The Museum of Flight celebrates its 50th Anniversary today, Saturday, Sept. 19, with an all-day birthday party and 50-cent admission – the original ticket price.
Visitors are encouraged to dress for the party’s 1960s theme. Festivities begin at noon with a nod to the museum’s artist-designed astronaut statue program, Astronauts on the Town. Next will be a 1960s costume and fashion contest that is open to all visitors. The audience chooses the winner.
Family activities throughout the day include a Scavenger hunt and a design-your-own-astronaut coloring project. A museum archivist will also be on hand to answer questions about preserving family photos and other personal treasures.
The astronaut artworks have been on display all summer in the Seattle area, with an associated Instagram contest. Contest winners and the final results from the Astronauts on the Town online auction will be announced at the noon ceremony. All 25 of the statues will be back at the museum and in formation below the M/D-21 Blackbird.
The museum was founded on Sept. 14, 1965. It was originally formed as the Pacific Northwest Historical Aviation Foundation (PNHAF), and was located in some small offices near the Space Needle at Seattle Center until 1979.
The name was changed to Museum of Flight in 1981, and the doors were opened at its current Boeing Field location in the newly restored Boeing “Red Barn” factory. Now the museum campus spreads across 15 acres with four buildings and one more under construction. There’s also the museum’s Restoration Center and Reserve Collection at Paine Field in Everett.
The museum’s archives include more photos than the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Tukwila, 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. Admission is $20 for adults, $17 for seniors 65 and older, $17 for active military, $12 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5.
