Warbird Information Exchange

The Boeing James S. McDonnell Prologue Room, a unique collection of aviation history, opened to the public May 31.

The exhibit, housed in the company’s Integrated Defense Systems headquarters building in Berkeley, Mo., chronicles a century of aviation milestones. The magic of flight, from biplanes to monoplanes and piston engines to jets and spacecraft, is brought to life through hundreds of scale models, photographs, paintings and artifacts.

Displays document the development of commercial and military aviation, and include large-scale models of the F-15 Eagle, the F/A-18 Super Hornet, AH-64 Apache helicopter and Air Force One. Models of Boeing‘s fleet of commercial jetliners also are displayed alongside a full-size airliner cockpit.

Full-size mockups of the Mercury and Gemini space capsules that carried the first Americans into space dramatize the vital role St. Louis played in the early days of America’s space program. Models of Skylab, America’s first orbiting laboratory, the Space Shuttle Orbiter and a detailed scale model of the International Space Station also are on display.

The Prologue Room is located in Building 100 at the corner of McDonnell Boulevard and Airport Road, adjacent to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The exhibit is open to the public free of charge from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, through Sept. 3. It is closed on Sundays and on July 4. Reservations are required. Groups of 10 or more may request a guided tour by calling 314-232-6896 at least two weeks in advance. The facility is wheelchair accessible.

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Looks to be mostly models, mock-ups and displays rather than real aircraft.