Air & Space Museum

Ack! (And I mean that in a Bloom County Opus way)

What's this? Bill the Cat masquerading as Pete Duniho? G

It's been a few years since I've been to DC and the Smithsonian, can't
wait to check out the U-H annex. Last time I was there the Enola Gay
exhibit was dumbed down to just displaying the 60ft fuselage and a
historical perspective on the A-bomb. Don't know what all the fuss over
this exhibit was about - IMO it was very low-key and respectful. I'd
like to see the EG complete as it is now like Bock's Car at the AF
Museum in Dayton. (Got a personal tour there a few years ago from the
colonel whose Saratoga I ferried out from CT)

Of all the museums I've been to: AZ's Pima A&S, Champlin Fighter
Museum, NY's Intrepid Air & Space Museum, American Airpower Museum,
National Warplane Museum, FL's Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola and
Flying Tigers Resto Museum, RI's Quonset Air Museum, the New England
Air Museum here in CT - all have impressed me with their acft displays
because (most) weren't over-restored and shiny but looked more or less
as they served. My goal is to eventually hit all the major museums in
the US. I guess that leaves Weeks' Fantasy of Flight, Planes of Fame,
CAF museum in Midland TX, and PA's Mid-Atlantic Air Museum. Which
others have I missed?

GS wrote:
By coincidence, I was just at both of them this past Sunday.

There is enough stuff in either to keep you busy for two or three days
each. How did you manage to do both in one day?

On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 21:05:26 -0500, DCMacLean
wrote:

I'm going to be in Washington for a few days next month. I have
limited time and would like some opinions re the two Air & Space Museum
sites -- at the Mall vs at Dulles. Since I won't have time to do both
sites, which would be the better. We will have a couple of kids with us
also.

For a hard-core aviation nut, no question that the Udvar Hazy annex is
the place to be. But if you can do only the one, then I think you're
better off at the main musuem on the Mall. This is the most visited
museum in the world, and not only because it offers an air-conditioned
respite from DC in summer. It's much more of a theme park, while the
U-H annex is basically a hangar full of warbirds and important *types*
of civilian planes. There's an Imax both places, with kids and adults
queueing up for it, but the kids likely will enjoy even more the WWI
airfield and the aircraft carrier deck at the Mall museum. The
galleries are designed for visitors instead of being limited to
walkways. There's a full-bore food facility (just box lunches at U-H,
at least when I was there). And of course you can move on to another
museum when the kids tire of it, whereas at U-H you are in "edge city"
as it is called, endless motels and business parks and no sidewalks.

Either way, an experience not to be missed.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email: usenet AT danford DOT net

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
In Search of Lost Time: www.readingproust.com

Cub Driver wrote:

For a hard-core aviation nut, no question that the Udvar Hazy annex is
the place to be.

I agree - at least as far as "big" goes. Most important "firsts" are still
downtown, though, and I don't know of any plans to bring SpaceShip1 or
Voyager to Udvar-Hazy. Nonetheless, to get within a couple feet of the
Blackbird, Enterprise, Concorde and Enola Gay is impressive at U-H.

There's a full-bore food facility (just box lunches at U-H,
at least when I was there).

This has changed. The old Subway box lunch is gone while a new full-service
McDonald's has opened next door to the museum shop.

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/TknoFlyer
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://spf.pobox.com
____________________

"John T" wrote in message
m...
Cub Driver wrote:

For a hard-core aviation nut, no question that the Udvar Hazy annex is
the place to be.

I agree - at least as far as "big" goes. Most important "firsts" are
still downtown, though, and I don't know of any plans to bring SpaceShip1
or Voyager to Udvar-Hazy. Nonetheless, to get within a couple feet of the
Blackbird, Enterprise, Concorde and Enola Gay is impressive at U-H.

Speaking of Space Ship 1 does anybody know how the exhaust cone got
crunched? It is very obvious with it hanging up so high.

Dave Stadt wrote:
"John T" wrote in message
m...
Cub Driver wrote:
For a hard-core aviation nut, no question that the Udvar Hazy annex is
the place to be.
I agree - at least as far as "big" goes. Most important "firsts" are
still downtown, though, and I don't know of any plans to bring SpaceShip1
or Voyager to Udvar-Hazy. Nonetheless, to get within a couple feet of the
Blackbird, Enterprise, Concorde and Enola Gay is impressive at U-H.

Speaking of Space Ship 1 does anybody know how the exhaust cone got
crunched? It is very obvious with it hanging up so high.



I dunno, but I suspect we can find out. It was sitting out at Hazy
completely wrapped in a blue tarp for a while (although the shape was
rather distictive so you knew what it was). I'll have to ask around.

