Today's adventure started with an hour drive from Ft Meade to just south of Dulles airport, right at 60 miles to the Smithsonian Institute Air and Space Museum - Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center. This museum is a cousin to the one in Washington DC that is closed for renovation. We are glad this one is open so we could at least see one of them,
The drive was uneventful as we skirted the north side of Washington DC on the way towards Dulles airport. Soon we arrived at the museum just minutes before it opened. The line was forming quickly at the entrance but we processed through security and in we went. There is no charge for admission at the Smithsonian Institute museums.
The museum is laid out in a tee shape. The long "horizontal" section has about as many aircraft and aircraft-related items packed in there as you could imagine. The center piece of the vertical portion of the tee contains the Space Shuttle Discovery and many other rocket, satellite and space-related displays. There is an IMAX but it was not open unfortunately. Finally there is an observation tower that is over 150 foot in the air and an elevator that takes you up there for a view of Dulles. I took about 150 pictures and will not drown you with them all but will pick a few to show here. The museum is fantastic - a must-see if you enjoy aviation, history and are near Washington DC or Dulles airport.
One of the really cool features greets you when you first enter the museum. They have volunteers live on big screen TV's with two-way audio-video. They also have these located throughout the museum. If you have any question at all you can walk up to one of these TV's and you will be greeted by friendly staff/volunteers virtually who will answer your questions and guide you on your museum visit. What a great idea!
We entered the upper level that gives a good overview of the main area. It is awe inspiring to say the least.
After a quick overview we headed down to the main level of the museum and started our way around. We passed through an area that highlighted propulsion - aircraft engines of all types and sizes.
We then walked the main floor taking in all the beautiful aircraft. There was one whole end that was closed and the aircraft had plastic over them. It looked like they might be cleaning or painting the ceiling.
CH-46E Helicopter
SR-71 Blackbird
Caudron G.4
Assortment of actual satellites
Mobile Quarantine Facility - modified Airstream trailer
The actual Space Shuttle Discovery
Many different rockets on display
Doreen next to Neil Armstrong's space suit
FA-18
Soviet MiG-21
Mercury Capsule Freedom 7
Messerschmitt Me 163 B-1a Komet
The iconic B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" which dropped the nuclear bomb on Japan to end World War II
They have motion flight simulators you can ride in!
Restoration Hangar
They have a separate hangar that is attached and visible from the museum that is used for restorations. There were many different types of craft in there in various stages of restoration.
Great viewing of the hangar
Unknown spacecraft in what looks to be rough shape.
Star Wars T-70 X-Wing Starfighter used Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Observation Deck
We finished up our tour in the Donald D. Engen Observation Tower. You enter the elevator at the first level and ascend (137 ft?) to the seventh level observation deck. There you get a 360 degree view of Dulles airport and the surrounding area. It was a bit overcast when we were there but it was still a great view.
A view of the observation deck from outside
A display of control tower gear
Dulles International Airport
A bird's eye view of the "big ol' brown truck' in the parking lot below!
Tracking an inbound Soutwest Airlines into Dulles.
We spent several hours here but you could literally spend days here if you read every display. This is an awesome museum and I would highly encourage you to stop by with the kiddos and take in the history.
This evening we had dinner with an Iowa Airman and friend of the family from home, Airman First Class Gracie Daniels. Her parents Travis and Angie are great friends. Travis is a Veteran and runs his own communications company. He used to do contracted communications work for us at the Air Guard base. We have tracked Gracie from before enlistment through basic training and technical training school. Luckily we remembered she was stationed here at Fort Meade while we were camping here.
We met Gracie and her friend Nathan at a local sports bar and really enjoyed talking with them and having dinner. It was interesting hearing her talk about how things are in today's active duty Air Force. Gracie has been in two years already! Wow, time flies!
The first opportunity I've had to give Gracie a coin since she enlisted.
Tomorrow we head south to visit four lighthouses, our last tour of this stop.
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