Site and Address
The Museum of Flight
Largest Air and Space Museum in the West
9404 East Marginal Way, Seattle, Washington 98108-4097
www.museumofflight.org
(206)764-5720

Date of Visit: 25 March 2007

Hours
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Daily
First Thursday of each month, open until 9:00 PM
Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas

Admission
Under 5: free
5-17: $7.50
18-64: $14.00
65+: $13.00
Military: $10.00
Groups of ten: $13.00 each
Membership Available
More for flight simulator and avionics simulator
Annual membership is available (and applies to over 200 other science centers)

Travel Notes
Seattle is about a ten hour drive from Boise, if you include stops from meals
Snoqualmie Falls is a nice place to visit when you drive to Seattle. Of course, don't miss the Seattle Center once you get to Seattle. There you can visit the Space Needle, Experience Music Project, Children's Museum, and the Science Fiction Museum

Site Notes
This is one huge air and space museum. It's loaded with aircraft and they're increasing their number of space related exhibits. The Museum of Flight is contianed in several buildings. The Great Gallery displays aircraft from the first 100 years of heavier than air aviation. You can touch many of the aircraft and climb into the cockpits of two of them (including an SR-71). If you would like to see what it's like to fly, for $8.00 you can ride their three-axis flight simulator (the FS-2000). We boarded one of the first Air Force One aircraft and a Concorde in the Air Park across the street. Boeing's first shop is on display in the Red Barn. The Museum has a very large theater where they show many movies on space and aviation. The theater must sit over 200 people. The Personal Courage Wing is two floors of World War 1 and World War 2 history. If you get hungry, there's a cafeteria at the museum.

The museum has a well stocked gift shop. Like the museum, there's more aircraft related gifts than space related ones. You'll find models, t-hirts, books, and figurines of your favorite aircraft. We also saw games, kites, patches, jackets, and knick knacks.

Rachel’s Favorite
I most enjoyed the flight simulator that allowed you to attempt to fly a military combat plane and shoot at the enemy below. This very interactive simulator allowed you to go where the plane would go, including upside down. Definitely fun for amusement ride enthusiasts. I also liked the tour inside of the Concorde, which was more cramped than one could imagine, and an Air Force One dating back to Kennedy's presidency.

Paul’s Favorite
I liked the Rendezvous in Space, or as I like to call it, the Pete Conrad room. There's lots of space related memoribilia here and a SMU (Shuttle Maneuvering Unit) simulation here. I like it even though I failed to dock with the Hubble Space Telescope. As far as aircraft go, I'm in love with the SR-71 (who isn't). This is the first time I 've been able to look into its cockpit and to see a D-21 drone.