As we mentioned would be happening today in a recent article, the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington moved the fuselage of their Boeing B-52 Stratofortress from its long term storage site at Paine Field in nearby Everett. The massive airframe, 159′ 4″ from the tip of the nose to its tail, rolled out from Paine Field on a specialized low-loader trailer in the early hours of Sunday morning for the 28 mile journey to her new home. She exited Interstate 5 nearby Boeing Field just before dawn, with a fringe of red on the scattered clouds overhead. The fuselage then made its way down Marginal Way, which runs beside the museum. A crowd of people watched her progress and cheered her in as she arrived. The transport technicians then unloaded their unusual cargo, and slid the fuselage in beside the Museum of Flight’s Aviation Pavillion, where she will remain until builders construct the plinth for her final resting place in the Vietnam Memorial Park this summer. Then the museum will reassemble the strategic bomber ahead of the Memorial Park’s opening this fall. For those interested in contributing to the construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park, please click HERE.
Congratulations to all at the Museum of Flight in reaching this milestone on this significant project. This B-52 has spent nearly a quarter century isolated in a remote corner of Paine Field. Now she will get the attention she deserves, and veterans of the Vietnam War (and their families), will have a place to visit for quiet introspection in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park.
