Flying Heritage Collection in Paine Field

Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage Collection is open to the public in this renovated 1950 hangar at Paine Field.

A couple of weekends ago I took the family up North to Paine Field in Everett. There we visited Paul Allen’s “Flying Heritage Collection”. This is a smaller museum, which houses about 15 aircraft from WWII and before. We arrived there on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The parking place was almost empty. We thought that the museum was actually closed. To our surprise it was open and well staffed with volunteers who were more than happy to answer any and all of our questions. They are aviation enthusiasts and know the history of these particular airplanes on display very well. The hangar itself is the result of a major restauration project as well. It used to be and old Alaska Airlines maintenance facility on Paine field, that lacked many things, including adequate lighting. The $5millon transformation remedied all of that and today this hangar shines in its present luster.

P-51D built in 1945 and considered to be the most authenic flying P-51D in the world

This collection is considered one of the world’s rarest airplane collection on display. Each of these planes has been meticulously restored to the highest levels of authenticity. Along with that, a great deal of effort has been made to collect the history of these planes, as to who were the pilots and which fronts did they battle on and what happened to them during and/or after the war. All of these wonderful pieces of history represent important advancements in technology of that time.

As mentioned before, these planes are restored to almost perfection. Even more incredible is the fact that these planes are being showcased on actual flights during summer. Between late May and October, these planes are being flown on Sundays between 12 noon and 1pm, depending on the availability of the aircraft and pilots and of course the weather has to cooperate as well. As you might imagine, it takes very special pilots to fly these extremely rare war birds. One of these pilots is Steve Hinton, a Reno air racer and movie pilot, the other is Bud Granley, a Pacific Northwest airshow pilot, a RCAF pilot and airline pilot.

Some examples of the airplanes on display are: A P-51D Mustang, a Mk. Vc Spitfire, a Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk, a Curtiss JN-4D Jenny, a Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, a Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3, a Focke Wulf FW 190D13 Longnose and other great planes. The Focke Wulf is the only longnose to have survived the war and the only one in flyable condition. This makes it a very special plane on one hand, but on the other hand it will not be flown during flydays because it is so rare.

This Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-13 Dora is in flyable condition but so rare that it will be kept grounded.

I myself have not yet visited the fly days, but I plan on doing so in the near future. With a paid admission ticket, you are allowed onto the tarmac in front of the hangar to see the planes being rolled out and started up. Seeing these 1,200hp engines roar to life must be an experience on its own. I can only imagine.  The museum is located on Paine Field, 3407 109th Street SW, Everett, WA 9820.

Also on Paine Field is the Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing tour facility. If you have children interested in technology and airplanes, then this is definitely a place to visit. It makes for a great 1-2 hour visit and is not too overwhelming, but has a great “wow factor”. You can find more information about this wonderful collection here.