Museum of Flight

This was an amazing opportunity for us, thanks to Kate who volunteers there!  Peggy, Tina and I arrived early, so we sat outside the museum entrance. Tina and I sketched the sculpture "Team Effort" from different angles. Kate and Nilda arrived and the museum opened at 10am. We spent two hours  exploring. I chose to use a black Uniball pen and sketched several areas of the exhibit, hurrying as if I was birding..as if something was about to fly away! (except everything was tethered by wires)

There was limited area to spread out my paints, so I waited until I found a place in the cafe to add color wash. I wanted to paint the smell of the Red Barn!

 

We spent two hours and then had our sketch share.  After lunch we returned for another sketch. That's when I found the sculpture down on East Marginal Way as I started up the T.Evans Wyckoff Memorial Bridge. (Awesome music and sound effects from that bridge while sketching!!)

 

The struggle for me was like an EMP nightmare..structures hanging from wires at odd angles, especially propellers and wings. Then there was the challenge of the window frames in the background, deciding how much to add to the background so as not to overwhelm the focus of the sketch. 

One of the museum staff or volunteers walked by as I sat on a bench finishing my sketches.."we're glad you are here!!" he cried. I was, too. Thanks, Kate!

Museum of Flight



2/8/13 Platinum Carbon Black ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Gamma sketchbook

A flying car! That’s one of many amazing things I saw and sketched at the Museum of Flight today with Kate, Peggy, Carleen and Nilda. The museum also houses many other amazing things that, unfortunately, I never got around to seeing and sketching this time, so I’m looking forward to going back again.

“After World War II, many people envisioned an airplane in every garage,” according to the placard. Moulton Taylor, a man with that vision, developed the Taylor Aerocar to meet that apparent need. This sketch is of the Taylor Aerocar III made in 1968. It took only 15 minutes for the car to fully sprout its wings and be ready for flight. (By the way, this counts as my car-sketch-of-the-week. As I sketched, I thought the Aerocar’s front oddly resembled my Miata.)

2/8/13 Diamine Grey ink, Zig markers

On May 15, 1918, the first U.S. air mail service flight was made. Along with the mail, this Boeing Air Transport, Inc. plane carried passengers, like this one about to board her 26-hour flight from New York to San Francisco. (Whenever I sketch people, I try hard not to make them look like mannequins. Here, I sketched a mannequin and wondered if she would look like an over-dressed museum visitor.)

Another mannequin takes flight aboard the Gossamer Albatross II, a pedal-powered aircraft that weighs about 70 pounds (according to the docent I overheard as I sketched).



2/8/13 Diamine Eclipse ink, Zig markers



Outside the museum, a bronze sculpture called “Team Effort” by Larry Anderson is a memorial to Katharine B. Lenhart and Lieutenant John J. Lenhart, U.S. Navy Schneider Team Pilot, 1927.




2/8/13 Diamine Eclipse ink

Boeing Museum of Flight

Today I was able to visit the Boeing Museum of Flight. What a great place! Seattle Schools were having a Science Fair there and my son had his science fair project selected from his school. So we had a chance to visit the museum. I sketched some planes while I was there waiting. Click on image to see full view.