# Dulles Air and Space Museum. WOW!



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Last winter the new expanded Smithsonian Air and Space Museum opened out by Dulles airport. Miss M and I had heard great things about it but we just weren't able to figure out how to ride there. We wanted to ride there for several reasons #1 we like to ride, #2 it costs $12.00 to park there, #3 the bus from the National Mall and the rest of the museums costs $7.00 each.

We tried to get there by bike a couple of times but traffic on Hwy 28 is insane and the road is under construction (I think that once the construction is finished it may be an easy ride from the W&OD trail-right now it would be very, very dangerous to ride over). It just wasn't working

One Sunday after a long hard Saturday we decided to run a bunch of errands and take in the museum. Of course our objections to cost still held so we drove to a park a couple of miles away and rode over to the museum. 

We rode past a long line of autos waiting to get in, the guards waved us through and we found lots of bike parking (with no other bikes there). The outside looked like a big hanger and there was a pretty neat sculpture at the entrance. We were ready for an adventure.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*My jaw dropped.*

We walked in the place and past security and a few small exhibits into the hanger. I'll let the pix do the talking from here. 

Enola Gay anyone?


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*More eye candy.*

I was drooling the whole time-man oh man they had some hot stuff on display……


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Gossamer Albatross*

Almost lost in the amazing selection and displays was the only pedal powered plane in the place.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Blackbird.*

Oh who, oh wow, oh wow!


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*To the stars.*

and beyond.

Here is the site and the official description. Don’t miss it. 

http://www.nasm.si.edu/museum/udvarhazy/ The Udvar-Hazy Center is south of the main terminal at Dulles Airport in northern Virginia, near the intersection of Routes 28 and 50. The 70,611-square-meter (760,057-square-foot) building is situated on 176.5 acres. The facility has a large aviation exhibit hangar and a separate space exhibit hangar, an observation tower from which visitors can watch air traffic at Dulles Airport, classrooms, a large-format theater, food service and more. Shortly after opening day, a larger variety food court and museum store will open. A shuttle bus service runs between the downtown Museum and the new Center for a fee.


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## rwbadley (Apr 13, 2002)

Planes are way cool! you ran into some real beauty's!

This one is tame, but I'll add it to your collection. The Reno Air Races just yesterday. These are a couple in the Silver unlimited class. Warbirds of the P-51 type. These guys do 400+ on our course and sometimes nudge 500mph. The sound sends shivers when they scream by.

Thanks for the tour MB-1


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## spu2261 (Aug 26, 2004)

Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man!!! That looks like a great museum! I lived in Alexandria when I was a kid, and I went to the opening of the Air and Space Museum back in, what was it, 1976 or 1977? That was my favorite museum in the Smithsonian, followed closely by the Museum of Science and Technology. I might have to convince my wife that we should visit the DC area...


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## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

*very cool*

Another great one is the Dayton Air Force Museum (in Ohio). I could spend days there wandering around. I was a pilot and astronaut in another life...


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## Fogdweller (Mar 26, 2004)

*I see a Chipmunk*

hanging from the rafters. One of the planes designed and flown my the legend Art Scholl. That's quite an air museum and one that I must visit some day. Thank you for posting these.


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## KenB (Jul 28, 2004)

We went the weekend after the grand-opening. Well worth the visit. It was a sad reminder to see the shuttle though, with sections of the wing removed for study and comparison after Columbia burned up.


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## KeeponTrekkin (Aug 29, 2002)

*Nice Report*

Doug is right about the Dayton museum... I visited it in '98. Saw a real F117 Stealth in the "carbon". Cameras were allowed. A guy in front of me had a video camera with auto focus; the camera wouldn't lock focus. i could hear it whirring back and forth, trying to lock on. That's when I knew that stealth stuff really worked.....

Took my wife and daughter to the main A&S on the mall this Spring. Also a great visit. Flew a simulator with the daughter. Did loops & rolls. Big laughs. Paul Macready's round the world plane is there (forget its name.) Unbelievable history. My dad, born in 1921, works in aviation from post college (1943); the advances he saw in his lifetime boggle my mind. Biplanes to Moon walking!

The high performance planes are engines with wings. I don;t know which is harder to believe: the fact they were built or the fact pilots were found that could fly them....


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## Dave_Stohler (Jan 22, 2004)

I'll bet they don't have a B36. The Air Force museum in Dayton does......


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## russw19 (Nov 27, 2002)

DougSloan said:


> Another great one is the Dayton Air Force Museum (in Ohio). I could spend days there wandering around. I was a pilot and astronaut in another life...


Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. My Grandfather is a retired Lt. Colonel who flew B-29's. One year when I was a kid, I think I was about 12, he took me to Wright-Patterson and due to his rank and credentials we got a super guided tour of the place. Better than most tourists get. I remember thinking how cool it was that everyone we came in contact with kept saluting my Grandpa. I remember I got to climb around inside a Mercury Program capsule and I got taken up for a brief flight in an A-10. Man that was cool!

