Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were a kid? Maybe your dreams of becoming a superhero or a wizard were short lived and you realized they were not realistic. Instead you had childhood dreams of becoming a detective, firefighter or an astronaut. Maybe a pilot even. What child never dreamed about being able to fly? Sure they're different types of pilots, ranging from passenger pilots to commercial pilots. But they all do one thing, and that's fly a plane. My sons haven't flown yet, which got me thinking how a trip to the Museum of Flight would be a great experience for the both of them. Plus it's free for kids 5 and under.

For other parents, this is a great way to introduce your kids to the aircraft and get them familiar with the interior. Also the museum has a flight simulator that mimics the planes movements during trips to make it seem surreal.

Once inside you'll grab your entry tickets at the front desk or purchase them if you haven't already. There's a gift shop just across the hall that you may want to stop at on your way out. The museum is a fairly large place with several buildings that houses everything from large jetliner planes to artifacts and exhibits.

Apollo

This exhibit is fresh and one of the newer exhibits at the museum. Here they have the largest collection of the F-1 rockets used to launch Apollo 12 and 16. Apollo 12’s story will also unfold with Moon rocks from the mission, as well as dozens of personal items used by Apollo 12. Apollo will also offer treasures large and small from the Space Race, including a rare, Soviet space suit, a 1992 Russian spacecraft, sections of NASA’s 1960s Houston Mission Control, a Boeing lunar rover, and the only Viking Mars Lander on Earth.

Tower

The tower at Boeing Field offers visitors a glance how air traffic controllers communicate with pilots before landing on the airstrip. They have a constant connection with a radio that is being played in the tower. The bridge leading up to the tower has a exhibit showing the evolution of air traffic controllers. The boys enjoyed this part of the museum and liked seeing all the planes coming in and taking off.

Cockpit

After the tower, we checked out the cockpits of some of the fighter jets that they currently have on display. Some of these planes are still in use by the United States Navy. In this area, is where you can go in the flight simulator. The kids loved it and would probably do it again if given the chance. In the kids flight zone, young flyers can strap into flight harnesses to test their piloting skills in one of two hang gliding simulators.

World War I

This part of the museum was beautifully organized featuring planes and artifacts from the World War I days. The boys also noticed how the planes have changed over time. The museum had a theater room in this section which allowed the boys to sit for a few minutes and watch WWI history.

World War II

In addition to World War I there's a section dedicated to World War II. It was cool to see all the gear and uniforms the soldiers wore at the time. Some of the oldest planes ever are around this area of the museum.

Red Barn

The William E. Boeing Red Barn, reflects the early days of aviation. The two-story barn is the historic birthplace of the Boeing Airplane Company. This is great place to take the curious kids and show them how planes are made and all the work that is involved making them. After visiting the barn, now is a good time to head down to the cafe for a lunchtime snack. They offer many different sandwiches and burgers as well as hotdogs and drinks.

Memorial Bridge - NASA

After lunch, it was time to walk across the bridge to the other side of the museum. Once you get to the other end, you'll take the elevator down to the street level and walk into the Space Gallery, a NASA multi-sensory exhibits that emphasize stories from the visionaries, designers, pilots, and crews of the Space Shuttle and are designed to educate and inspire all ages. Both of my boys seemed to have liked this area the most. Lots of cool stuff to experience here, including VR and fun running around inside NASA's Space Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer.

Aviation Pavillion

The last part of our visit, we went through the Pavillion. On display they had 19 rare planes to walk through, including the new Boeing 747 Dreamliner, President Johnson's Air Force One, USPS Cargo plane, and a Boeing 727 which has the staircase located in the back of the aircraft. It's the same type of plane that the infamous hijacker D.B Cooper jumped out of in the early 1970's.

Conclusion

While we checked out a good portion of the museum, there's still alot we didn't see and will reserve that for the next visit. The museum offers free days the first Thursday of every month. They also have monthly passes and membership options. If you are visiting from out of town they do offer to hold your belongings at the front counter. Occasionally they have special pop-up traveling exhibits. Currently they have The Walt Disney Studios and World War II, a retrospective of The Walt Disney Studios’ extensive contributions to the Allies’ World War II effort.

If you don't plan on coming to Washington State they have other places that kids will love and enjoy. Here's a few below that we could recommend.

1. Sea, Air and Space museum- Alameda, California

2. Wings Air and Space museum- Denver, Colorado

3. Warbirds Of Glory- Brighton, Michigan

4. Smithsonian National Air and Space museum- Washington D.C

5. Pima Air and Space museum- Tucson, Arizona

6. Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum- N.Y.C

Episode 05: Aero