Last week, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage Collection officially opened to the public at its new location on Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The night before the opening, they held a VIP reception that, thanks to a charitable interpretation of the “V” and “I”, a few of us attended as well. (We also managed to slip copies of FSX and Acceleration into the gift bags that were handed out, inching us ever closer to world domination.) It was a chicken skewer and champagne sort of affair that found us mingling with the local aeroscenti while the ice-sculpted P-51 slowly melted to the strains of Glenn Miller.

Allen’s collection includes a number of rare warbirds, restored to extraordinary levels of authenticity, including even components that might never be seen – cloth wiring harnesses, original primer paint, etc. There’s a gorgeous Spitfire MKV, a P-51D, an FW-190D-13, an A6M3 Zero, a BF-109E, and a Polikarpov I-16, to name a few. One of the most remarkable pieces on display is a simple oil pan – several of them, actually, on the floor underneath each airplane’s engine. An oil pan means oil, and oil means that these are functional machines, and this is what differentiates Allen’s living, breathing collection from a traditional museum. Nearly all of the airplanes are not only flyable, they’re flown. Regularly . You can look for the scheduled “Fly Days” on their web site.

Paine Field also hosts the Future of Flight Aviation Center and the Boeing Factory Tour, not to mention the Museum of Flight Restoration Center. The addition of the Flying Heritage Collection cements this airport’s role as a key destination for anyone interested in flying machines.

Here are a few additional pictures: