The first-ever Boeing 787 Dreamliner, first off the assembly line, and first in the air for the model’s flight tests, is now the centerpiece of Flight of Dreams, an aviation museum at Nagoya, Japan’s Chubu airport.
The four-story museum complex, located between the airport’s two terminals, also includes Seattle-themed restaurants and shops including Starbucks, Pike Brewing and Beecher’s Cheese. There’s also (at extra cost) a chance to see the inside of the cockpit, and even a flight simulator. Other activities include a ‘virtual tour’ of the Boeing Everett factory where the plane was built, and a chance to build and fly paper airplanes that trigger lights and sounds as they fly.
Boeing donated the plan in 2015, in part recognizing Japan’s role in the building of the Dreamliners. About 35% of the parts in a 787 start in Japan, including main wing and fuselage sections that are airlifted to Boeing’s Everett and South Carolina plants for final assembly.
