The Museum of Flight

The Museum of Flight To inspire all through the limitless possibilities of flight. The Museum’s aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast.
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The independent, non-profit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, attracting more than 400,000 visitors annually. The Museum’s collection includes more than 150 historically significant air- and spacecraft, as well as the Red Barn®—the original manufacturing facility of The Boeing Co. More than 100,000 individuals are served annually by the Museum’s on-site and

outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is accredited by the American Associations of Museums, and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. Diversity & Inclusion Statement:
The Museum of Flight is dedicated to providing a welcoming experience for all visitors, staff, volunteers, learners, and community members. We respect, celebrate, and honor all people and the unique perspective they bring to our institution. All voices are valued and heard and all people are seen and respected. Diversity, inclusion, equity and cultural responsiveness are part of everything we do and we are committed to building an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all. For more on our inclusion initiatives please visit the link below. https://www.museumofflight.org/About-Us/D-and-I

Zoom in! 🔎🔭Next time you're gazing at our model of the Hubble Space Telescope, see if you can spot these tangerine-color...
03/14/2025

Zoom in! 🔎🔭

Next time you're gazing at our model of the Hubble Space Telescope, see if you can spot these tangerine-colored handholds. The Hubble is a delicate piece of equipment, but was also designed to be maintained by humans. To protect the telescope and the astronauts, engineers installed these yellow grips around the observatory. The paint designates a spot the astronauts can safely touch. When you know this, you can see this orangish-paint all over the Hubble! You can even see it in action, with the photo of astronaut Marc Lee gripping the handle during a service mission in 2016.

Hubble Model images credit The Museum of Flight/Sean Mobley
Hubble Service image credit Public Domain via NASA

When she earned her pilot’s license in 1928, Nellie Zabel Willhite became the first deaf woman to hold that qualificatio...
03/14/2025

When she earned her pilot’s license in 1928, Nellie Zabel Willhite became the first deaf woman to hold that qualification. She performed as a barnstormer, wowing crowds with death-defying aerobatic stunts. Nellie banded together with Amelia Earhart and nearly 100 other early female aviators to form The Ninety-Nines in 1929, an organization of women pilots that still exists today.

Image Description: Black and white photo portrait of Nellie Willhite in her pilot garb. Circa 1930s.

Have you heard of Mary Riddle? She was a member of the Clatsop Tribe in the Pacific Northwest and is recognized as the f...
03/13/2025

Have you heard of Mary Riddle? She was a member of the Clatsop Tribe in the Pacific Northwest and is recognized as the first Native American woman to earn a pilot license in the U.S. She was a very active pilot in the Northwest aviation scene in the 1930s. Racist stereotypes about Indigenous cultures meant that she was compelled by public expectations to dress as a Plains Indian, as seen in the second photo, even though the regalia of Native people in the Pacific Northwest was completely different and unique to this region.

In these photos we see Mary with other members of the Associated Women Pilots of Boeing Field.

1. Mary Riddle (left) and Cora Sterling, undated.
2. Mary Riddle (left), Gladys Vickers Crooks, and Mildred Merril watch as Jimmie Allen of "The Sky Parade" movie and radio series signs an autograph book next to a United Air Lines Boeing 247, circa late 1930s.
Image Credit: The Museum of Flight/A. Elliott and Mildred (Filz) Merrill Collection

Throwback Thursday!This photo shows our Douglas DC-2 flying alongside the Boeing Model 40 restored by Addison Pemberton ...
03/13/2025

Throwback Thursday!

This photo shows our Douglas DC-2 flying alongside the Boeing Model 40 restored by Addison Pemberton of Pemberton & Sons Aviation during a Vintage Aviation Weekend at Paine Field back in the early 2010s. Did you ever attend one of the fly-ins?

Looking for a new book? Check out something by Octavia Butler from the King County Library System or The Seattle Public ...
03/12/2025

Looking for a new book? Check out something by Octavia Butler from the King County Library System or The Seattle Public Library!

Butler was the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur “Genius Grant.” She grew up in a time when science fiction stories were filled with shallow female characters, stereotypical black characters, and cookie-cutter poor characters. She set out to expand the genre, bringing richness and depth to characters previously relegated to the sidelines or portrayed as simple. She was intentional in her choices, seeing her writing as an extension of the Black Power Movement. Modern science fiction and fantasy stories from ‘Black Panther’ to ‘The Broken Earth’ can trace their roots to Butler’s pioneering work. Her final years were spent in Lake Forest Park, WA, just a few miles north of The Museum of Flight. Her influence was so profound that NASA named the landing site for the Mars Perseverance rover in her honor.

