Warbird Information Exchange

The Museum of Flight is planning to build a huge roof over some of its largest aircraft, including the first Boeing 747 and the museum's new 787 Dreamliner.

Plans submitted to the city of Tukwila Nov. 13 describe a 135,000-square-foot open structure with steel supports, standing 88 feet high at its highest point.

The structure is to be 460 feet long by 315 feet wide, said Minnie Dhaliwal, a planning supervisor for the city of Tukwila.

The building, to be called the "Covered Air Park," is intended to protect some of the museum's most distinctive aircraft.

These include several Boeing commercial aircraft: the first 747; the first Air Force One, a Lockheed Constellation, a supersonic Concorde, and the museum's just-received 787, which it just received in September.

On the military side, the building will house a B-17 and a B-24 bomber, both of them of World War II vintage.

"We've been tasked with protecting the aviation history of the last century, and we want to be sure we're doing it correctly. This building will help us do so." said Mike Bush, director of marketing and PR for the Museum of Flight.

The museum is the largest aviation museum on the West Coast.

The new building is to be along the western edge of East Marginal Way, across the street from the main Museum of Flight complex. It is to fill up most of the space north of the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery, which houses the Space Shuttle trainer, and south of the recently opened Raisbeck Aviation High School.

While the permit application says construction of the building will start in March, with completion scheduled for summer 2016, Bush said that hasn't been decided yet.

While the museum's board of trustees has not yet approved the concept, the board will meet in the first quarter of 2015 to discuss the plan.

"It's nothing set in stone yet...We absolutely plan on covering the airplanes over there," Bush said. "We're still kind of working through details on what the building will look like, the size of it, when we will break ground on it, when it will be finished. Everything is pretty much up in the air now."

He also declined to say anything about the cost of the structure.

The need for the structure is pressing because harsh Northwest winters rapidly degrade aircraft finishes.

Volunteers just finished refurbishing the first 747 inside and out, and "It's bright and shiny and beautiful, and reflects how it looked on first flight," Bush said.

But on the north side of the museum, a B-29 is wrapped in plastic for protection against the elements, while the B-17 is being stored in a hangar for the winter.

"It's like anything that sits out the Seattle weather: The paint will fade, and [there will be] normal wear and tear of being in the weather," Bush said

They are anchoring the frames for this something like 120 feet down to support the weight and stress of this. It's not something that is going to blow away in a stiff breeze. It's being constructed in a way that they can put glass "walls" around it down the road. And it is big enough to fit all the 'big' planes in the collection....except for the B-52, which they can't move.

..except for the B-52, which they can't move.

Speedy: They are anchoring the frames for this something like 120 feet down to support the weight and stress of this. It's not something that is going to blow away in a stiff breeze. It's being constructed in a way that they can put glass "walls" around it down the road. And it is big enough to fit all the 'big' planes in the collection....except for the B-52, which they can't move.

That's too bad, a B-52 really belongs at the main museum, from these shots the interior of the B52G at Everett looks good, but the outside looks like the elements are taking their toll. http://rbogash.com/b52photo.htm

And from my look at google maps, it looks like she is sitting in the grass now? I realize ramp space at Everett is at a premium, but that's no way to treat a lady.

Imagine it would be quite a job and big $$$ for a dissassemble and an over the road move.

Maybe they will get an H in the future- but that still may be years away...

As I recall it has to do with some nonsense about treaty ratification with the Soviets. It flew in there, but it can't fly out, and the only way they could get it down to Boeing Field is to (as you point out) disassemble it and move it down by truck. So for the forseable future it's going to sit in the grass at Paine Field.