A pilot's bucket list

[jb747]

I've wanted to go to the Future of Flight Aviation Center/Boeing Tour for a while, but have always had problems working out how to get up to Paine Field from Seattle. Limited public transport between Seattle and Everett with the public transport in the area designed for peak time commuting, so a car is more or less required and I don't drive.

I did the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field with some local friends in an afternoon on the way to a SeaTac hotel after a weekend in Bellevue. That was er... 9 or 10 years ago, before they got the 787. Should try to get back there some time.

The US just isn't a friendly place if you don't want to drive. The contrast with Europe is striking. I'll hire if I have to...but I would prefer to avoid it. Uber and Lyft may provide options.

There's a few 787s around the place. I see that Pima has one in ANA colours. There was an entire batch of early aircraft that had such major issues that they were put out to pasture before ever getting to the airlines.

 

[jb747]

Blimey that's a good effort to keep them going!

The Kiwis did a very good upgrade on them, so that much of the avionics ended up at about F16 level. Draken is a contract aggressor company (think Top Gun), and they have an extensive fleet, including supersonic Mirage F1s. There was picture a few months ago of an RAAF F35 in formation with an A-4 that was originally one of ours. The A-4 looked better.

 

[codash1099]

In Washington, it's definitely worth taking in both Smithsonian locations.

I found Houston to be a far more informative tour than Miami, but you need to take the Level 9 VIP Tour, which takes you behind the scenes to a greater extent.

Level 9 Tour

Space Center Houston, nonprofit gateway to NASA Johnson Space Center and Houston’s first Smithsonian Affiliate museum, inspires wonder in space exploration.

spacecenter.org

To me, KSC was a bit too much like Disneyland.

Museum of Flight in Seattle is great. I wouldn't bother with the Future of Flight or the Boeing tour again - too far away from the action IMO. However if you must go and don't want to drive, there are a couple of tours from Seattle.

 

[BAM1748]

Might have thought after all that flying a drive around America would be relaxing, or you could hire a plane!

I find a US road trip great fun and relaxing.

 

[CaptJCool]

The US just isn't a friendly place if you don't want to drive. The contrast with Europe is striking. I'll hire if I have to...but I would prefer to avoid it. Uber and Lyft may provide options.

Ah 98% true
If you are in the Boston Washington DC corridor the Amtrak service is regular, convenient and decentLy priced. Can be booked online at Amtrak

Many years back I took an Amtrak West Coast railpass and trained LA to San Diego, and back again and then LA to Seattle via stopovers in San Francisco (daytime trip) and Portland (2 overnights to Seattle). (But I’m a tram and train buff so it worked for me)

Notoriously slow (yield to freight trains), it’s slow going and definitely slow boarding at stops. They couldn’t seem to get organised properly (100 times worse than Qantas priority boarding) and we didn’t pay for sleepers but probably better than seating. Seating then reminded me of today’s premium economy. Large with decent enough seat pitch to sleep for some hours....

For Long distances, I just think air travel is the go unless of course you’ve already road-tripped to Perth or Kimberley’s or Darwin or Cape York in which case you’ll be comfortable with a long long drive

 

[jb747]

For Long distances, I just think air travel is the go unless of course you’ve already road-tripped to Perth or Kimberley’s or Darwin or Cape York in which case you’ll be comfortable with a long long drive

I've done those trips multiple times, with the most recent being a few months ago. The other proviso is that you need the right vehicle, whatever that happens to be for you. Probably not a hire car.

But, my friend Google maps tells me that the route would be 7446 miles, which at over 500 miles per day is probably a bit much for the 14 days I'm planning on using.

 

[jb747]

I guess it depends on which airlines(s) you have points available for? QF or ?

I have SQ points. I guess I have some QF ones too....but not enough to get me from Albury to Holbrook.

 

[kookaburra75]

Not planning to include Oshkosh?

 

[Quickstatus]

Orlando Kennedy Space Centre was a downer for us.
We did hire a car as its a bit out of the way and we hate tour buses.
It was more geared toward school children. There are even theme park rides
The tour of the launch pads but most of the time we got taken to a sand dune somewhere and saw the launch pads from a distance. We did see a decommisioned space shuttle but could not do a close up.

A visit would be better if synchronised with an actual rocket blast off.

We did visit an old USN aircraft carrier (Yorktown) in Charleston South Carolina with some old warbirds in the hangars. That was good.
I would recommend Charleston SC for the history and architecture as well.

IAH as a staging point would mean the FF points would have to be UA, VA, SQ, NZ points and fly via AKL
Then intra USA it really does not matter that you stay with one airline alliance

 

[jb747]

Orlando Kennedy Space Centre was a downer for us.

I've been there, and it was a highlight of that trip. But it was quite a while ago.

We did hire a car as its a bit out of the way and we hate tour buses.
It was more geared toward school children. There are even theme park rides
The tour of the launch pads but most of the time we got taken to a sand dune somewhere and saw the launch pads from a distance. We did see a decommisioned space shuttle but could not do a close up.

I expect that we'll stay out at Titusville. My interest is in the Saturn display and the shuttle. You can get right up to the shuttle, which is displayed as if it's in orbit. When did you go there? The current display is only a couple of years old.

The launch pads are both leased out to ULR/SpaceX. They were impressive when set up for the shuttle but rather less so now.

There are two Saturn Vs on the route. One at KSC and the other in Houston. The Houston one was out in the weather for years but has recently been restored and is now a complete stack and indoors. The surviving shuttles are at KSC, Washington, and LA, so it might be possible to see all three.

