The Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington has announced a Welcome Ceremony for their newly restored B-52 Stratofortress “Midnight Express.”
As previously reported, the bomber (S/N 59-2584) had been parked outdoors at the museum’s Paine Field facility in Everett for the past 26 years. A $2.2 million effort was launched to restore the machine for use as the centerpiece of a new Vietnam Air War Memorial Park, which will pay tribute to the aircraft of the Vietnam War and honor the service members who flew and supported them.
The fuselage will be the largest and final piece of the restored aircraft to arrive the museum. It is currently scheduled to depart Paine Field in the early hours of the morning on Sunday, June 3, travelling south on I-405 to I-5, then towards the museum on East Marginal Way South. The public is invited to watch its arrival at Raisbeck Aviation High School parking lot, where it will eventually be reassembled for display in the new memorial park, which will reportedly begin construction this fall.
Visitors will have the opportunity to gather in the museum’s Aviation Pavilion to “hear from members of the Project Welcome Home committee, learn about Project Welcome Home and the campaign to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park and honor Vietnam veterans with a special pinning ceremony to thank them for their service.”
As of this writing, the ceremony is scheduled to take place at 8 am in the northeast corner of the Aviation Pavilion. Guests will be invited to line the edge of East Marginal Way South as the B-52 completes its journey to its new home. The museum will also open early at 9 am.
Click here for additional information on the event. To learn more about the Vietnam Memorial, click here.
(Top Photo: Clemens Vasters via Wikimedia Commons)
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