MUKILTEO – The Future of Flight arrived Friday at Paine Field, with speeches, handshakes and high praise from top officials.
Dan Bates / The Herald
“This is exactly what happens when dreams and education meet,” declared County Executive Aaron Reardon, who hosted a VIP ribbon-cutting ceremony at the $23.5 million aviation center.
The Boeing Co. is inventing the future of aviation just across Paine Field from the new museum, added Gov. Christine Gregoire. “This, the Future of Flight, is what will tell the world what that future is,” she said.
| What: Future of Flight Aviation Center &Boeing Tour
Where: 8415 Paine Field Blvd., Mukilteo When: 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily; Boeing tours leave the museum hourly 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. How much: Admission to the museum and tour is $15, with discounts for seniors, military and children under 15. Details: www.futureofflight.org |
The 73,000-square-foot Future of Flight Aviation Center &Boeing Tour opens to the public at 8:30 this morning.
It will be the 101st anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., said Barry Smith, the museum’s executive director.
Think of all that’s happened in the years since then, and then extrapolate that into the future, he said. “I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like 50 years from now.”
Visitors can browse through a huge main gallery filled with video displays that explain the first 50 years of jet-powered aviation, and what’s likely to come in the next half-century.
Exhibits include examples of state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment, a one-of-a-kind 3-D laser hologram demonstration of how jets are built, and massive jet parts – including a 6-ton engine from a Boeing 777 and a 41-foot-tall tail fin from a 747.
“There’s a lot you can see and do here,” said Bob Watt, Boeing’s vice president for community relations. “You can touch and see the application of new technologies.”
Problems delivering the tail fin – which occurred after the Gulf Coast hurricanes disrupted rail shipping nationwide – caused a six-week delay in the museum’s opening. But aside from that, Paine Field director Dave Waggoner said, the project opened on time and under budget.
The new building also will be the new home for Boeing’s factory tours, which are already one of Snohomish County’s biggest tourist attractions. The Boeing tour is a key to the Future of Flight’s long-term success, Waggoner said. “We couldn’t have started from zero.”
Gregoire praised the public-private partnership that developed the Future of Flight. Snohomish County, Boeing and the Future of Flight Foundation worked together on the project, “and when we do that, look what we get,” she said.
The center also is intended to inspire children to be the next generation of jet builders, the governor said.
Future of Flight officials say they envision the museum as something that will constantly evolve as the state of the art advances in aviation.
Already on Friday, they were talking about the next steps, including using a $3.5 million Federal Aviation Administration grant to build a taxiway that would allow Boeing jets to roll right up to the new building for delivery ceremonies and other industry events.
Jet engine builder Pratt &Whitney already has hosted the first such event, a cocktail party for officials of Air China Cargo, Smith said.
“We’ll have a lot of fun the next few months figuring out how to improve our use of these assets,” he said.
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@ heraldnet.com.
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