One of the virtues of living in the DC area is the close proximity it provides to the Smithsonian. Although I seldom get out to the Air and Space Annex at the Udvar-Hazy Center it's always enjoyable when I do. Yesterday my brother-in-law, who is visiting from out of town, and I spent several hours wandering the place and oohing and aahing at the historic aircraft. Here are a few photos of what's on display, for you aviation buffs. Here's Part 1.
An F4U Corsair with the iconic gull wing design hangs at eye level, right at the end of the entry concourse. Hard to miss, easy to appreciate.
A one-off: In the mid 1970's, NASA developed the Oblique Wing Research Aircraft, a small remotely-controlled aircraft to investigate the aerodynamics and flight characteristics of oblique wings. Its asymmetrical wing can rotate between 60 and 90 degrees around a center point on the fuselage.
Moving even farther afield from fixed wing aircraft, here's a CH-46E "Sea Knight" helicopter (also known as the "Phrog"). Shiny!
Next to it are a venerable Bell UH-1H "Huey" and AH1 "Cobra".
Stepping back in time, you can find the Bell X1 "Glamorous Glennis" piloted by Chuck Yeager when he became the first person to break the sound barrier.
If Leonardo da Vinci had had a lawn mower he'd probably have invented this. Since he didn't, NASA had to do it later.
NASA also invented this little bird.
Every tile on the thing is individually numbered. NASA can trace the pedigree and ancestry of each one. You can clearly see the streaks made as hot material ablated during reentry.
This is Friendship 7, John Glenn's Mercury capsule, relocated from the main Air and Space Museum building on the Mall some time back. Seen up close it looks pretty primitive.
This is a very rare Nazi Heinkel He 219 "Eagle Owl" night fighter/interceptor, still undergoing restoration. The antennas sticking off the front were an early German radar system and have only recently (within the past couple weeks) been re-added. It was also the first operational military aircraft to feature an ejection seat for the pilot and the first German WWII plane with a tricycle landing gear design.
The Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt", or "Jug". A volunteer docent told us the story that among the people at Republic the joke was that if you built a runway that circled the equator, Republic could build a plane heavy enough that the runway would still be too short. This one is on display in the shadow of a more famous / infamous aircraft...
... the "Enola Gay", the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare.
Also under the EG's protective wingspan is a P-38 "Lightning", made by Lockheed.
An F4U Corsair with the iconic gull wing design hangs at eye level, right at the end of the entry concourse. Hard to miss, easy to appreciate.
A one-off: In the mid 1970's, NASA developed the Oblique Wing Research Aircraft, a small remotely-controlled aircraft to investigate the aerodynamics and flight characteristics of oblique wings. Its asymmetrical wing can rotate between 60 and 90 degrees around a center point on the fuselage.
Moving even farther afield from fixed wing aircraft, here's a CH-46E "Sea Knight" helicopter (also known as the "Phrog"). Shiny!
Next to it are a venerable Bell UH-1H "Huey" and AH1 "Cobra".
Stepping back in time, you can find the Bell X1 "Glamorous Glennis" piloted by Chuck Yeager when he became the first person to break the sound barrier.
If Leonardo da Vinci had had a lawn mower he'd probably have invented this. Since he didn't, NASA had to do it later.
NASA also invented this little bird.
Every tile on the thing is individually numbered. NASA can trace the pedigree and ancestry of each one. You can clearly see the streaks made as hot material ablated during reentry.
This is Friendship 7, John Glenn's Mercury capsule, relocated from the main Air and Space Museum building on the Mall some time back. Seen up close it looks pretty primitive.
This is a very rare Nazi Heinkel He 219 "Eagle Owl" night fighter/interceptor, still undergoing restoration. The antennas sticking off the front were an early German radar system and have only recently (within the past couple weeks) been re-added. It was also the first operational military aircraft to feature an ejection seat for the pilot and the first German WWII plane with a tricycle landing gear design.
The Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt", or "Jug". A volunteer docent told us the story that among the people at Republic the joke was that if you built a runway that circled the equator, Republic could build a plane heavy enough that the runway would still be too short. This one is on display in the shadow of a more famous / infamous aircraft...
... the "Enola Gay", the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare.
Also under the EG's protective wingspan is a P-38 "Lightning", made by Lockheed.
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