{"id":19372,"date":"2016-05-27T18:59:07","date_gmt":"2016-05-27T10:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/top-5-things-to-do-at-museum-of-flights-above-and-beyond-aerospace-exhibit\/"},"modified":"2016-05-27T18:59:07","modified_gmt":"2016-05-27T10:59:07","slug":"top-5-things-to-do-at-museum-of-flights-above-and-beyond-aerospace-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/top-5-things-to-do-at-museum-of-flights-above-and-beyond-aerospace-exhibit\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 things to do at Museum of Flight\u2019s \u2018Above and Beyond\u2019 aerospace exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Above
London visitor Letu Yang helps his 4-year-old son, Rafael Yang, fly a custom-built jet through a \u201cFull Throttle\u201d simulation at the \u201cAbove and Beyond\u201d exhibit at the Museum of Flight. (GeekWire photo by Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the floor space at Seattle\u2019s Museum of Flight is set aside to celebrate past glories of aerospace \u2013 but \u201cAbove and Beyond,\u201d a traveling exhibition that opens this weekend, is different: It\u2019s all about what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

During a Thursday preview, schoolkids thronged to watch a wraparound video about the future of flight, play big-screen video games, get their selfies taken on a virtual Mars and check out exhibits about drones, 3-D printing and next-generation spacecraft.<\/p>\n

The Boeing Co. is presenting the interactive exhibition as part of this year\u2019s centennial celebration, but \u201cAbove and Beyond\u201d goes far beyond the story of the company\u2019s first 100 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t just concentrate on what Boeing has done. It concentrates on the future,\u201d Doug King, the Museum of Flight\u2019s president and CEO, said as he watched teens and tweens swarm past. \u201cAnd these are the people who are going to create that future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibition has already been at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. That means the producers at Texas-based Evergreen Exhibitions already have a pretty good idea which attractions will be the most popular. Here are the top five, as listed by Mike Kempf, Evergreen Exhibitions\u2019 vice president of marketing:<\/p>\n

1. Full Throttle:<\/strong> You design your own virtual fighter jet, based on aerodynamic principles, and then sit down to fly it on cockpit simulators. Boeing test pilot Mike Bryan says it\u2019s his favorite. \u201cIt looks like a flight deck, and the plane looks like a fighter,\u201d he told GeekWire as he watched players race their jets.<\/p>\n

\"Full
Boeing test pilot Mike Bryan watches a boy pilot his virtual jet. (Credit: Ted Huetter \/ Museum of Flight)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Spread Your Wings:<\/strong> Stand in front of a giant screen and match your movements with virtual birds with the aid of Microsoft\u2019s Kinect motion-sensing technology. To fly right, you have to flap your arms and lean your body like the birds do. When your turn ends, the big screen flashes a selfie of you and the rest of your flock.<\/p>\n

\"Spread
\u201cSpread Your Wings\u201d shows you how to fly like a bird. (Credit: Ted Huetter \/ Museum of Flight)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Elevator to Space:<\/strong> Press the start button, and a video screen shows you what you\u2019d see during a space elevator ride to a height of 22,000 miles. Along the way, a computerized guide points out various flying machines from the future, and explains what it\u2019s like to pass through the Van Allen radiation belts. (Don\u2019t worry: It\u2019s safe.)<\/p>\n