Space Shuttle Trainer Arrives in Seattle!
Thousands of fans of all ages along with some government dignitaries flocked to Boeing Field under typical Seattle Grey skies to watch as the NASA Super Guppy was bringing in the first of three parts for the Space Shuttle Trainer that the Museum of Flight had won!
The Super Guppy did a fly past over the field then went off on a photo flight with Clay Lacy who was one of the original test pilots for the aircraft. The aircraft landed 15 minutes later on 13R where it was met by thousands of on lookers just trying to catch a glimpse of this giant plane.
Following the landing of the Super Guppy, it was towed into the Museum of Flight parking lot where is was greeted by Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, along with Congressmen Jim McDermott who fought hard to get Washington a Space Shuttle, and Museum of Flight President and CEO Doug King.
“Today’s Historic arrival marks an exciting step forward in the continued evolution and growth of the aerospace industry in Washington State and helps launch the next era of Space Flight,” said King. “The Charles Simonyi Space Gallery will be one of the premier aerospace galleries in the world and will serve to inspire future generations of aviation and aerospace entrepreneurs. “
The Space Shuttle trainer was built in the 1970’s to help train astronauts what they may encounter while out in space! It is the only Space Shuttle trainer in the entire world and helped to train each of the 335 astronauts in the space shuttle program.
The Guppy that helped transport this first piece to Seattle was originally built in 1962 by Aero Spacelines Inc., who built several of the guppy aircraft. N941NA is the last remaining Guppy of its type to still be airworthy. NASA acquired it in 1997 from the European Space Agency and stores the aircraft at Ellington Field near Houston. The gigantic cargo hold for this aircraft is NOT pressurized, and stands at 25ft tall and wide and sits at the length of 111ft.
For those of you wanting to see this aircraft up close, it will be open to the public on Sunday July 1st til 16:00 local Seattle time. The aircraft is set to depart from Boeing Field on Monday Morning but is expected to be back with the next part of the trainer, which is also the largest part, at some point in late July to Early August.
We would like to thank the Museum of Flight for all of the close access to this historic event!
