Good Morning, Everybody,
I hope this finds you well! Today’s submission is mine.
This past weekend, I caught a movie at the Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum near Dulles Airport, in Virginia. It’s the largest IMAX screen in the state and is a great place to see a movie, even if the food and seats are sub-optimal.
The way this free museum works is that parking is $15 per car until 4 pm, then it’s free until the 5:30 pm museum closing time. Movies are scheduled around 4:30, so you can avoid paying the parking fee, and the theater area is open into the night. For movies, we try to arrive precisely at 4 so we have some time to wander the museum before the show.
In this visit, I ran around and grabbed a few shots of the aircraft (and spacecraft!) to help share this amazing museum. The moment I walked in, I knew I had to scurry around and get some pictures for Balloon Juice, something that I hadn’t planned on until inspiration hit. I plan to go back and spend a day there so I can look at, and photograph, as many individual exhibits as possible, which I will of course post. They are open every day except Christmas Day, so I plan to go when it’s a bad weather day sometime soon.
Today’s photos are, for the most part, filled with too many vehicles to mention (plus I didn’t take notes since I was rushed), but I wanted to share this wonderful museum with you. Consider this an appetizer for a series of posts later this year.
I know that many of you travel as part of your work, as I used to. The museum is just a few minutes’ shuttle bus ride from Dulles Airport, and it’s easy to spend 2-4 hours minimum looking around and marveling at the exhibits. For years I’ve recommended that folks consider routing themselves through Dulles for connecting flights, leaving themselves a 4-6 hour layover to enjoy the museum at leisure. It’s worth it, and beats spending 2 hours laid-over at another airport with nothing to improve you.
Since this is a standard post and not the OTR interface, accept my apologies for the different formatting. There are a host of pics after the “Read More” link.
This is an overhead view showing some WWI and prior aircraft. I always enter the exhibit area from above, on this side. It just feels right to start with an overhead view and with ~WWI aircraft and then work towards WWII, modern, and then the Space stuff as the final leg.
A slightly different angle. So many flying machines!
You can clearly see the Blackbird in the rear, and that shiny B-29 Superfortress on the left is, um, well-known, infamous to many.
A bigger shot of the Enola Gay and surrounding aircraft.
It’s not all military aircraft – this museum is all about flight, so there are lots of consumer craft like the Piper Cub in the foreground and the Concorde in the rear. Back in the mid-80’s, my parents were lucky enough to fly the Air France Concorde (paid for by dad’s employer) and I still treasure the bottle opener, silver luggage tag, and flight kit they got. They regaled me upon their return with the wonder of looking up/out of the tiny windows and seeing black: space. Wow!
Look at that Fokker!
Another Enola Gay shot. Seeing this plane for real and close-up is hard to capture in words. It looks so frail and yet wrought such destruction.
Some neat Allied and Axis planes.
More of them.
Yep, more.
Another shot of the commercial/private side of things.
And again.
I just love the ancient wood and canvas planes. Just wow! I cannot believe how brave those early aeronautic pioneers were. This is returning by the way I came in, over the early stuff.
That can land on water.
Information on this plane.
And this one.
Clearly a photo point of interest spot! You can see the space shuttle hiding in the back. I will hit the space section next visit, I had too little time this weekend. When entering the museum, this the first thing most folks head to – it’s straight ahead. As I said previously, I prefer to begin with WWI stuff so I take a left instead, only getting to the modern stuff later and usually when I’m on the ground. Before I leave, I always do one more saunter around the upper level to ensure I didn’t miss anything!
They host events here, and were setting up for something that fancy-dressed younger folks were entering when we left after the movie. I may need to figure out how to attend an evening event there – I’d love to explore with less crowds. There’s something special about being in a museum after hours, allowed to wander and look and (gasp!) touch. Before they remodeled things, you could touch the space shuttle bottom (the scorched tiles) and I did. To know I touched something that had been in space, and was man-made, was moving. I still savor that memory.
