50 Years Ago Today: Aviation History

On October 26, 1958 a Pan Am Boeing 707 aircraft called Clipper America took off from New York City's Idlewild Airport (now called JFK) and flew to Orly Airport in Paris, with only a stop in Gander, Newfoundland. The aircraft carried 111 passengers and 11 crew. The entire journey took 8.5 hours. What we consider commonplace today was very much a novelty back then!

You can read more about this momentous event here and the British equivalent here.

Seattle Visit: Day 6

What a fantastic final day we had in Seattle! We picked up Hannah and headed to Chinatown. She selected Shanghai Gardens, a restaurant she was familiar with. The food was very good.
Then we drove to the south end of Seattle to visit The Museum of Flight. This is another one of those places that I should have visited years, if not decades, ago but never did.

The museum is mostly about aviation but a portion of it is devoted to aeronautics. This was apparently a real satellite that came back to earth and was recovered.

The Great Gallery was by far my favourite part of the entire museum. It's incredibly amazing to see so many beautiful planes so close up.






There were two simulators. Danny & Hannah tried the one which allowed them to actually control it.



The "Red Barn" contains artifacts documenting the origins of airplane building, especially in regard to Boeing.
It's pretty amazing to learn that in the early part of the 20th Century the planes were mostly made out of wood!

This is a fascinating map which you may choose to enlarge.

Here's a shot of early air travel. Note how formally dressed each passenger is. The look on the face of the 2nd passenger on the right is priceless!
The Blue Angels, performing in Seattle in the previous days, were parked just south of the museum.
I'd long been curious about the Concorde and was gratified to find out that the museum had one! Inside though, it pretty much looks like a normal plane.
This is the Air Force One plane that flew through the 1960's.
Mr. Danny, near the President's desk.



These wee ones seemed to be having a fabulous day there!
Returning to Hannah's grandparents home, we found Winston, their greyhound. A gentler dog I have never met.
Ready, willing, and able for a water fun fight!
I took a series of photos to capture the amazing panorama that is downtown Seattle. Unfortunately I didn't have my tripod so the pictures didn't line up very well.
Danny and I finally left Seattle around 8:45pm that night. With little traffic, we made it back to my place in 2.5 hours, which included a 10 minute stop at a gas station and at the border. Being away for more than 48 hours I could legally bring back 24 bottles of beer duty-free, which you can see I clearly did. If you look carefully, you'll notice that I much prefer the darker beers!

The Boeing 787

Here's an animated video of the new Boeing 787 that will be released [for real] next year:


Danny and I saw this plane being assembled last month, just south of Everett, Washington. It's a magnificent piece of technology!

The Boeing Tour

One of the most amazing parts of our trip was to go on the Boeing Tour, just south of Everett, Washington. This is one experience you won't forget anytime soon. You actually tour through the actual manufacturing facility though far away from the plant floor. Cameras are not allowed so memories will have to suffice. But it's well worth the $15 admission fee!