FINAL FLIGHT
The Trip Home for the Boeing 737
Prototype Airplane
by Bob Bogash
The Boeing 737
Prototype airplane was completed in
December 1966. It made its first flight on April 9, 1967 with
Pilot Brien Wygle and Co-pilot Lew Wallick at the controls. After
completing its 737 developmental flying with Boeing, the airplane was
sold to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on
July 26, 1973. It had accumulated only 979 flying hours.
NASA flew the airplane for about 23 years, and used it to develop
many of the avionic, display, and control systems used on current
jetliners.
On September 20, 1997, NASA retired the airplane and placed it with the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It now had only a
still very youthful 3297 hours total flight time. It was flown to
Moses Lake, Washington where a more benign climate would allow it to be
stored until it could be placed on permanent display at the
Museum's main facility at Boeing Field in Seattle.
As a young
Boeing engineer, I had been intimately involved in the design,
manufacture, and flight test of this airplane. I had spent much
of my 30 plus year Boeing career similarly involved in every aspect of
its descendents' history.
After the airplane was retired by NASA, I being likewise
retired, volunteered to be the caretaker of the airplane for the
Museum. The airplane was maintained in "active" storage, meaning
it was kept airworthy and able to make the flight to Seattle with
little advance notice or heavy maintenance required. During the
next six years, I made over 150 trips to Moses Lake (an 8 hour
minimum round-trip drive), and with the help of many other volunteers,
kept the airplane 'ready to go.' During this period, much
preventative maintenance, and some repair work was performed.
During full monthly operational checks of the airplane, I was
privileged to have taxied the airplane some 600-700 miles - more than
enough to have taxied to Seattle!
In 2003, the Museum decided to move the airplane to an area on the west
side of East Marginal Way, across from the Museum, that had been
donated by Boeing for large aircraft display. In August 2003, a
NASA team
from Langley Research Center in Virginia inspected and tested the
airplane
to satisfy themselves that it was indeed airworthy. (Of course it
was!) On September 21, 2003, having received authorization from
NASA,
the airplane made its final flight - 33 minutes - from Moses Lake to
Boeing
Field. It parked on the Boeing flight line, across the ramp from
the
stall it had been parked in when it made its first flight 36 1/2 years
before. Brien Wygle, Captain on the first flight, was aboard for
the last
one.
The next day, I (with my colleague Steve Huemoeller) removed all the
fuel. Since we could not get the airplane de-fueled, we started
the engines, and during a 2 hour 37 minute run, ran the tanks to near
empty and shut them down for the last time. (On Easter Sunday,
1967, I had participated in starting this airplane's engines for the
very first time. So, I guess, you could say I was there for the
first.... and there for the last.) We then sadly decommissioned
her many
systems on the Boeing flight line, after which the airplane was moved
to an area adjacent to the main museum. On Saturday, November 22,
2003, she was towed across East Marginal Way to join the first jet Air
Force
One, the 747 Prototype, Concorde, and other historic aircraft.
She
is now a mere stones throw from the Thompson Site factory, from which
she
rolled out in December 1966. With more than 14,000 airplanes
sold,
the 737 has become by far the best selling, most popular commercial
jetliner
in history. Along with the notable developments made while in
NASA service, this airplane is truly one of the most historic aircraft
in the world today. It has been an honor and a privilege for me
to be Crew Chief and caretaker for this airplane. The following
pictures document some of the people and places associated with this
last memorable flight.
Boeing 737 Prototype Airplane -- NASA 515 -
at Moses Lake
Steve Huemoeller - Mechanic Extraordinaire Bob Bogash -
Crew Chief At Boeing Field after the flight
Flight Crew of the Final Flight
Left to Right: Mark Ranz - Co-Pilot; Dale Ranz - Pilot;
Bob Bogash - Crew Chief; Brien Wygle - Safety Observer and
Pilot of First Flight
Participants
in Final Flight
L-R: Bob Bogash, Dick Taylor (Retired Boeing Executuve and B-47
Test Pilot), Clayton Scott (Retired Early Boeing Test Pilot and
personal pilot to Bill Boeing), Brien Wygle (Retired Boeing Executive
and Test
Pilot on First Flight of Boeing 737), Dale Ranz (Retired Boeing Test
Pilot),
Mark Ranz (Airline Pilot, volunteer), Jacob Ranz. (Missing from
photo: Jim Gannett (Retired Boeing Test Pilot who flew us over in his Cessna), Steve Huemoeller
(Retired United Air Lines Mechanic, who was waiting at Boeing Field), and Jeff Akridge (President and
Owner of Columbia Pacific Aviation - FBO at Moses Lake, who provided most of my help - gratis - for the six years.)
Her Last Landing
On approach from the south, with Mt. Rainier in the background
Crossing the fence on short final for Runway 31L at Boeing Field - her Last Landing
Touching down at Boeing Field 3:11 PDT
September 21, 2003
Rollout on Runway 31L
Ground photos by Steve Huemoeller
Arrival on the Boeing Flight Line
Close to the First
Flight stall. As this "old" -100 arrives, Boeing 737-700's,
-800's, and -900's are filling the same flight line.
36 years later
and
still going strong!
Bob Bogash - Crew Chief - "One
Proud Papa!"
My Favorite!
Next: The Move to the Air Park
Photos by Bob Bogash, Steve Huemoeller, Dale Ranz, and Harold Isaacson.
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Copyright
2003- 2017 by Robert A. Bogash. All Rights Reserved
Last Revised:
28 Nov 2003
19 Apr 2006
04 Feb 2007
01 Nov 2010
8 Mar 2014
13 Mar 2017