Image Credit: Nikolas Coukouma via CC BY-SA 2.5
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

If the odd propeller doesn’t catch your eye, the giant wingspan of this aircraft will. This is the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet ...
03/11/2025

If the odd propeller doesn’t catch your eye, the giant wingspan of this aircraft will. This is the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star. It’s a great example of a plane’s job leading the way for its design.

The Quiet Star's goal was silence. When people think of stealth aircraft, they usually think of avoiding radar detection. But the Quiet Star was stealthy in a different way. The United States Army wanted an aircraft that was so noiseless that it could fly over the jungles of Vietnam to take infrared photos with nothing more than a whisper. Since the foliage canopy was thick, if the plane couldn’t be heard, it probably wouldn’t be seen either.

The Quiet Star accomplished this thanks to a series of engineering decisions. The long, thin wingspan meant that the plane could create a lot of lift, the force that keeps airplanes flying, without also creating a lot of drag, the force that slows planes down. That meant that the aircraft didn’t need much “oomph” to keep flying once it was in the air, so the engine didn't make much noise. The six stubby blades of the propeller, instead of the usual two or three blades, meant that the prop could rotate slower and avoid making the chopping sound we associate with planes.

It only saw about 15 months of service in Vietnam between 1970 and 1971, but during that time no YO-3A was ever shot down, or damaged by enemy fire, a testament to the success of the plane at staying silent.

See the YO-3A on your next visit to The Museum of Flight!

Plan your visit ➡️ https://tmof.click/3WW09rK

While the name Boeing is heavily linked to the aviation industry in Seattle, the first person to build an airplane in Se...
03/11/2025

While the name Boeing is heavily linked to the aviation industry in Seattle, the first person to build an airplane in Seattle was actually a man named Takayuki Takasow. An immigrant from Japan, Takasow settled in Seattle in 1909. While in America he went by the name George T. Takasow. After landing a day job as a chauffeur and taxi driver, he got to work building an airplane. His plane, named the Takasow No. 1, was made of lightweight bamboo and specially prepared cloth. It took its first flight on April 27, 1911. Takasow went on to build four more planes in Seattle, but once he had established a family decided to give up flying, which was a dangerous endeavor in that era. He moved back to Japan at the outbreak of World War I.

Image Credit: The Museum of Flight Collection

Image Description: A vintage portrait of Takayuki Takasow. He’s dressed in a dapper suit and staring stoically at the camera.

❓ Did You Know ❓Before undergoing a restoration for display in The Museum of Flight, our General Motors FM-2 Wildcat was...
03/10/2025

❓ Did You Know ❓

Before undergoing a restoration for display in The Museum of Flight, our General Motors FM-2 Wildcat was a playground fixture at Astroland, a public park in White Center, WA, just south of Seattle. Here are some photos of Astroland in the 1960s. Can you spot the Wildcat?

Did you ever visit Astroland and play on the Wildcat? Feel free to share memories and photos of your own!

Photo Credit: King County Archives. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Pilot Jane Briggs Hart’s experiences in aerospace led her to a life of feminist activism.The Mercury 13 were a privately...
03/10/2025

Pilot Jane Briggs Hart’s experiences in aerospace led her to a life of feminist activism.

The Mercury 13 were a privately funded, ‘shadow’ group of women testing to be astronauts in the United States during the Mercury program. They were never officially part of the US astronaut program but underwent the same tests as the men who became the Mercury 7, often scoring higher than their male counterparts.

At 40 years old, Jane Briggs Hart was the oldest of the Mercury 13 and had eight children when she underwent the testing. She earned her pilot’s license during World War II, and eventually also earned a helicopter pilot’s license. She regularly flew her husband, a senator, to his campaign stops.

The question of whether the Mercury 13 would be allowed into the astronaut program eventually made it to a Congressional hearing. Well-known female aviator Jackie Cochran, who had initially supported the program, testified that it was a waste to train women as astronauts because they would only leave the astronaut corps to become mothers. Astronaut John Glenn similarly played to notions that a woman’s role was to be a stay-at-home mother, stating that women were not astronauts because it was a “fact of our social order.”

Jane Briggs Hart was particularly emboldened by these words, seeing them as an attack on women and mothers, and after the program folded she became a founding member of the National Organization for Women.

Learn more about the Mercury 13 on our podcast ➡️ https://bit.ly/3kOcPx5

Image Description: Jane Briggs Hart sitting in the cockpit of a helicopter.

03/09/2025

Droids love visiting our booth today at Emerald City Comic Con!

