The Museum of Flight: Planes and Spaceships Galore

Just because the kids go to the Museum of Flight on afield trip doesn't mean you don't get to go. Go ahead, take them again; they probably skipped something. Like the flight simulators. Everyone should try the flight simulators. They're educational. 

Next to Boeing Field, the Museum of Flight attracts aviation and gadget geeks of any age. It boasts planes of all sizes and eras, and spaceships. This place contains a lot, and is spread out so it can absorb as much time and energy as your kids' interest levels allow. Our second-grader and I went through recently, and we saw almost everything in two hours. 

If you expect limited attention spans, be sure to frontload what your traveling crew will want to see most. Here are the main exhibits, in order of my second grader's preferences:

• Planes, planes, planes: The main gallery sports dozens of planes, its two-story high windows giving an impression of wide-open skies for aircraft suspended overhead. You can sit inside fighter plane cockpits; line up for rides in flight simulators; study a hundred years of changes in technology; and get a sore neck from looking up at all the planes.  Our favorite display is the flying car.

• Section for Kids:  The second floor of the main gallery has a series of hands-on interactive displays.  Pull the controls and raise the flaps of old airplanes; strap into a hang glider harness for a virtual ride on the air currents; float up in a hot-air balloon basket; and try to get an animated rocket off the ground.

• Space: Exploring the New Frontier is off the main gallery, with a slew of space vehicles and a walk-through replica of a Space Station section.

• Real, Big Planes: The Air Park is an airplane parking lot from the past, with a Nixon-era Air Force One and a Concorde open for viewing. Visitors enter one end of the planes, walk the aisle between walls of plexiglass, and exit again. Lines can build up quickly and move slowly, plus the walk across the sky bridge and along Marginal Way feels lengthy with young ones or strollers.

• Air Flights' Early Days: The Red Barn is an intriguing recreation of airplane construction a century ago. It looks and feels like carpenter's shop. Our kids didn't think much of this area, but I enjoyed the blueprints, sketches, and news items that are on display as if someone left them lying around the workshop. The Museum also offers aviation-related projects here, which we somehow have managed to miss on every visit.

• Flight Tower:  You can play air traffic controller at the Tower, a replica of an air traffic tower that overlooks the runways at King County International Airport (KCIA). See displays of air traffic across the country, flip switches, and eavesdrop on radio chatter from (KCIA). No napping.

• Warplanes:  Unfortunately, we ran out of jet fuel before getting to this section. The Personal Courage Wing presents aircraft and personal stories from the two world wars.

• Coming Soon:  A space shuttle trainer. The museum didn't get one of the five retiring shuttles in NASA's big spacecraft giveaway, but the Museum of Flight's consolation prize might work out better for visitors: unlike with the shuttles, we'll get to go inside. 

The Museum of Flight is a 20-minute drive from Mercer Island, next to Boeing Field and King County International Airport. Admission is $16 for adults; $9 for kids over 5; $14 for seniors; and free for anyone under 4. Museum membership plans can pay for themselves with two visits in a year. 

Timing your visit can be key, because the museum gets crowded, especially during peak tourist days and hours. The early-rising parents with toddlers have an advantage here. Hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; the Air Park is open 10:15 - 4:30. 

There is a good chance elementary-school-aged kids will visit the museum on a field trip. If you want to tag along, respond to that email request quickly. Volunteer opportunities to chaperone don't last long.