Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the detail.
A 1929 airliner rescued from Alaska, Boeing’s first factory and a hall of hanging aircraft offer several ways into the story of the Museum of Flight.
On this page
A museum built by enthusiasts
The museum’s roots are in the Pacific Northwest Aviation Historical Foundation, formed in 1965 to recover and restore a 1929 Boeing 80A-1 found in Anchorage, Alaska.
It is a private, non-profit museum, accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, at the southern end of King County International Airport, known as Boeing Field.
Boeing’s first factory
The Red Barn, an all-wooden building of 1909, was Boeing’s original factory. Acquired in 1975 for one dollar and floated up the Duwamish River, it opened to visitors in 1983.
Its story connects the museum with the beginnings of aircraft building in Seattle.
More than 150 aircraft
The collection holds more than 150 aircraft, from early biplanes to the prototype Boeing 747, Concorde, SAM 970, which served as Air Force One, and the Space Shuttle Trainer.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
