For the Reporter

The Museum of Flight welcomes the Lunar New Year with special programs honoring The Boeing Co.’s first engineer, Wong Tsoo.

The Wells Fargo Free First Thursday lineup includes nonstop family activities (with participation by Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum) from 5 to 9 p.m., special programs honoring Tsoo, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and a performance of the Seattle Chinese Chorus from 7 to 8 p.m.

Admission is free.

Wong was Boeing’s first engineer. He was born in Beijing, China in 1893, and hired in 1916 as a recent MIT graduate to design a new military training plane, soon to be known as the Model C. The plane was the young company’s first financial success.

Wong later returned to China and became a major influence on aviation in that country. He died in Taiwan in 1965.

Distinguished speakers at the museum event will look at Wong’s life and legacy in the U.S. and China. Speakers include state Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, and Andy Chin, the director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Seattle.

The Museum of Flight is at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, exit 158, off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field, halfway between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport.

The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission is $20 for adults, $17 for seniors 65 and older, $17 for active military, $12 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5. Group rates are available.

Admission on the first Thursday of the month is free from 5 to 9 p.m. courtesy of Wells Fargo. McCormick & Schmick’s Wings Café is on site.

For general museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org.