in production into its 5th decade with the the 3rd generation Dash 800 now coming online as of 2011 with over 1,400 produced.

Here are the most status plans for restoration from 2003. By the looks of the aircraft as of October, 2010, Little had been done.

"Here are our current plans for RA001:

This fall, a team of volunteers will tackle reinstallation of the engine

cowlings, which we hope to have done by next summer. This is not a straightforward job, because the JT9D engines that were donated for the aircraft following its last use as a 777 engine testbed lacked much of the bracketry and attach hardware for the cowlings. We suspect that some of these parts will have to be fabricated from scratch as they are no longer readily available.

We plan to repaint the trim colors only sometime in the next year or so. Unfortunately, there is no paint hangar on KBFI big enough to accommodate the aircraft, so there can be no question of a complete repainting. As far as interior restoration, RA001 was never certified as a standard airliner and never had a complete passenger interior. Our long-term goal is to restore the interior to a flight-test configuration. We have begun to acquire representative test racks, ballast water barrels and other equipment to facilitate this restoration, but we've made no final decision about

exactly which test configuration or era will be represented.

Eventually, RA001 will be housed inside the Museum's planned Commercial Aviation Wing. At that time, the aircraft interior will be open for public tours. There are no plans, however, to make it accessible to the public before it goes inside".

Concorde G-BOAG was the 14th Concorde built. It made it's maiden flight in 1978 and was delivered to British Airways on February 6, 1980. Concorde 214 had a less than glamorous start to its life as G-BFKW. After it was built and with no buyer, it was loaned to BA to cover for a 6 month period, while G-BOAC was being repaired at Filton.

After an aborted flight to New York on 26th April 1980 the aircraft was grounded with a water contaminated hydraulic system. The aircraft did not fly again for more than a year, but at a cost of one million pounds re-entered into service, this time as G-BOAG, in Feb 1981.

With a lack of parts for its Concorde fleet BA grounded and used "Alpha Golf" as it main spares source for a period of time up until 1984 when with parts availabe from the newly acquired G-BBDG. "G-BOAG" was returned to service and was the first to fly the the BA "Landor" livery in 1984 in preparation for the privatization of BA. It was the last Conorde to be repainted in the new Chathman livery which continues on BA today. On October 24, 2003 it made its final flight from New York before joining G-BOAE and G-BOAF on a low circuit of London and then touching down at Heathrow together to mark the last day of Concorde commercial flights.

G-BOAG's final flight was on November 3-5, 2003 when it flew from London Heathrow to Boeing Field via New York JFK. For the time being, it sits outside in the elements at the Airpark across from the Museum of Flight.

The Museum of Flight's Douglas DC-3, N138D, was built in 1940 for American Airlines. It served with various airlines and flew over 20,000 hours. It now wears the livery of Seattle based Alaska Airlines, which operated many DC-3s and C-47s after World War II. This aircraft replaced another DC-3 in the main hall in 1997. It is ironic that the Boeing 247, which the DC-3 rendered obsolete, is not on display at the main campus of the Museum of Flight.

----

Company officials convinced Bill Boeing that an improved Model 40 would enable the firm to win the transcontinental contract. That, indeed, happened. The 40A included room for two passengers behind the mail compartment and in front of the open cockpit. Asked how he could operate so efficiently, Bill Boeing said "we're carrying mail over those mountains rather than water and radiators." The 40 could carry twice the payload of its competitors. Later versions of the 40 flew with a Pratt & Whitney Hornet and room for four passengers.

Thanks to the generosity of William E. Boeing Jr. the Museum's Model 40B reproduction was constructed by Century Aviation of Wenatchee, Wash., and was installed in our Great Gallery in October of 2007.

Description Courtesy of: Museum of Flight

The Harrier is one of the most extraordinary and recognizable fighter aircraft in the world. Built to support troops on the ground and intercept and attack enemy aircraft and helicopters over the battlefield, the single-man light fighter currently flies with the United States Marine Corps, the British Royal Air Force, and the Spanish and Italian navies.

The trait that makes the Harrier unique from other U.S. airplanes is that it can take off and land vertically. The Harrier accomplishes this amazing flying feat by directing thrust from the engine through four swiveling nozzles located on the fighter's belly. Sometimes called a "jump jet," the Harrier can operate from short fields, the decks of ships, or even roadways located close to the fighting.

This Harrier flew with Marine Attack Squadron 542 before it was retired and loaned to The Museum of Flight.

This aircraft is on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida.

Descriptions courtesy of: Museum of Flight

The "Super G" was the most successful version of the Lockheed Super Constellations and one of the last great piston-engine airliners. Soon after the plane's introduction, it became clear that airlines would invest in jet aircraft.

For long range operations, the Super G could be fitted with extra wingtip tanks increasing the fuel capacity by two-thirds more than the original "Connie" models. The first flight of the G-model Constellation was on December 7, 1954 and it was introduced to commercial service by Northwest Airlines on July 1, 1955. The Super G was a popular choice among the airlines with 42 being flown by domestic carriers and 59 by foreign airlines.

This airplane was delivered to Trans-Canada Airlines in 1954. After a career flying passenger and later cargo, the aircraft was briefly converted into a cocktail lounge and lunch delicatessen in Toronto, Canada.

The Museum's Constellation is currently on view in the Airpark.

N213US, ex USAir Boeing 737-201's forward section is preserved at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field, Seattle, WA as a theater showing the feature showing the feature program Time Flies: A Century of Flight.

Description courtesy: Museum of Flight

The MiG-17 was an improved and significantly upgraded derivative of the original post-war MiG-15. Equipped with an afterburning turbojet engine of considerably greater thrust than its predecessor, the MiG-17 was the first Russian aircraft capable of near-sonic velocities in level flight. It could, in fact, fly supersonically in a shallow dive.

Numerous versions of the MiG-17 were manufactured in Russia and several satellite countries. The type eventually saw combat in Vietnam, the Middle East, and other parts of the world.

The Museum's MiG-17 is an early production version, formerly active with the Moroccan Air Force. It was brought to the U.S. through the efforts of Maj. Gen. "Boots" Blesse, former president of the American Fighter Aces Association, and Col. Maj. Kabbaj, Royal Moroccan Air Force. The transfer to the Champlin Museum was approved formally by His Highness, King Hassan II, in 1983. The MiG-17 was transported by C-130 and truck to Mesa, Arizona following disassembly in Morocco.

The MiG-17 now bears the markings of a standard-camouflaged North Vietnamese MiG-17F.

Description courtesy: Museum of Flight

The Blackbird family of aircraft cruise at speeds of more than Mach 3 and fly over 85,000 feet (25,500 m) in altitude. Conceived nearly 50 years ago, Blackbirds remain the fastest and highest flying air-breathing production aircraft ever built.

This M-21 is a unique variant of the A-12, the earliest Blackbird type. Built for a CIA program code-named "Tagboard," the M-21 carried unpiloted vehicles for intelligence gathering. These drones were intended for launch from the M-21 "mother ship" for flights over hostile territories. Design features of the M-21 include the second seat for the Launch Control Officer and the launch pylon on which the drone is mounted.

The Museum's M-21 was built in 1963, and is the sole surviving example of its type.

Help us preserve this historic artifact for future generations. Click here to find out about the Museum's Adopt-A-Plane program.

This aircraft is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Description courtesy of: Museum of Flight