Two otherworldy craft – the SR-71 Blackbird and the Space Shuttle. The Blackbird was an amazing leap of technology, just crazy advanced. It’s still pretty state-of-the-art. The shuttle was also pretty advanced, for the 1980’s. Not so much anymore.
Some more modern fighter jets and helis.
Same location as previous picture but I used the iPhone zoom feature. When I return, I plan to take a tripod and spend the time to get many more, and much better, shots of many of these exhibits. Maybe I’ll borrow a camera and zoom so I can get better results, we shall see…
You’ll never regret visiting this museum if you have any interest in air and space, it’s just an amazing place full of such history and adventure. It’s heartening to see old warriors, pilots, and heroes visiting, offering free stories and tours to the interested. Many sell their books, of course. They won’t be around forever. Go.
JPL
That is amazing and apparently you could return and return, and each time learn something new.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
there’s another Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in downtown Washington that has a lot of spacecraft.
You can stand right next to John Glenn’s spacecraft and you’ll be shocked how small it is (photo)
prostratedragon
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Spirit of St. Louis, too. It’s like flying across the ocean on a kite. There is something almost touching about the smallness of these things. I should go to the one at Dulles next time I’m in the area.
mrmoshpotato
You kids and your flying machines! (shakes fist)
Very nice.
frosty
Wow, this just moved up on my list. Last year on our Snowbird Road Trip we went to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola and had a similar experience – WWI to jets. No spacecraft, but aircraft carrier models! It’s worth the trip if you’re in or close to the Panhandle.
frosty
The Intrepid in NYC is also worth seeing. There is a SR-71 Blackbird on the flight deck, along with other planes. And other exhibits below decks.
CliosFanboy
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
FYI, Glenn’s Arlington House is about to be torn down. It’s a post-WWII ranch and land is so expensive here it’ll be replaced by a McMansion. ugh
UH is a great museum. I tend to hang out in the WWI and WWII sections. And Langley’s “plane” could fly, so long as you defined “fly” as “plummet straight down.” Heh
Baud
Cool. I’ve always wanted to go there.
debbie
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Saw that during a school trip. Being from Ohio, Glenn’s capsule was the primary reason for the visit. The tininess of the capsule really was a surprise.
Ben Cisco
That Blackbird brings back memories – they were still flying during my time. Beautiful airframe.
Great job with the pictures!
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
Cool museum! I will have to make time to stop on my way to visit my little brother in Virginia sometime.
gVOR08
There’s a bad, old joke about a fifth grade teacher inviting a WWI pilot to address her class. He said one morning he was flying along and suddenly there were three Fokkers on his tail. The teacher quickly interrupted to explain a Fokker was a kind of airplane the Germans flew. The pilot replied that was true, but these three Fokkers were flying Halberstadts. The Fokker in the picture is a Junkers, a Ju-52.
Ole Phat Stu
The plane you labelled “Look at that Fokker!” is actually a J52 Junkers.
dimmsdale
Nice post! Great pictures! I love both of the Smithsonian air museums; the one at Dulles is kind of breathtaking in terms of scope. There’s also a restoration portion of the complex where the ravages of time and ongoing decay are (hopefully) reversed; once upon a time (pre-9/11) the restoration facility was open to the public and you could watch your tax dollars (literally) at work, restoring the country’s aviation treasures. Not sure if this is still open to the public or not, but it’s a must-see if it is. (In any kind of restoration, antique cars, planes, whathaveyou, there’s always a question as to whether one restores the item to as-manufactured condition or simply steps in to reverse decay, maintaining the item in its gracefully-aged condition. A story: during the restoration of a WWI fighter, the team found a wadded-up Hershey bar wrapper in the floorboards, which turned out to be contemporaneous with the aircraft. The dilemma was, throw it out or send it to the part of the Smithsonian that displays cultural artifacts? The team decided to return the wrapper to its original location once the restoration was completed, since the purpose of this restoration was to display the aircraft in the condition it was flown at the time.
