National Air and Space Museum Photo Dump

"Racescort666" (Racescort666) 05/27/2015 at 10:49 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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Photo dump of a bunch of the pictures I took at the Air and Space Museum near Dulles (not the one on the Mall in DC). If anyone has any questions about the aircraft I took pictures of or why I took a particular picture, ask in the comments. All photos taken with my iPotato.

WhiskeyGolf > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 10:57

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Nice photos! It’s always nice to be reminded of my trip to DC. What other aviation museums would be good to check out in the US?

Neverenoughtime > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 10:59

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Great pics. I’m guessing that’s the Udvar-Hazy center. I went to the main museum many times as a kid, but haven’t been in a long time. Looks like we need to make the trip.

Racescort666 > WhiskeyGolf 05/27/2015 at 10:59

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While I haven’t been there, the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio I hear is really good. They have the only remaining XB-70 which is huge.

Racescort666 > Neverenoughtime 05/27/2015 at 11:02

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Yep! It was really cool for a space and av geek like myself. Lots of very cool stuff there.

McMike > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 11:14

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Can’t leave it alone.

BrainForest > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 11:16

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This is one of my favorite places on Earth, although I haven’t been since the early 90’s. While my youth group was making stops in all the Smithsonian buildings, I lost the group and stayed here for hours and hours.

Lol, I was a bit crazy that day, because after fully realizing that the group was gone, I went and rode the Metro around town, just to see what it was like. I got back the Mall and met our bus like nothing happened!

EL_ULY > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 11:19

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cooooooooooool!!!!!!!

ttyymmnn > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 11:19

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That’s a tough room to photograph in, not just because of the light but because it’s such a target-rich environment. They’ve also got some new additions since I was there last summer , notably Baumgartner’s capsule and the F-35. I love the panoramas. It never occurred to me to take one of those.

WhiskeyGolf > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 11:26

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Yes that was the one I was thinking of! Perhaps I will make it a road trip spot.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 11:34

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Nothing miniature about that gun. Entire can of whoopass.

Racescort666 > McMike 05/27/2015 at 11:40

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That is exactly the reason I took this picture. I even tried to get the pose in front of the Blackbird right but I couldn’t quite get it.

Racescort666 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 05/27/2015 at 11:42

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I suppose it’s mini compared to this but yeah.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 13:46

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What is this silver beauty parked in the shadow of the Dash 80?

nick > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 14:00

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which is mini compared to this. the GAU-8 from the A-10

Racescort666 > nick 05/27/2015 at 14:17

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The M134 is a direct miniaturized descendant of the M61, that’s why it’s called a “minigun”

Racescort666 > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 05/27/2015 at 14:18

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A racing plane or some kind. I would have stopped and read every plaque but I didn't want to test the lady's patience.

nick > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 14:24

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Size matters, my friend. the more lead you put downrange, the better.

the sweet, sweet, sound of BBRRTTTTTTTTT

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 14:25

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I did some more investigating after I asked and came up with it being the Beck-Mahoney Sorceress . Turns out it was so good that other competitors worked to get it banned from racing.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > nick 05/27/2015 at 14:35

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But deeper. Depleted uranium rounds. Devastating. I heard somewhere that the recoil will slow the airplane down.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 14:36

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One of my favorites at Udvar Hazy is Bob Hoover’s Shrike.

user314 > WhiskeyGolf 05/27/2015 at 14:36

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Pima Air & Space out in Tucson is another. Not only is their collection awesome, they run the only regular tours of the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan.

burntartichoke > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 14:41

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Awesome shots! I do believe it is time for me to go back now that I have a DLSR instead of a point and shoot and the wife has a friend in DC so good cover story...hmmm

Racescort666 > burntartichoke 05/27/2015 at 14:56

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Totally worth it. The whole time I was wishing I had a better camera. Some of the details of aircraft are so interesting and some of them even have authentic battle damage!

I’m a huge nerd and my gf laughed at me for quoting Kung Fu Panda but being able to get some good closeups with a decent lens would be awesome.

burntartichoke > Racescort666 05/27/2015 at 15:12

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I had an old canon powershot with a custom firmware but that did not do justice. I was there in 2011 when they still had the Enterprise which was cool to see but the Discovery would be awesome to see in person in its current state. I only had a couple of hours before my flight so I didn’t have the time to go through it at the pace I wanted to and the camera battery died so I am dying to go back. Did you see anything interesting in their restoration area? There was a Helldiver that looks to be done now as well as a Sikorsky JRS-1 hull wrapped in plastic when I was there. The Kikka was also wrapped up awaiting restoration. It is really cool that they have the observation area for the restoration as getting a tour of the hangers was a little difficult. My dad has a couple of photos of when he toured them back in 1991.

Racescort666 > burntartichoke 05/27/2015 at 15:19

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They weren’t working on anything while I was there (Memorial Day) but they had a WWII vintage bomber that I had trouble identifying. The Helldiver is now on display, I remember seeing it.

I absolutely would have taken more and better pictures of Discovery. Very cool to see it up close.

I’m hoping that at some point SpaceX loans them a Dragon to put on display because that would be cool to see the differences in development.

facw > WhiskeyGolf 05/27/2015 at 16:32

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As others have said, the USAF Museum in Dayton is the best outside of the DC area (though I think you may need to be a US citizen to see their experimental and presidential hangars, which are on base).

The Museum of Flight in Seattle has a decent collection including the first 747 and 737.

I haven’t been there, but I’d like to visit the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Portland, Oregon to see the Spruce Goose sometime.