Tom Gunn, born in San Francisco, became the first licensed Chinese-American pilot when he graduated from the storied Cur...
03/09/2025

Tom Gunn, born in San Francisco, became the first licensed Chinese-American pilot when he graduated from the storied Curtiss Flying School in 1912. When he returned to his native San Francisco, the city’s massive Chinese and Chinese-American community turned out to support him. A newspaper reported that 30 Chinese musicians played on the ground while Tom flew a demonstration above the crowd. Gunn’s piloting prowess caught the attention of the Chinese government. By 1913, Gunn had relocated to China, where he helped invigorate the aviation industry in the country.

Image Credit: Public Domain via University of Southern California Libraries and California Historical Society

Image Description: Aviator Tom Gunn (left) posing in front of an airplane with one of the Eaton brothers (right).

Astronaut has gone totally disco dome at emeraldcitycomiccon! Sunday is the final day, see you there!
03/09/2025

Astronaut has gone totally disco dome at emeraldcitycomiccon! Sunday is the final day, see you there!

Flashback Friday! ✈ During the restoration of our Boeing 247, which flew for United Air Lines subsidiary Pacific Air Tra...
03/08/2025

Flashback Friday! ✈

During the restoration of our Boeing 247, which flew for United Air Lines subsidiary Pacific Air Transport, a group of retired United crew came to visit. One member of the crew, Bee Bell, a stewardess, recreated a photo she took in 1936 posing in a United 247.

Image Description: Two photos Bee Bell posing in a Boeing 247, one taken in 1936 and one taken circa 1990s.

Image Credit: The Museum of Flight Collection

03/08/2025

Have there been neurodiverse astronauts? How can designing an airplane bathroom for people with disabilities help all travelers? Disability right advocate, writer, and entrepreneur Keely Cat-Wells stopped by The Museum of Flight to answer your questions about accessibility in space exploration and air travel.

“7 Questions With…” is possible thanks to The Museum of Flight’s donors. Support the series with a tax-deductible gift today ➡️ https://tmof.click/4jIJHEH

Learn more about Keely’s work ➡️ https://keelycatwells.com/

Hear other thought-provoking speakers at The Museum of Flight’s Public Programs Series ➡️ https://tmof.click/4gUSAZg

Plan your visit to The Museum of Flight ➡️ https://tmof.click/4jTW5lE

Listen to The Museum of Flight’s Podcast ➡️ https://tmof.click/4glVcix

Content Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this video are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by The Museum of Flight. The Museum of Flight oversees and hosts guest presentations but should not be held accountable for the information or content that may be found therein.

It is day two at one of Astronaut’s favorite events: Emerald City Comic Con! Yesterday they made tons of new friends, an...
03/07/2025

It is day two at one of Astronaut’s favorite events: Emerald City Comic Con! Yesterday they made tons of new friends, and even wore their party disco helmet! Please stop by the Museum’s booth. See you there!

The Aztec Eagles were group of pilots and crew from the Mexican Air Force attached to the United States Army Air Forces ...
03/07/2025

The Aztec Eagles were group of pilots and crew from the Mexican Air Force attached to the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Flying the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, nicknamed “El Jarro” by the airmen, 30 pilots and 300 Mexican personnel supported the Allied effort in the Pacific theater, primarily in the battle to push the Japanese out of the Philippines. Both the pilots and the ground crew participated in combat on the islands. Mexico was one of two Latin American countries to deploy military forces overseas.

Image description: Mexican Air Force Capt. Radames Gaxiola Andrade stands in front of his P-47D with his maintenance team after he returned from a combat mission.

Image credit: United States Air Force via Public Domain

Did you know you can explore the first ever Boeing 747 from the comfort of your own home?The Museum of Flight has create...
03/07/2025

Did you know you can explore the first ever Boeing 747 from the comfort of your own home?

The Museum of Flight has created walkable, 360-degree scans from tip to tail of several of our historic aircraft using Matterport technology. Take a stroll through the "City of Everett," including a walk up the stairs to the upper deck and the cockpit which are off-limits to Museum visitors.

Check it out ➡ https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=qdygxmxU3PA

Address

9404 E Marginal Way S
Seattle, WA
98108

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

(206) 764-5700

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Videos

Airports Have Bee Farms? Because airports have so much open land, some, like Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, have beehives on them to help the environment stay healthy #Travel #Airport #Beekeeping

Droids love visiting our booth today at Emerald City Comic Con!

We are getting busy at Emerald City Comic Con! See you there, every day!

Protecting Wildlife at Airports | Curator on the Loose!
Protecting Wildlife at Airports | Curator on the Loose!

