I Love Planes

Seattle is the birthplace of Boeing, and growing up in Seattle means you probably know someone who works for them. I certainly did. Well, one of the great benefits of living around Boeing is that the Museum of Flight is just down the road at Boeing Field. While at home for Christmas, my Dad and I took a trip there and I took some photos. I've been meaning to post them for awhile, so without any further ado, here they are!

When we got there, the first thing we did was go across the street to see some of the coolest planes that they have. Up first is the Concorde.
Sorry about not getting the plane all in one shot, but the Concorde is huge! Unlike most planes you can stand under it because it has a ground clearance of at least 8 feet. And, when you are under there, you realize how much this plane is just one big wing. Once you get inside (sorry, no pics as my camera was low on batteries and there was a lot more to see) you realize how small the plane is. What?! Yeah, just check out the windows in the shot above. They are tiny. Luckily the plane stretches when it reaches cruising speed, but not that much... What a cool plane. Too bad I couldn't have flown on one.

After the Concorde, we went on to something that I was really looking forward to, Air Force One.That's my dad standing outside of SAM-970, which was the first jet powered Air Force One. SAM-970 is a Boeing 707-120 and was delivered to Pres. Eisenhower in 1959. Two others (SAM-971 and SAM-972) were also recieved by Eisenhower and I assume shared the duty as AF One, but since it has the earlier registration number, I'm saying (as does the Museum of Flight) that it was the first. It wasn't the main Air Force One for long and was replaced in 1962 by a long range 707 (SAM-26000), which is "officially" the first jet powered AF One, but why that is, who knows. After the 26000 became AF One, the 970 was kept to fly the VP around (as Air Force Two) and to fly VIP's like when Nikita Khrushchev toured the USA. This was also the plane that LBJ flew to Dallas in (he would return on the 26000 for obvious reasons) and the plane that Nixon took to China. Here's a map of some of the other trips that it took:
I know this is going to sound pretty lame, but it was cool to be on a plane that so many historic figures had been on. Interesting note, the back of the plane is much like first class but instead of overhead compartments, there are pull-down sleeping bunks. Toward the front there is a conference room
and further up is the President's office
If you look at the lower right hand corner of the photo, you can see some interesting Presidential knick-knacks.
Cool, JFK's pipe rack and a presidential cup holder! Looks pretty high-tech. I can only imagine what W's cup holder is like. It probably fits a double gulp.

There are a few other planes at the "Airpark" including the first 747 and the first 737 ever produced, but no photos, so let's move on to the main museum specifically the Great Gallery. Here are some pictures of what that looks like as you walk in:


Pretty impressive, huh? Well we made the rounds and I'll show you a few of the highlights. First up was a replica of a Gee Bee, which was a racing plane.

Perhaps you remember this plane from a movie? Perhaps The Rocketeer? Well, if you do, you are right. I loved The Rocketeer when I was younger, so seeing this was kind of a treat.

Next we checked out this F-4C Phantom II. Pretty awesome, if you ask me.
Next up was the Lockheed F-104C Starfighter, considered to be a "sports car" of airplanes (also known as a flying lawn dart because of its crash frequency):
Finishing up our circle around the Great Gallery, I spotted this:
It's an RQ-3 Dark Star, an unmanned spy plane. It looks really crazy (you can see it in the first two shots of the Great Gallery). Apparently it has never flown a real mission, but according to Wikipedia (I know, I know...) it is now something of a "black project." Cool.

The highlight of the Great Gallery has to be the Blackbird. When I was a kid, this plane was one of the coolest.
If you are a real Blackbird buff, you'll notice that this one looks a little bit different than most. That's because it's not the SR-71 Blackbird that we all seem to know and love, but this one is actually the only surviving M-21 Blackbird. The story of the Blackbird is a complicated one involving the CIA and military, so I'll let you go to Wikipedia to learn more, but here are a few of the differences in a nutshell: The M-21 is lacking the second set of windows behind the cockpit and there is that weird missile-like thing at the back that the other Blackbirds lack. That missile-like thing is actually the D-21 drone ("D" for Daughter, making the "M" in M-21 stand for Mother). The D-21 is a ramjet powered spy drone that was meant to be launched from the back of the Blackbird mid-flight. Being unmanned, it was much more expendable than the M-21 and being smaller, it was stealthier. Once it took its photos, it would jettison its camera over the ocean (which would be caught mid-air by a US plane - pretty neat trick) and then self-destruct. It never really worked all that well (one test launch actually caused the crash of the other M-21) so it only was used on 4 missions (which, again, didn't work that well). Eventually spy satellites made the D-21 obsolete and the program was abandoned.

As my Dad and I left, we checked out some of the other planes on display outside - a Harrier (not pictured), this A-6E Intruder:
and one of my personal favorites, the F-14A. I'm still mourning Goose's death...

The last thing we saw before rolling out was this Fiat/Aeritalia G.91 Gina.

It looks pretty goofy sitting next to the F-14A (especially in those colors, but, hey, I'm not Italian). It was in use for about 35 years, so I guess it was a pretty good plane.

Well, there it is folks, my longest post ever. I hope it was worth it, because the Museum of Flight is pretty rad. To tell the truth, I hardly scratched the surface of what is there (I completely skipped the space section and the WWII fighter section). So, if you are ever in Seattle, go. It will be the best $10 you will spend (at a museum about planes).