Search results

Apart from that I found the rest of the “Space” hangar just a tiny bit underwhelming, apart from two things that in their own way blew me away. First, an unused Mercury capsule. This capsule was built for the final Mercury mission, but the Mercury programme was scrapped in favour of the Gemini...

Now for the “Space” hangar. Obviously pride of place goes to the Space Shuttle Discovery. The tour guide said something interesting: he told us that it is quite deliberate that Atlantis, in Florida, is set up as if it’s in orbit (with the cargo bay doors open, for example), and that Discovery...

A couple of photos of the “Restoration” hangar. This hangar does exactly what it says on the tin: it’s where old aircraft and other artefacts are restored.

On the “civilian” side of the hangar, there were two aircraft that I was particularly thrilled to see. First, an actual Concorde. I’d never set eyes on one before today (which makes it the 1357th amazing artefact that I have set eyes on for the first time on this trip – but it’s no less...

Let’s start with the “Aviation” hangar, which is by far the largest of the three hangars (though they’re all huge). As you walk in, to the left are civilian and commercial aircraft, to the right are military aircraft, and pride of place in the centre is a Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird. I don’t know...

The sight that confronted me upon entering was overwhelming, if not intimidating. Wow! Thanks so much to all the AFFers who encouraged me to go – I was seriously considering giving Udvar-Hazy a miss, and I would have missed out on such a treat if I’d done so! I turned to the information...

I awoke to discover that the outside temperature was minus 3. This was the picture of the winter-wonderland-slash-bus-depot from my window. I decided to be brave and catch public transport to Udvar-Hazy, given that doing so would probably save me at least a hundred Australian dollars and...

Thus endeth my time at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum! I’d basically seen all the displays that were on offer, and after spending too much time and money in the souvenir shop (in my defence, a lot of what I bought were gifts…) I headed out. Despite being fully aware that the definition of...

I can feel myself running out of puff as I write this, but the other aspect of the “America by Air” exhibition that I really enjoyed were the displays about all aspects of commercial aviation in America, from the early days when commercial aviation was saved by the government decision to deliver...

Probably the highlight of the afternoon, though, was the “America by Air” exhibition. It was a history of commercial aviation in the USA, and was truly fascinating. Pride of place was given to the many iconic, history-making aircraft which were hanging or parked: a Boeing 247 from 1933...

The penultimate exhibition was “We All Fly”, which is devoted to civilian and non-commercial aviation in all its forms. This famous ultralight saved an endangered species of geese by teaching them where to fly for their migration! A couple of other planes in the display:

After lunch was all about aviation. First stop was the Wright Brothers display. Pride of place, obviously, was the actual, original 1903 Wright Flyer – the first aeroplane in the world to fly! There was a major display of all things Wright Brothers, including detailed biographical information...

The next room I visited was the "One World Connected" room (and no, it was not about the airline alliance!). The theme of the exhibition was communications technology, and how space travel and satellite technology has revolutionised communcation, especially communication between different...

The next stop was the “Destination Moon” room. Was I all mooned out as a result of my time at Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers? Are you kidding? One of the first things you see after you walk in is Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 Mercury capsule and spacesuit – Shepard was the first American in...

Across from the Planets exhibition was the “Nation of Speed” room. It’s focussed on humanity’s quest for speed on land, water and in the air. I must admit that I don’t exactly consider myself a “rev-head”, but it was still interesting and fascinating in parts, even though I didn’t quite study...

After the tour, the first room I went to was the “Exploring the Planets” exhibition. Of all the exhibitions in the museum, this was the one I spent the most time in. Read the very first post in this trip report: planetary exploration was one of the huge things that made me a space geek in the...

I woke up to see today’s weather: The day began with a serendipitous failure. Let’s start with the “failure” part. Upon arriving in Washington DC, the Wallet app on my iPhone prompted me to install the DC public transport app, SmarTrip. I did so, and loaded $10 on it. It was very seamless and...

Dinner tonight was a treat. I asked the lovely people at Reception for advice on somewhere within walking distance and they recommended “Republic Cantina”, which is about a 4-minute walk away. I walked in to find the hippest, coolest, most with-it, trendiest place I’ve been to in a long, long...

Reside NoMa by Wyndham, Washington DC. 4 night stay. Cost: A$303.91 plus A$450 AmEx Platinum travel credit. In case you’re wondering, I booked my Washington accommodation early in 2024 using my 2023/24 AmEx Platinum travel credit, and my Titusville accommodation later in 2024 using my 2024/25...

American Airlines domestic First class does not exactly have a stellar reputation, so I had set my expectations low before this flight, which took about 2 hours. We boarded the 737-800 on time, despite the presence of 5 or so burly TSA officers who wanted to see our boarding passes before we...