In article ,
Ron Natalie wrote:

Dave Stadt wrote:
"John T" wrote in message
m...
Cub Driver wrote:
For a hard-core aviation nut, no question that the Udvar Hazy annex is
the place to be.
I agree - at least as far as "big" goes. Most important "firsts" are
still downtown, though, and I don't know of any plans to bring SpaceShip1
or Voyager to Udvar-Hazy. Nonetheless, to get within a couple feet of the
Blackbird, Enterprise, Concorde and Enola Gay is impressive at U-H.

Speaking of Space Ship 1 does anybody know how the exhaust cone got
crunched? It is very obvious with it hanging up so high.



I dunno, but I suspect we can find out. It was sitting out at Hazy
completely wrapped in a blue tarp for a while (although the shape was
rather distictive so you knew what it was). I'll have to ask around.

The story is that the cone was dented on the original flight to 328 Kft;
it was repaired and stiffened in subsequent flights. It was restored to
the dented condition, to make it "authentic" -- to represent the way it
was after the first 328 Kft flight.

Yeah, and it's a McStarbuck's, too. The name says McDonalds, but the coffee
shop across from the restaurant has lattes, premium coffee and pastries just
like Starbucks, and near their prices, too. I actually thought it was good,
and I was happy to see something a little upscale, without being
ridiculously priced.

There's a full-bore food facility (just box lunches at U-H,
at least when I was there).

This has changed. The old Subway box lunch is gone while a new
full-service McDonald's has opened next door to the museum shop.

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/TknoFlyer
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://spf.pobox.com
____________________

John T wrote:
Cub Driver wrote:
For a hard-core aviation nut, no question that the Udvar Hazy annex is
the place to be.

I agree - at least as far as "big" goes. Most important "firsts" are still
downtown, though, and I don't know of any plans to bring SpaceShip1 or
Voyager to Udvar-Hazy. Nonetheless, to get within a couple feet of the
Blackbird, Enterprise, Concorde and Enola Gay is impressive at U-H.

SpaceShip 1 was actually at Hazy under a tarp for a while before it was
transported downtown. The White Knight is still being contracted out
by Rutan's folks and it remains to be seen if it will be remated with
SS1 if/when the latter arrives at Hazy. Voyager has a rather unique
form factor making it the perfect thing to hang over the visitor
services desk downtown, so it's likely so stay.

The neat thing about Hazy, is that it's not that it has neat aircraft
but it has neat instances of the neat aircraft...not just B-29, the
Enola Gay, not just a Vega, the Winnie Mae, not just a variez, Rutan's
ez. etc...


There's a full-bore food facility (just box lunches at U-H,
at least when I was there).

This has changed. The old Subway box lunch is gone while a new full-service
McDonald's has opened next door to the museum shop.


Yeah upscale McDonald's at highly upscaled prices. We can give you
some restaurant recommendations off-site nearby (much to the chagrin
of the profit making arm of the Smithsonian).

In case you haven't got the picture yet from all the previous posts... you
can't go wrong with either choice. I lived in the DC area for 3.5 years.
Been to the mall museums multiple times, saw U-H shortly after it opened
(and shortly before moving away). They are both fabulous. It was before I
started flying myself (but the seed had been planted many years before).

Downtown, one of my biggest beefs was the crowds. There are a lot of
museums (all great, and if you have interests outside aviation and mucho
time... ya gotta go to the mall). U-H was brand new when I visited, and the
crowds were more reasonable, and that made some difference for me. Maybe
it's busier now... maybe because of the "remote" location it only attracts
the harder core aviation buffs... I don't know. What I do know is walking
in and seeing a blackbird laid out in all it's splendor before me, along
with countless incredible examples of aviation history, and being able to
walk up close to them (man, what I'd give to sit in a few cockpits) was
pretty damn cool.

To go back to the beginning and the only critical point of my post... you
can't go wrong with either. Just go and enjoy. You won't be disappointed.

"John T" wrote in message
m...
Cub Driver wrote:

For a hard-core aviation nut, no question that the Udvar Hazy annex is
the place to be.

I agree - at least as far as "big" goes. Most important "firsts" are
still downtown, though, and I don't know of any plans to bring SpaceShip1
or Voyager to Udvar-Hazy. Nonetheless, to get within a couple feet of the
Blackbird, Enterprise, Concorde and Enola Gay is impressive at U-H.

There's a full-bore food facility (just box lunches at U-H,
at least when I was there).

This has changed. The old Subway box lunch is gone while a new
full-service McDonald's has opened next door to the museum shop.

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/TknoFlyer
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://spf.pobox.com
____________________