The Museum of Flight

Tonight is Free First Thursday Evening. On the first Thursday of each month, the Museum stays open late – and admission is FREE thanks to the generous support of Delta Air Lines.

Enjoy the Museum’s exhibits from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The Museum Store and Café are also open late!

Reservations are not required, arrive anytime between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM.
Delta is the 2026 Sponsor of Free First Thursdays.

From the Collection 📦

Photograph of a wrecked Douglas A-4 Skyhawk aircraft at Chu Lai Air Base, Vietnam, circa 1965. The accompanying captions notes that this aircraft, along with about 30 others, was destroyed in an attack on the air base.

Image Credit: The Fred Quarnstrom Vietnam War Collection/The Museum of Flight

It's almost Free First Thursday Evening! On the first Thursday of each month, the Museum stays open late – and admission is FREE thanks to the generous support of Delta Air Lines.

Enjoy the Museum’s exhibits from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The Museum Store and Café are also open late!

Reservations are not required, arrive anytime between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM.

Delta is the 2026 Sponsor of Free First Thursdays.

Dr. Margaret Chung, the first known Chinese-American female physician, was “mom” to hundreds of aviators during World War II. Dr. Chung had a practice in San Francisco’s Chinatown district, where she made connections with American pilots hoping to join the “Flying Tigers,” officially called the American Volunteer Group. Dr. Chung provided medical examinations for the AVG hopefuls. She always made sure the aviators left her presence with a full stomach, seeing to their medical and emotional needs, calling them her ‘sons.’

Her house became a home away from home for hundreds of service members passing through San Francisco during the war. Her work and advocacy drew national attention, including a Presidential Citation. She helped Eleanor Roosevelt establish the Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), though she was blacklisted by the military, who suspected her Dr. Chung of being a homosexual, and was never allowed to join the program she created.

Mom Chung was beloved among her ‘kids,’ even during the 1940s, a time of strong anti-Asian sentiment. When she passed away in 1959, her ‘son’ Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was among her pallbearers.

Learn more about "Mom" Chung on our podcast.

Doctor Mom Chung Discover the extraordinary life of Dr. Mom Chung, the first Chinese American woman doctor and secret pilot recruited for the legendary Flying Tigers.

On December 32, 1980, the Lear Avia LearFan made its first flight. Yes, you read that right. December 32.

The LearFan was among aviation powerhouse Bill Lear’s final projects before he passed away in 1978. Moya Lear, his wife, took the reins after he died, determined to see the aircraft take flight.

Lear intended to build the LearFan in Northern Ireland, with the government of the United Kingdom partially funding construction of the factory in an attempt to stimulate the region’s economy. With that funding came a deadline: The LearFan needed to fly by the end of 1980.

The plane was set to make its test flight on December 31, 1980, but technical problems kept the LearFan on the ground that day. The plane successfully flew the next day, January 1, 1981, missing the due date. In a nod to Lear’s legacy in aviation, the UK government created the date December 32, 1980 so that the LearFan could meet its deadline. The flight took place in Reno, Nevada, where the local post office also postmarked special envelopes flown on the LearFan’s innagural flight (known to collectors as first ‘flight covers’) on December 32, 1980.

This photo, from The Museum of Flight’s digital collection, shows our LearFan in flight in those early days. You can see this plane for yourself at The Museum of Flight during your next visit!

Image Credit: The William P. and Moya Olsen Lear Papers/The Museum of Flight

This morning Farah Jadran interviewed Xyla Foxlin on KING 5 Morning News to learn about Xyla’s rocket workshop at the Museum this afternoon. Please check it out, and we look forward to seeing you at the workshop!

Learn how to build your own rocket at Seattle's Museum of Flight A Saturday afternoon hands-on workshop takes off with an engineer-pilot teaching attendees how to build their own rockets.