Seattle, WA, USA — The Museum of Flight will open its new, 3-acre Aviation Pavilion on June 25. The 9-story high, roofed outdoor gallery doubles the Museum’s exhibit space with the biggest expansion in its 51-year history, establishing a new Seattle landmark and one of the world’s top displays of historic aircraft.
The Pavilion exhibit focuses on the dramatic development of large aircraft and commercial airliners from the 1930s to the present, and includes planes that cannot be seen anywhere else. The Pavilion also offers a cafe and children’s play area with a mini airport terminal under the wings of the first 747 Jumbo Jet.
The Museum of Flight’s Aviation Pavilion is a covered, outside gallery with 15 rare and unique commercial and military airplanes. The Pavilion also offers the first-ever exhibit about the business of air freight. The FedEx Air Cargo exhibit, housed within a 34 ft. fuselage section of a former FedEx Boeing 727 freighter, is an interactive, behind-the-scenes exploration into the world of air deliveries. The Museum’s Boeing 747 prototype, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Concorde will be open to the public daily. The building covers more area than two football fields, and is 90 ft. high.
For the first time, the Museum’s unrivaled collection of large commercial aircraft can be seen in one place. The airliner exhibit includes the world’s only presentation of the first Boeing 737 and 747 jets, the extremely rare Douglas DC-2 airliner from the 1930s, the only Concorde on the West Coast, and the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The military line-up includes three big bombers-World War Two’s B-17F Flying Fortress and B-29 Superfortress, and the Cold War’s B-47 Stratojet; plus jet fighters spanning the wars from Korea to the Persian Gulf.
Aircraft Roster
Antonov An-2 Colt
(1977, cargo/passenger plane, world’s largest single engine biplane)
Boeing 247D*
(1932, first “modern” airliner, very rare, world’s only flyable example)
Boeing 727*
(1962, airliner prototype)
Boeing 737
(1963, airliner prototype)
Boeing 747
(1969, airliner prototype)
Boeing 787
(2010, Number 3 airliner test aircraft)
Boeing VC-137B “Air Force One”*
(1958, based on the Boeing 707, Museum’s is the first Presidential jet)
Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress
(1943, bomber, world’s only flyable example of a B-17F)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
(1945, bomber)
Boeing WB-47E Stratojet
(1951, world’s first large multi-engine swept-wing airplane)
Concorde
(1978 supersonic airliner, the only example on the West Coast)
Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II
(1966, Navy attack plane, former Blue Angels aircraft)
Douglas DC-2
(1934, airliner, world’s only flyable example, very rare, developed into iconic DC-3)
Grumman A-6E Intruder
(1970 Navy/Marine attack bomber)
Grumman F9F-8 Cougar
(1953, Navy/Marine fighter)
Grumman F-14A Tomcat
(1976, Navy fighter)
McDonnell Douglas AV-8C Harrier
(2000, Marine fighter, vertical takeoff and landing capabilities)
Northrup Grumman EA-6B Prowler,
(1971, Navy electronic warfare jet)
*Aircraft located on the Museum East Campus until September 2016, then relocated to Aviation Pavilion.
