How to Display a 747 in a Museum

First impressions matter. When visitors to the National Air and Space Museum enter the great expanse of the America by Air exhibition in the Hall of Air Transportation, they encounter the massive hull of a Boeing 747 forward fuselage. It surely gets their attention. But why—and how—did a 747 nose end up in the gallery?

As the lead curator for America by Air, I felt it was essential to convey the scope and scale of modern jet travel to our visitors. What better object to underscore that point than a Boeing 747—or at least as much of one that would fit inside the Museum.

Originally, our plan was to fabricate a simulated 747 nose section. In a wonderful example of serendipity, Dan Pietrzak, director of aircraft transactions for Northwest Airlines, called me in March 1999 to offer the Museum a complete 747 for what would become our Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

First flown in 1970, the aircraft—number N601US—has a remarkable history. It was the first 747 built for Northwest; the first 747 to fly for an airline other than Pan Am; and the first 747 to open service across the Pacific. Northwest was looking for a good home for this aircraft because they were retiring all their early 747-151 series airplanes. While we did not have room for the complete aircraft, I suggested an alternative: Could Northwest give us the nose for the new America by Air exhibition? The answer was a swift and emphatic “yes.”

The devil, as they say, is in the details. Originally, the new America by Air was scheduled to open in 2001, then 2002. Because the Museum was so focused on opening the Udvar-Hazy Center in time for the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ flight on December 17, 2003, the gallery was again delayed (to 2005). Subsequent funding issues pushed the opening to 2006 and finally 2007. In the meantime, Northwest had sold the aircraft to Charlotte Aviation for salvaging with the understanding that the forward fuselage be saved for the Smithsonian. In 2000, the aircraft arrived in Maxton, North Carolina, and it was supposed to be removed by 2002. Because of numerous issues with timing and funding, however, it was not. Fortunately, Charlotte Aviation graciously allowed the Museum to leave the aircraft on their property beyond the deadline.

Because of the lengthy on-again, off-again nature of the America by Air exhibition, the final details of the gift agreement were not settled when the aircraft was retired by Northwest. Under the watchful eye of Museum project coordinator Frank Florentine, discussions between Northwest and the Museum were renewed in 2005; they were almost complete, but then Northwest filed for bankruptcy in September. This again delayed the project as all financial transactions with the airline were now subject to bankruptcy courts. Fortunately, after a great deal of work by all parties, an agreement was concluded in February 2006. The way was clear for the contractor to dismantle the nose, restore it for display, and install it in the new America by Air exhibition.

But there were still details to be worked out. We wanted to take the first 30 feet of the 747, but we were concerned that removing that amount from the larger aircraft would compromise the structural integrity of the now-separated nose. A Boeing engineer reminded us that all 747s were built in subassemblies and often by subcontractors. The 747 nose was built by Boeing Wichita in five parts and shipped by rail to Everett, Washington. These five parts were mutually reinforcing, but only if they connected at frame station 520. Armed with this information, we decided to take the entire nose back to frame 520, which meant taking a total of 35 feet, not 30. It was worth it. The nose is solid. 

Guard-Lee of Apopka, Florida, carefully cut the nose from the airframe and trucked the parts back to their facility in Orlando. There, they carefully refurbished and repainted #601, reassembling the nose during a test fitting to ensure that our plans for display would succeed.

Four tractor-trailer loads carried the 11 pieces of the nose 850 miles north from Florida to the Museum in Washington, D.C., in January 2007. Once here, the Guard-Lee crew and Museum staff worked diligently over the course of two weeks to install the 747. A large crane was carefully positioned on the concrete floor to lift the pieces into place. The floor was temporarily reinforced to carry the additional weight of the aircraft and the crane. It was an immense task. The nose weighs an estimated 26,500 pounds. Twenty five percent of that weight is carefully distributed through the nose landing gear onto the main structural beam under the floor. The remaining 75 percent of the weight is suspended from a large bracket behind frame 520 that transfers the weight to a major cross beam along the edge of the floor. (The 747 nose is not attached to the wall.)

When the west wing of the Museum closed for renovation in 2019, all aircraft were taken out of that section of the building—except the 747. Instead of risking an expensive removal and re-installation, the Museum decided to protect the 747 in place until the updated America by Air exhibition was installed and reopened in October 2022.

If our visitors remember anything, they will remember a Boeing 747 inside a Museum gallery. A very, very big 747.

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F. Robert van der Linden is a curator in the National Air and Space Museum’s aeronautics department. He specializes in the history of air transportation.

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This article is from the Fall 2024 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today. Explore the full issue.

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