Night At The Museum (For You Aviation Folks)

[eicas]

I know there are some aviation folks here, so I thought I would share. Thru my day job, I had the opportunity recently to attend an after hours coat and tie dinner at the Udvar-Hazy Annex of the Smithsonian. We had the place to ourselves for the entire evening. Dinner, wander to your hearts content with a glass of merlot. Once in a lifetime opportunity. A truly memorable experience.

 

[tnichols]

Extremely cool. F4U gets my vote. Thanks for posting.

 

[Basher]

I had the chance to go just under a decade ago, and I'm so glad I did. I spent an entire day there, but could easily spend a week! Thanks for sharing!

 

[_Windrider_]

I’d love to be alone in there just walking around. I was fortunate as a youth to experience a shuttle landing at Rogers lake. One of my most memorable experiences.

 

[pmclaine]

Love the Corsair.

Great place, when I was there I found my self looking longingly into the restoration bay, fogging up the glass, wondering "Whats in the boxes? Where is the fuselage for those black cross wings?"

 

[_Windrider_]

Love the Corsair.

Great place, when I was there I found my self looking longingly into the restoration bay, fogging up the glass, wondering "Whats in the boxes? Where is the fuselage for those black cross wings?"

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Love that place... Beautiful pictures. Cheers, sirhr

 

[Maggot]

What a great opportunity, thanks for sharing. Only improvement is that you should have had Pinot Noir

 

[Alphatreedog]

So effin jealous . My knowledge is limited on aircraft yet I am attracted like a moth to a flame . It is a near reptilian response not unlike an attraction to water .
I remember when I first saw an F117 . A navy officer had reached out and grabbed me by the shoulder and proceed to tell me " you need to back up " . He pointed out the Airman with the riflr and said " he will shoot you . Apparently I was in moth mode and had pushed up against the velvet rope near the point of toppling the posts . In my defense it is quite cool alluring .

 

[Maggot]

So effin jealous . My knowledge is limited on aircraft yet I am attracted like a moth to a flame . It is a near reptilian response not unlike an attraction to water .
I remember when I first saw an F117 . A navy officer had reached out and grabbed me by the shoulder and proceed to tell me " you need to back up " . He pointed out the Airman with the riflr and said " he will shoot you . Apparently I was in moth mode and had pushed up against the velvet rope near the point of toppling the posts . In my defense it is quite cool alluring .

I knew you were one of the reptilian race....

 

[ArmyJerry]

SWAMPTHING

 

[Redmanss]

I've been there a few times, it is definitely one of my favorite museums in the world, and I've been to a LOT of museums. To get to spend it without the screaming kids on field trips running around would be even better. Did you get a pic of the rather famous B-29 in there? That's my favorite of that museum, although after they got a REAL Space Shuttle instead of the engineless glider is a rather good competitor of that.

It's a perfect place to burn some time on a layover at Dulles, even better to schedule in a long layover there to stretch the legs. I think they still run a shuttle from the main terminal, would have to look that one up.

 

[Alphatreedog]

SWAMPTHING

View attachment 6873039

Wow that frick8n hurts . Reptilian maybe . Swamp thing , no way .

 

[ArmyJerry]

been there , saddened that its located in ground zero we need to move it to kansas.

 

[eicas]

Yes, took LOTS of pics. I managed to convince the wife (who after 30+ years of aviation exposure...isnt normally a “fan”) to attend. In some ways, I think she enjoyed it more than me. I will post a few more up. I didnt know what the level of enthusiasm would be here for it.

The one place we did not have acess to is the actual restoration area. There were a few projects actively going on down there, including what looked like an A-26. The various German experimental items that have been “in process” for the last few years were on the main floor. The wife was amazed with that. Unbelievable technology on their end towards the end of the war.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

The Amphibian (not Reptilian) pictured is the one and only original Creature from the Black Lagoon (AKA The Gill Man), from the picture of the same name.

I had been aware of Udvar-Hazy, but never realized that it was a display hall with restored aircraft. You had yourself one outstanding experience/opportunity.

When I was back in Central NY, we had the Corning Airport and National Wartime Museum, and had a Scouting Awards Dinner inside the the hanger/display hall.

Perpetually underfunded, the aircraft are/were in the process of being moved to another venue when we left NY going on two years ago. There had been daily plane rides over Seneca Lake in Fuddy-Duddy, a fully flying restoration of a B-17G. Alas, that seems to be history, too.

I used to go outside my house a little past 10:00AM most days whenever possible, to see that B-17G go by overhead.

There was also an unrestored Douglas XTB2D-1 out in the weather, an absolutely underappreciated treasure.

Greg

 

[Redmanss]

Some great alternatives to DC area are Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB in Ogden, UT, and the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH. Hill has an amazing collection of ICBMs and nearly every other type of AC you can think of along with its own crown jewel SR-71 Blackbird, and Wright-Patt is even better. I'm sure there's a few others out there, those are the two that I personally know of though. The may not have an Enola Gay, toasted Mercury capsule or the Glamorous Glennis, but the aircraft they have are diverse and still tell amazing stories.

Like most, the things that go real fast or came from other Skunk Works projects draw my attention the most, but what really gets my brain going is looking at an old P-47, P-51, F6F, or F4U and think of the men who flew them in WWII, the old school seat of the pants flying skill they possessed, and the many that went down in them for the sake of the men on the ground and those flying off their wing. I have nothing but the utmost respect for those fallen angel aviators and those who went on to either "regular" lives flying for TWA or the Chuck Yeager types who pushed the limits to help us achieve our seemingly perpetual superiority in the air and beyond. I've been fortunate enough to have met a few of those guys, very cool cats for sure.

 

[Maggot]

Some great alternatives to DC area are Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB in Ogden, UT, and the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH. Hill has an amazing collection of ICBMs and nearly every other type of AC you can think of along with its own crown jewel SR-71 Blackbird, and Wright-Patt is even better. I'm sure there's a few others out there, those are the two that I personally know of though. The may not have an Enola Gay, toasted Mercury capsule or the Glamorous Glennis, but the aircraft they have are diverse and still tell amazing stories.

Like most, the things that go real fast or came from other Skunk Works projects draw my attention the most, but what really gets my brain going is looking at an old P-47, P-51, F6F, or F4U and think of the men who flew them in WWII, the old school seat of the pants flying skill they possessed, and the many that went down in them for the sake of the men on the ground and those flying off their wing. I have nothing but the utmost respect for those fallen angel aviators and those who went on to either "regular" lives flying for TWA or the Chuck Yeager types who pushed the limits to help us achieve our seemingly perpetual superiority in the air and beyond. I've been fortunate enough to have met a few of those guys, very cool cats for sure.

DC has no shortage of great museums, The National Cathedral, Natioanl Arboretum,and if you have a few extra travel minutws, just south on I 95 the is the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico.

Years ago it used to be a great town to visit but now the traffic is absolutely fucked and the whole damn place has turned into a.................................................SWAMP

 

[Dougie308]

I know there are some aviation folks here, so I thought I would share. Thru my day job, I had the opportunity recently to attend an after hours coat and tie dinner at the Udvar-Hazy Annex of the Smithsonian. We had the place to ourselves for the entire evening. Dinner, wander to your hearts content with a glass of merlot. Once in a lifetime opportunity. A truly memorable experience.







[/QUOTE

I got to tour the Paul E. Garber Restoration Facility years ago when they were restoring the Enola Gay and the Serin. Amazing.

 

[jrassy]

Couple pictures I took at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico

 

[eicas]