You can see the online museum for Wright-Patterson here...
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/

This is what Gramps used to cruise around in....


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Let's fly!*

nmnmnmndm


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## Gregory Taylor (Mar 29, 2002)

*My Dad....*

The Air and Space Museum rocks.

My dad grew up in Anacostia (a neighborhood of DC) in the 1920's, which at the time was the location of a very busy Naval Air Station. After Lindbergh flew the Atlantic solo in 1927, the Navy shipped his airplane -- the Spirit of St. Louis -- back to the Anacostia NAS and the Navy mechanics re-assembled it. My dad was in the crowd that had gathered when they rolled it out of the hanger, and (being a persistent little kid) he was allowed to climb up in the cockpit.

My dad passed away many years ago, but I still love that story. My dad went on to have a long and wonderful career in avaition, and the Spirit of St. Louis is now hanging in the Air and Space museum downtown, where it has a prominent place in the main hall. 

A couple of years ago, I took an extended lunch hour at work and walked over to the museum to pay a little visit to Mr. Lindbergh's airplane. The day of my visit just happened to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the flight. There was nothing to commemorate the anniversary, and I seemed to be the only one there who was aware of the significance of the date. So I took a few pictures and started to leave when, even though the airplane is suspended from the ceiling up above the crowd, I'd swear on a stack of Flying magazines that I saw a certain persistent little kid sitting in the cockpit with a big grin on his face, waving at me out of the window...


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## Howzitbroke (Jun 1, 2005)

Hey MB just happened to stumble into this commuting and touring about a week ago and want to thank you for all you are sharing. It has been nice to see the world through the eyes of someone who obviously appreciates and enjoys. It truly is the simple things that should carry us through the days. I stop in often and check out the photos. Thanks. Rich in Kentucky. Time to ride.


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## Gripped (Nov 27, 2002)

MB1 said:


> Oh who, oh wow, oh wow!


Out in McMinnville, OR, the Evergreen Aviation Museum has a Blackbird. I went there recently but only took emulsion photos which are still waiting to be developed. It's also got the Spruce Goose. It might be a nice ride out there with the proper route -- plus you could stop for wine tastings ...


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## SCW (Mar 19, 2005)

Howzitbroke said:


> Hey MB just happened to stumble into this commuting and touring about a week ago and want to thank you for all you are sharing. It has been nice to see the world through the eyes of someone who obviously appreciates and enjoys. It truly is the simple things that should carry us through the days. I stop in often and check out the photos. Thanks. Rich in Kentucky. Time to ride.


I agree, this forum seems to be about simple things like lunch, fun rides and pictures. It's a nice change in here. WTH!! That's not elevator music in the background is it??


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## Fred(NotFred) (May 24, 2004)

*So, how do you ride to the museum?*

Can you get to it from the W&OD?


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

*Best post yet.*

Nice shots MB. I love airplanes even though I drive ships, but I do drive aircraft carriers. Anyone passing through Pensacola should check out the Naval Aviation museum. The riding was decent there as well as long as you can take the humidity and bugs.


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## CycleBatten (Sep 28, 2004)

Hey, MB or any other guys in the DC area. Have you ever been to College Park Airport in College Park, MD? It has a nice little museum as I remember and they have a pretty decent little restaurant also. It's really small, but it's the oldest continuously running airport in the country.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*I am not sure it is safe.*



Fred(NotFred) said:


> Can you get to it from the W&OD?


Just take the W&OD Trail to 28 and go south around 6 miles then follow the signs. Perhaps early on a Sunday morning otherwise 28 is just too busy and under construction so for many sections there is no shoulder.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

CycleBatten said:


> Hey, MB or any other guys in the DC area. Have you ever been to College Park Airport in College Park, MD? It has a nice little museum as I remember and they have a pretty decent little restaurant also. It's really small, but it's the oldest continuously running airport in the country.


One of the local MUTs runs right past it (Northwest Branch trail?). We have been by it many times.


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## KenB (Jul 28, 2004)

*Willow Grove, PA*

My wife snapped this one of the Blue Angles as they flew over my inlaw's house last week.


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## Gregory Taylor (Mar 29, 2002)

*The Restaurant is the "94th Aero Squadron"*



CycleBatten said:


> Hey, MB or any other guys in the DC area. Have you ever been to College Park Airport in College Park, MD? It has a nice little museum as I remember and they have a pretty decent little restaurant also. It's really small, but it's the oldest continuously running airport in the country.


The food is just okay...the ambiance is pretty neat. Faux WWI aerodrome. The bike trail goes around the airport. 

Post 9/11, College Park Airport is in a world of hurt. They were pretty much shut down for a while, and I don't know if the restrictions have been lifted. It is on the outskirts of DC, and thus a concern for security. Gotta watch those stealth Cessnas and Beechcrafts, you know.


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