How do airports keep birds, bees, deer and other wild creatures safe from the constant flow of airplanes? Our Senior Curator Matthew Burchette headed over to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to meet up with Mikki Viehoever, a wildlife biologists employed by the airport. Come along with Mikki and Matthew for a runway-level look at the management techniques the airport uses to protect both human passengers and the animals around the field. Curator on the Loose! is possible thanks to The Museum of Flight’s donors. Support the series with a tax-deductible gift today ➡️ https://tmof.click/4jIJHEH Plan your visit to The Museum of Flight ➡️ https://tmof.click/4jTW5lE Listen to The Museum of Flight’s Podcast ➡️ https://tmof.click/4glVcix

Have there been neurodiverse astronauts? | 7 Questions With a Disability Rights Advocate
Have there been neurodiverse astronauts? | 7 Questions With a Disability Rights Advocate

Have there been neurodiverse astronauts? How can designing an airplane bathroom for people with disabilities help all travelers? Disability right advocate, writer, and entrepreneur Keely Cat-Wells stopped by The Museum of Flight to answer your questions about accessibility in space exploration and air travel. “7 Questions With…” is possible thanks to The Museum of Flight’s donors. Support the series with a tax-deductible gift today ➡️ https://tmof.click/4jIJHEH Learn more about Keely’s work ➡️ https://keelycatwells.com/ Hear other thought-provoking speakers at The Museum of Flight’s Public Programs Series ➡️ https://tmof.click/4gUSAZg Plan your visit to The Museum of Flight ➡️ https://tmof.click/4jTW5lE Listen to The Museum of Flight’s Podcast ➡️ https://tmof.click/4glVcix Content Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this video are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by The Museum of Flight. The Museum of Flight oversees and hosts guest presentations but should not be held accountable for the information or content that may be found therein.

Aerial Refueling KC-10 Ridealong | Curator on the Loose!
Aerial Refueling KC-10 Ridealong | Curator on the Loose!

Want to come along on a KC-10 aerial refueling mission? 'Curator on the Loose!' is back, and Season 4 is kicking off with a visit to Travis Air Force Base to meet members of the 70th Air Refueling Squadron, an Air Force Reserve command unit. They took Senior Curator Matthew Burchette and the 'Curator on the Loose!' crew up on one of the last flights of the McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender for an up-close view of aerial refueling, and shared about life in the reserves.

Can a wheelchair user become an astronaut? Full interview on our YouTube channel! #Access #MuseumOfFlight #DisabilityAwareness #Accessibility #Travel

Does the Americans with Disabilities Act count on airplanes? Check out the whole video with Keely Cat-Wells on our YouTube channel! #Access #MuseumOfFlight #DisabilityAwareness #Accessibility #Travel

We are at the Northwest Aviation Conference & Trade Show in Puyallup, Washington all weekend! Stop by our booth and say hi!

It’s been a relatively quiet day here at Boeing Field, so Museum PR Guy rushed outside to see this 777X taxi by this afternoon (he missed the landing!)

Dueling Duos: Boeing 247 vs Douglas DC-2 | Curator on the Loose!
Dueling Duos: Boeing 247 vs Douglas DC-2 | Curator on the Loose!

Ready for another matchup? Usually, Dueling Duos features two fighter aircraft competing for the top, but this time he's looking at two innovative commercial planes: the Boeing 247 and the Douglas DC-2. Two airliners from the golden age of passenger flight, which one do you think wins the match? Visit The Museum of Flight ➡️ https://museumofflight.org/ Check out The Museum of Flight's Podcast ➡️ https://museumofflight.org/podcast

Have there been neurodiverse astronauts? | 7 Questions With a Disability Rights Advocate
Have there been neurodiverse astronauts? | 7 Questions With a Disability Rights Advocate

Have there been neurodiverse astronauts? How can designing an airplane bathroom for people with disabilities help all travelers? Disability right advocate, writer, and entrepreneur Keely Cat-Wells stopped by The Museum of Flight to answer your questions about accessibility in space exploration and air travel. “7 Questions With…” is possible thanks to The Museum of Flight’s donors. Support the series with a tax-deductible gift today ➡️ https://tmof.click/4jIJHEH Learn more about Keely’s work ➡️ https://keelycatwells.com/ Hear other thought-provoking speakers at The Museum of Flight’s Public Programs Series ➡️ https://tmof.click/4gUSAZg Plan your visit to The Museum of Flight ➡️ https://tmof.click/4jTW5lE Listen to The Museum of Flight’s Podcast ➡️ https://tmof.click/4glVcix Content Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this video are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by The Museum of Flight. The Museum of Flight oversees and hosts guest presentations but should not be held accountable for the information or content that may be found therein.

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