SEATTLE, May 23, 2018--After 26 years of open storage at Paine Field, Everett, the Museum's 1959
Boeing B-52
bomber will be moved to the Museum's West Campus at Boeing Field in
Seattle. Not flight worthy, the plane was disassembled for shipment and
most of the parts were recently delivered to the Museum. The project's
grand finale will be June 2-3, when the final sections (two 100-foot
wings and the 170-foot-long fuselage) will be trucked on separate
flatbeds to Boeing Field. The plane will be restored and put on
permanent display in a new exhibit, the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park, opening this fall.
To
minimize traffic congestion during their 40-mile journeys on I-405 and
I-5 freeways, the large, rare and eye-catching cargo will make the
2-hour trip between midnight and 4 a.m. The wings arrive first. The
fuselage will be trucked on June 3, and will be staged near its
destination so the public can join in a welcoming celebration in the
Museum's Aviation Pavilion at 8 a.m., when its drive will be completed
in view of fans, veterans and City of Tukwila officials. The outdoor
welcoming is free, and the Museum will open for business an hour early-9
a.m. with free admission to U.S. veterans.
MEDIA ALERT
Media
are welcome to visit the B-52 on May 29-30 as it is being prepared at
Paine Field, Everett, for shipment. Please contact Museum PR Manager Ted
Huetter to make arrangements. Media are also invited to cover the
events surrounding the fuselage's arrival on Sunday morning June 3.
Participants will include officials from the Museum, the City of
Tukwila, Vietnam War veterans and the volunteers who have spearheaded
the restoration of the plane and the campaign for its permanent outdoor
exhibit (see
Project Welcome Home).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Ted Huetter/Senior Public Relations Manager
Images:
The fuselage of The Museum of Flight's B-52 at Paine Field, Everett
awaiting shipment to the Museum's campus in Seattle. The bomber's
detached wing is visible in the background. Also is a rendering of the
aircraft in its permanent exhibit opening in November 2018, the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Park on the Museum's West Campus.
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About The Museum of Flight:
Founded
in 1965, the independent, nonprofit Museum of Flight is one of the
largest air and space museums in the world, serving 600,000 visitors
annually. The Museum's collection includes more than 160 historically
significant airplanes and spacecraft, from the first fighter plane
(1914) to today's 787 Dreamliner. Attractions at the 20-acre, 5-building
Seattle campus include the original Boeing Company factory, the NASA
Space Shuttle Trainer and the only exhibit of the rocket engines used to
launch Apollo astronauts to the Moon. With a foundation of aviation
history, the Museum is also a hub of news and dialogue with leaders in
the emerging field of private spaceflight ventures. The Museum's
aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West
Coast. More than 150,000 individuals are served annually by the Museum's
onsite and outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is
accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is an Affiliate
of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle,
Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field halfway between downtown
Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. Museum admission for adults is $24.00 on-site and $22.00 online.
Youth 5 through 17 are $15.00 on-site and $14 online, youth 4 and under
are free. Seniors 65 and over $20 on-site and $19 online. Groups of ten
or more: $22.00 per adult, $14.00 per youth, Thanks to Wells Fargo, on
the first Thursday of every month, admission is free from 5:00 to 9:00
p.m. And parking is always free. There is a
full lunch menu café in the Museum and a limited menu café in the
Aviation Pavilion, both operated by McCormick & Schmick's. For
general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit
www.museumofflight.org.
