The Museum of Flight Restoration Center

This was my day to goof off seeing that Donna had to stay home all day for a test. I told her that this is a good opportunity for me to head over to Boeing, just a mile or so away, and take my time touring. Boeing Aircraft Company actually shares Paine Field with the public, it is not a private airport.

I've been easily sidetracked all my life and today was no different. About a block from Boeing there was this large building with an interesting sign that needed to be investigated. The Museum of Flight Restoration Center.

The restoration museum was one of many aircraft related businesses in Paine Field Airport business park. Paine Field got its name in 1941 from a heroic mail pilot who flew earlier in the 20th Century. Paul Allen has his military collection museum in the park, along with another that I did not get the name of.

I was the only tourist at the museum this morning so I got a "private tour" from Barry, a few years my senior and a wealth of aeronautical information. This was by far the best $5 I have ever spent. Most of the information in the following photos is from Barry along with a quick "google" search from me to confirm.

I will start with the Lockheed Jetstar Business Jet  #1. This was Lockheeds first business jet to go into production in 1956 according to Barry, although the Lockheed site says the Jetstar production started in 1957. This is #1 of all the business jets ever produced...cool.

Barry then pointed out a "mock-up" of the SST that Boeing was in competition to build in the early 70's. The SST was wider, longer and faster than the European counterpart "Concord" that caused the American aircraft builder to finally throw in the towel on a supersonic travel. Barry said that when Boeing stopped the project in 1971, 10,000 engineers lost their job. I mentioned that the video of the Concord catching on fire in a runway incident where a piece of debris punctured a fuel tank, resulting in 109 deaths... but more importantly, the shutting down of the Concord service altogether.

Barry said that the belly of the Concord had a well known soft spot that caused the British to reinforce the bottoms of its planes...the French were to cheap to do the same, with a horrible crash as the evidence.

This glider was developed and built in 1942 and after the war, they were auctioned off for sale to private individuals.

The cockpit of the sailplane is at the beginning of its restoration process.

These two wings on the 1940's sailplane are being restored. One is still in its wooden frame while the other has it's wood covered by a UV resistant poly vinyl. 

The sailplane above set the altitude record in 1952 when two pilots utilized the "Sierra Wave" in order to soar to 44,255 feet elevation, a record that was held for 54 years.

My favorite plane is this de Havilland D.C 106 Comet 4C. In the early 50's the British took the lead in passenger jet travel with a line of jetliners called, Comets. This worked out well until two aircraft failed in four months with a great loss of human life. The Comet went through several major structural changes, but the crashes left a bad taste for the de Havilland. The D.C. 106 4C corrected the previous problems by utilizing oval windows instead of square windows...this fixed the problem, but the publicity over the crashes never allowed the company recover. This particular plane served Mexicana Airline for ten years before being shuttered off for charter service.

Visibility seemed so restrictive in the cockpit, not sure how well a pilot could really see out of this seat.

I was amazed not only by the spaciousness of the Comet but the quality of the material in the seating area. Certainly more room and nicer seats than Southwest Air.

I thought this seat sign was rather funny...but true none the less.

This is one of the de Havillands engines waiting to be rebuilt by volunteers. If you are up here in this area, I would certainly recommend the restoration center to all.