Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Road Trip Chronicles Vol. 6: National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

So after I spent the night in that creepy campground, I headed out to the fancy new National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA right next to the Dulles Int. airport:
(Udvar-Hazy Center)
My god, there were so many unique planes here.
Arado Ar 234 "Blitz", the worlds first operational jet bomber
Bell Model 30Link, Bell's first helicopter
Tail of the prototype Boeing 707, the 367-80 (this is the plane that Alvin "Tex" Johnston barrel rolled)
Boeing B-29 "Enola Gay"
Space Shuttle Enterprise
North American P-51C "Excalibur III"
Grumman G-22 Gulfhawk
Chance-Vought F4U Corsair
Grumman F6F Hellcat
Darryl Greenamyer's F8F Bearcat Racer
Mignet Flying Flea
Focke-Achgelis FA-330 "Sandpiper" (the FA-330's were rotary wing kites designed to be towed behind U-Boats)
Kawanishi N1K-J "George"
Grumman G-21 "Goose"
Curtiss Gulfhawk
Heinkel He-219 "Uhu"
The man. The myth. The legend. R.A. Bob Hoover's Shrike Commander. (To see an absouloutely amazing video of the type of display he used to do in this aircraft, go HERE.)
I can't remember the exact designation, but this is the biggest radial engine ever made. I think it was bigger than 7000 cubic inches
Northrop N-1M Flying Wing
Kawasaki Ki-45 "Nick"
Vought OS2U "Kingfisher"
Boeing P-26 "Peashooter"
Lockheed P-38 "Lightning"
Curtiss P-40 "Warhawk"
Republic P-47D "Thunderbolt"
The second P-61 "Black Widow" I saw
Pitcairn Autogyro
That big thing in the back is the carburetor for a R-4360 radial engine
Aichi M6A1 Serian
Sikorsky R4
Cessna 180 "Spirit Of Columbus"
Boeing 307 Stratoliner
Wiley Post's Lockheed Vega "Winnie Mae", the plane he used to pioneer presssurization
Dornier Do 335, another plane that made me a bit sad, because it's one of my dad's favorites. Also, this plane is surprisingly big.
And finally, I am an idiot. When I went out to my car to dump my digital camera's memory card onto my laptop, I locked my keys in my car, and had to have Henry's Wrecker Service come and unlock my car.

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