AV8NLVR's Blog

This year I had the chance to visit the two largest aviation museums in the country.  Both are well worth the price of admission.  The Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC has the largest collection of aircraft in the world, and the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona is the largest privately-owned air museum in the world.

Although the National Air & Space Museum is actually in Washington DC near the U.S. Capitol, its most popular attraction is about 30 miles away, on the grounds of the Dulles Airport in northern Virginia - the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex.  This facility opened in 2003 and was designed to house the much larger artifacts of the NASM.  Since it is located at Dulles, planes that are to be donated can just be flown right in.  Their goal is to eventually  have 900 aircraft on display!

The annex was built with private donations, the largest being $65 million from Steven F. Udvar-Hazy.  He is a Hungarian immigrant and businessman who co-founded the largest aircraft leasing company in the world - ILFC - when he predicted that due to the huge cost of jetliners, airlines would have more flexibility if they leased part or all of their fleets.  The idea paid off well, making Hazy one of the richest men in America, on the same list with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Admission to the museum is free, but it costs $12 to enter the parking lot.  The facility is basically shaped like a giant hangar with a curved roof and the planes are arranged on the floor and from the roof.  There are elevated walkways on two levels with an unobstructed view from every spot.  There's a second hangar attached to the main one, and this is called the Space Hangar.  Here, the centerpiece is the Space Shuttle Orbiter "Enterprise".  This was the original prototype that was built in the mid 70s and used for landing tests.  Back then, a reusable spacecraft was so new that nobody knew how well it would work so they carried "Enterprise" up to commercial jetliner altitude on the back of a 747 and released it - allowing it to glide to a landing just like the real space shuttle does.

In the main hangar there are exhibits including the Air France Concorde supersonic jet;  the Boeing Dash-80 (707 prototype);  the B-29 bomber "Enola Gay" that dropped the first atomic bomb;  the Virgin GlobalFlyer, in which Steve Fossett made the first non-stop round-the-world flight; the first jet flown by FedEx; and various military jets including an F-14 Tomcat.  Plus there are hundreds more with plans to significantly grow the collection as well as build additions to the main hangar.

This faciilty also has a mock air traffic control tower.  You ride the elevator to the 7th floor and can look out over the Dulles Airport from the same perspective as a real air traffic control tower.

One plane on display here is the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - the fastest airplane ever built.  Any faster and you'd need a spaceship.  The Blackbird holds both altitude and speed records - and it can photograph a car license plate from 80,000 feet!  The bird thats on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center broke another speed record when it was flown from Palmdale, CA to the Dulles Airport - 68 minutes.  Damn that's fast! 

Meanwhile, 2000 miles to the west lies the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.  This facility is the largest privately-owned museum of its kind in the world, occupying 80 acres with 250 aircraft.  It is adjacent to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, home of the 390th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), affectionately known as "the boneyard".  While the public is not allowed on the base, you can take a bus tour from the museum which gives a look at some of the 4,000 planes they have in there.

Because its in Arizona where rain is not much of a factor, most of the displays are outside.  Its a huge place, meaning lots of walking, and would probably be brutal during the summer in the 100 degree heat.  I was there in the winter just as Wisconsin was digging out from the biggest snowstorm of '07-'08 - it was quite pleasant with temps in the 70s and DRY.  :)

The Pima Museum has mostly military aircraft, many of which aren't at the NASM yet including the B-52 bombers and one of the original presidential transports (Eisenhower's "Air Force One").  Admission for the museum and bus tour of AMARG cost around $20.

I would highly recommend either one or both of these museums as a place to visit if you make Washington or Arizona part of your travels.