Museum of Flight

A few shots from our visit to the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Most of the exhibition halls were very dark, with spot lights illuminating the exhibits. I'm afraid to say I had a senior moment and forgot that it's possible to increase the ISO on a digital camera. As a result a lot of the time I suffered from an unacceptably long exposure time.

Here are some of the more successful efforts.




Regards,

Stuart

Some more..............



Regards,

Stuart

StuartRae said:

M-21 Blackbird. It must be one of the most beautiful planes ever built.

Click to expand...

Stuart,

Aircraft Museums are always interesting, these are intriguing views, thanks for showing.
One minor thing - the M-21 (also called D-21) is the drone mounted on the modified A-12 (better known as SR-71 Blackbird in a different version).

Best regards,
Michael

Hi Michael,

Thanks for showing interest.

I can't pretend to be an expert, just going on what the MoF website says.

" This M-21 is a unique variant of the A-12, the earliest Blackbird type. Built for a CIA program code-named "Tagboard," the M-21 carried unpiloted vehicles for intelligence gathering. These drones were intended for launch from the M-21 "mother ship" for flights over hostile territories. Design features of the M-21 include the second seat for the Launch Control Officer and the launch pylon on which the drone is mounted.

The Museum's M-21 was built in 1963, and is the sole surviving example of its type."


Regards,

Stuart

Hi Stuart,

I stand corrected for the M-21 (designation of the carrier airplane) but you might agree that this is the least frequent designation for an airplane based on the same airframe like the A-12 and the best known version SR-71 Blackbird

Best regards,
Michael

Hi Michael,

When I saw it, SR-71 was the first thing I thought of. I'd never heard of the M-21 until I looked at the website to check.

Regards,

Stuart