Steven Udvar-Hazy Museum, Dulles (1-10-14)

[andygolfer]

A further topic from my recent trip to Canada and the USA, I spent the second week in Washington DC staying with friends and whilst our wives indulged in some retail therapy, we men indulged in some therapy of our own - of the aviation kind at the Steven Udvar-Hazy Centre next to Dulles airport and part of the Smithsonian museum, an absolutely amazing place! I visited the Smithsonian Air & Space museum in DC back in 1998 before this place was open and this really eclipses the DC museum , so many famous aircraft all in one building! i'll concentrate mainly on the civilian ones and include just a few of the military exhibits but my flickr album contains a much larger selection of the military as well as more civilian aircraft, here we go although i dont't really know where to start - i suppose it should be civilian....

a general view of one of the halls with the original Boeing 707-80, Air France Concorde and Boeing 307 amongst others
7954 Concorde F-BVFA general view by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

another of the Dash 80
7869 B707 dash 80 by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

our tour guide explaining how to fly anaaircraft when nobody has done it before, the Wirght Flyer replica (the original is in the DC museum)
7738 guide explaining the wright flyer replica by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

and now some more, the photo titles below the pics should explain them to save mere-typing it all
7728 fowler-gage biplane by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7905 concorde F-BVFA by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7737 sharpJ4 N18JS by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7754 sky baby by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7853 Monnett Moni N23HW by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7857 Loudenslager Laser 200 N10LL by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7877 Globe GC-1A Swift NC80518 by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7891 Beech 18 N522B by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7912 rotary assortment by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7913 Hiller-copter by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7934 shrike commander by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7950 Mustang Excalibur3 by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7953 Grumman Gulfhawk2 by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7963 Ju52 by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7727 curtiss N9-H by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7874 PA.12 NY2365M by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7931 Falcon 20 N8FE Fedex by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

this is a beautiful looking aircraft, the Boeing 307 which was the first pressurised airliner, only 10 were built and it had a rather chequered history with 6 being lost in crashes mostly later in it's career, even this one ditched in elliot Bay Seattle on it's supposed delivery flight to the museum but it was retrieved, repaired and finally delivered!
7956 B.307 NC19903 by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7942 B.307 NC19903 by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

and now just a few of the military exhibits:
The B.29 Enola Gay, I hope you all know the reason for it's fame..
7966 B29 enola gay by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

two icons in one photo! SR71 and space shuttle Discovery, shame about the sign across the shuttle but couldn't avoid it, still pleased with this one though
7839 SR71 & shuttle by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

another of Discovery (is NASA civil or military nowadays?, possibly a bit of a grey area)
7794 SS discovery by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7843 P40 kittyhawk by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7824 X35B by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

7916 Hiller YROE-1 Rotorcycle by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

no undercarriage, no return tickets - Japanese kamikasi Ohko
7781 Yokosuka Ohko by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

and finally a civilian in military colours, a beautiful Super Constellation;
7876 super constellation by sickbag_andy, on Flickr

as I said there are lots more in my FlickR album (nearly 80 in all): https://www.flickr.com/photos/125470545 ... 092228979/

[marpleman]

Great set Andy!

Love the Blackbird/shuttle shot!

I managed to get the Smithsonian museum in when I was in Washington back in 2007, but despite trying to get there, didn't make it to the Udvar-Hazy as my itinery just didn't give me time to do it justice. Still regret it to this day.....................

[andygolfer]

It's excellent I was there for over 6 hours (almost the totlal opening time and still ahd to rush around a bit. I did watch two of the IMAX films which were about 40 minutes each though. If you (or anybody) visits try to fit in time for the IMAX especially if they are showing the 'Fighter Pilot' film - it's a red flag exercise from Nellis AFB - brilliant (sorry, i know it's military but wouldn't want anyone to miss out).

thanks for the comment on the pics as well

[DeltaCharlieKilo]

Lovely set Andy. Super Connie for me.

Looks to be well worth a visit.

[Cessna954]

I'm not surprised that it took a day to look around, an amazing collection of milestone aircraft.

In '97 I was lucky to get a tour around the Silver Hill storage facility where many of these aircraft lay dismantled in dark sheds, what an Aladdin's cave experience that was. Good to see them fully restored and on display now.

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed looking at them all.

Cessna