Historic Aircraft Now Calls Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum Home

The historic Boeing 367-80, which helped usher in the modern era of jet-engine powered commercial airplanes, departed Seattle Sunday for the final time on a journey to its new home at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

Nicknamed the "Dash 80," the airplane first flew on July 15, 1954, and was the prototype for the Boeing 707, the world's first successful commercial airplane with jet engines, and the KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft. More than 14,000 Boeing jetliners have been built since.

"When the Dash 80 first flew 49 years ago, it led Boeing into the commercial jetliner business," said Dave Knowlen, project leader for the Dash 80 restoration. "This event was an opportunity for the community to say goodbye to this magnificent airplane and acknowledge its impressive legacy."

A brief ceremony at Seattle's Museum of Flight commemorated today's departure. The Dash 80 is to arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport Aug. 27, after stops in Rapid City, South Dakota and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

The Dash 80 will be on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum's new companion facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport. It will stand among other historic aircraft, including the recently restored Stratoliner that Boeing returned to the Smithsonian Aug. 6.

The Dash 80 served 18 years as a flying test-laboratory before being donated to the Smithsonian in 1972. It was in storage for the next 16 years before Boeing and the Smithsonian agreed to its restoration. It made a special flyover of Boeing facilities in the Seattle area on July 15, 1991, to mark the company's 75th anniversary, and the 37th anniversary of its first flight.

The Dash 80 last flew Aug. 3 when it made a flyover of Lake Washington during this year's Seafair Air Show in Seattle.

FMI: www.boeing.com