A visit would be better if synchronised with an actual rocket blast off.

Yes... Sadly that is very much luck of the draw. When I last went there, we had tickets to get to the 3 mile (I think) viewing area (where the countdown clock is) for a shuttle launch. It turned out to be the only ever shuttle that launched ahead of schedule. It was a service mission to Mir, and they were having some major oxygen issues. So, missed that by a day. We went out for the landing, but it was held over due to large CB in the area. So, watching the shuttle trainer fly some approaches was as close as we got.

SpaceX has a lot of launches planned for 2020, but I they are so iffy that I wouldn't build a trip based on one.

We did visit an old USN aircraft carrier (Yorktown) in Charleston South Carolina with some old warbirds in the hangars. That was good.
I would recommend Charleston SC for the history and architecture as well.

I've done Intrepid. Unless one of my compatriots wants to see an aircraft carrier, and they're all RAAF, so I doubt it.

IAH as a staging point would mean the FF points would have to be UA, VA, SQ, NZ points and fly via AKL
Then intra USA it really does not matter that you stay with one airline alliance

SQ via Singapore to LA, and then across the Atlantic to Manchester, and Singapore again, is the most likely. Within the USA it will be whatever airline suits at the time. I doubt that we'll consider allegiances, so I can see Alaskan, United and Southwest being likely contenders.

 

[Quickstatus]

KSC was 2014.

There was a "meet an astronaut". so the kids were all worked up over it.
However it was only some minimum wage earner dressed up in an astronaut suit and there was a charge for the official photo. I even had some questions ready to ask. Should have known...

I was dissapointed that the Saturn V was not vertical. Would have been a better perspective.
The hangar visit including the shuttle was a "strictly keep to the yellow walkway" so could not get an up close.

our tour guide who took us out to the hangars, dunes and launch pads talked more about the wildlife which were mostly alligators (the top end crocs would eat them for a snack)

 

[jb747]

KSC was 2014.

There was a "meet an astronaut". so the kids were all worked up over it.

Well, I'm safe from that. The only one I ever wanted to meet died a couple of years ago.

I was dissapointed that the Saturn V was not vertical. Would have been a better perspective.

A Saturn 1B is as good as you're going to get there. Things like the interstage interested me, so you wouldn't be able to see that if vertical. And you'd be so far from it...

The hangar visit including the shuttle was a "strictly keep to the yellow walkway" so could not get an up close.

No longer in a hangar. This is the current display

https://imgur.com/a/nN3jX

Supposedly Endeavour is ultimately going to be stacked and shown vertically, but at the moment its still on a carrier at ground level (at the LA Science Centre).

Discovery is in Washington at Dulles, and is displayed on it's wheels, as if at the conclusion of a mission.

Enterprise, the vehicle that flew the glide tests, is at the Intrepid in NYC. It was displayed at Dulles until the flight vehicles became available. There is a fake shuttle, which used to be at the KSC visitors centre, but which is now in Houston, displayed on one of the carrier 747s.

The #1 aim of the trip is to see this:

North American XB-70 Valkyrie

The futuristic XB-70A was originally conceived in the 1950s as a high-altitude, nuclear strike bomber that could fly at Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound) -- any potential enemy would have been

www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

 

[serfty]

Rental cars worked best for for me at Orlando for the KSC and also at Seattle for the Museum of Flight and Everett Boing factory.

I did the latter two in one day but could have spent the entirety day at Boeing Field but had to depart for.my 2 pm Everett booking.

(After driving in France in the late 90's I have few fears with US motoring.)

 

[jb747]

XB-70... don't think so. There is only one. Two were built, but one crashed after a mid air collision with an F104. The survivor is at the USAF museum.

 

[Quickstatus]

Can your please do a trip report?

 

[RSD]

Can your please do a trip report?

Or run a guided trip for the rest of us?

 

[JohnM]

I'm flying into CLT in June next year and I've planned to visit the Space and Rocket Center at Huntsville as I swing around from Nashville back to South Carolina to visit friends on the way back to CLT.

From what I can see, they have a mock-up Saturn V standing upright outside, and a real one set up inside horizontally to show its stages. No aircraft, but it seems to be rocket HQ.

 

[Himeno]

The only time I've been to KSC was during a holiday to WDW (because work sent dad there for a conference and it was the last year the kids could get the discounted airfares [my first overseas trip, AN/JL/UA CBR-SYD-NRT-LAX-MCO MCO-DEN-SFO-NRT-SYD-CBR]). Took the tour bus to KSC prior to the conference starting. Would have to find and look through the holiday photos to be sure, but IIRC there was shuttle on one of the pads preping for a launch. The tour stopped at the other pad. Enterprise was on display at the visitors center.

 

[Himeno]

Or run a guided trip for the rest of us?

Charter out a QF 747 and take us all on a trip around the US before the aircraft ends up at Victorville?

 

[jb747]

I'm flying into CLT in June next year and I've planned to visit the Space and Rocket Center at Huntsville as I swing around from Nashville back to South Carolina to visit friends on the way back to CLT.

From what I can see, they have a mock-up Saturn V standing upright outside, and a real one set up inside horizontally to show its stages. No aircraft, but it seems to be rocket HQ.

It's not really a mock up, but rather an early production test vehicle, used for vibration and integration testing. It has it's own Wikipedia page: Saturn V dynamic test vehicle - Wikipedia

The other three that are on display are discussed here:

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