Katherine Bickford

The prototype Boeing 737-100 at the Museum Of Flight

The Museum’s aircraft is the very first 737 ever produced. It was the last new airplane to be manufactured at Boeing Plant 2. The aircraft made its first flight with Brien Wygle and Lew Wallick at the controls on April 9, 1967. Boeing used the 737 as a flight test aircraft before selling it to NASA in 1974. Based at the Langley Research Center in Virginia, this 737 became the Transport Systems Research Vehicle, known as NASA 515. It tested many technological innovations, including a virtual cockpit, electronic flight displays, and airborne windshear detection systems. It was retired in 1997.