(Sadly, there are no longer live webcams open to public view of the UH halls or the restoration facility; I was a pretty much daily viewer of them at my desk computer, but they were disconnected after 9/11.
ETA: You do NOT want to schedule too little time to visit UH. In a museum like this, you always end up making discoveries that grab your time and attention. I once visited the US Air Force museum in Dayton OH, and had budgeted a day. I was there THREE days. You just never know.
Malris
Alain, next time you go, I’d suggest you go a little earlier and pay the parking fee, but call the museum in advance and ask for a docent to walk around with. You can sometimes get one of the folks who set up some of the exhibits, and learn more than just the history of the vehicles, but also a bit about how the display was planned and why…fascinating stuff!
Alain
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Yeah, that’s the one I grew up with. I spent countless days there as I grew up in Northwest DC and museums were free and educational, perfect for a kid. I loved that they had the Enterprise model from the original Star Trek series to inspire us youth, but really, it was the planes, capsule, lunar lander, and rockets that stole the show.
When I was living in Colorado, we were here for the holidays to see family and went to the Udvar-Hazy for a couple of hours before our flight. With all the space available, it’s a neverending thrill for those of us who love the history of flight.
Alain
@Malris:
Thanks, I shall! I’m a sponge so most of what I’ll learn, I’ll try to write up with the pics.
Alain
@dimmsdale: I remember seeing them working on some stuff in 2007 or 8, behind a glass partition. It reminded me a bit of the stuff we saw folks working on at the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Carderock when we got a tour on open-house day back in the mid 1990’s. I so wish I’d had a camera that day, we happened to be driving by and saw the signs, cars enqueue, and open gates.
Also, once we finally left many hours later, a parade of geese decided to cross the road. One at a time. Like, one goose steps carefully down onto the road from the sidewalk, waddle ever-so-slowly across the road, and once it steps up onto the sidewalk on the other side, another goose would step down and repeat. I swear, it was like 10 minutes before they all crossed safely!
Alain
@gVOR08:
@Ole Phat Stu:
Thanks for the correction. Duh. I was too pleased with the opportunity to make a clever joke that I didn’t stop to re-think.
Ah well, I bet it’s recycled when I find a Fokker next trip! Y’all’ve been warned.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Great shots, if any jackals in the Southern California area want a small taste of air/space-craft, head over the California Science Museum in Exposition Park(Metro friendly). There’s even a Space Shuttle there.
Shana
I too love this museum and have visited several times since we live nearby. One of the really cool things to do when not rushed is look in at the conservation area where they recondition and repair aircraft. They have some explanatory signage so you can tell what they’re working on.
Almost as much fun as watching the conservation area at the American History Museum when they were working on the Star Spangled Banner. (Thanks Ralph Lauren for underwriting.)
Zelma
So many museums, so little time! Next time I visit my son in VA and he asks me what I want to see, I’ll mention this one. Unless we can get tickets to the African American museum.
J R in WV
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
In my book there was never a braver bunch of pilots than the early astronauts. And Cosmonauts!
ETA fix formatting
ETA again, Thanks Alain for the photos, even the fokker joke worked for me!
Laura Too
Late as usual. Thanks Alain, these are wonderful! Mr. Steeplejack was kind enough to give me a mini tour of Dulles on my way from Reagan as it was my first time seeing it. What a fantastic airport! I really want to go through that airport again, so this is a perfect excuse to book in and out of there and see the museum.
Origuy
The Adler Planetarium in Chicago has the Gemini 12 spacecraft, because Jim Lovell was from Chicago. It’s only a little bigger than the Mercury, but they crammed two guys in there.
I haven’t been to DC since I was a kid. There are so many museums there that I want to visit.
Brainiologist
The Blackbird is one of the first planes that one sees coming out on the balcony. Still breathtaking and still not matched by anything else for manned airplanes. The restoration areas of the museum should not be missed, although they cannot be walked through, to see planes being put back together. A rare sight.
Another treat on the east coast, just up the road, is the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum near Cape May, NJ. usnasw.org