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My favorite museum. My son lives in the Fairfax, VA area so we get to visit often. Udvar-Hazy is great as well.

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Scott D. Hansen
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WOOSH NAR Section #558

My wife and I have been visiting the Air and Space museum for years — me on business trips, my wife reported to a DC office of the National Park Service. In the 90s we took our kids to DC for Spring Break. The huge Star Wars traveling exhibit was there. My kids went nuts! (OK, we did too! )

On a road trip in 2018 to NSL, we dropped down to Virginia to see ZZ Top at Wolf Trap, and took in the Udvar-Hazy museum. Beautiful museum!

That was the ultimate road trip. Stopped in Dayton, did eRockets Build Night (and met Mr. A Fish Named Wallyum, YORF celebrity ), visited Air Force Museum, then on to Niagara Falls, NSL in Geneseo, friends in Myrtle Beach, night life in Nashville. Total miles — 5500, thru 17 states. Highly Recommended!

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Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

Sounds like a real blast of a trip.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Thanks for posting that. I didn't know timed passes were going to be required. I'm really interested in seeing the new museum.

I had heard at the outset that a major goal was to make the entry area more amenable to event gatherings. I understand that this has become a focus of numerous museums as a way to generate income, but not so focused on sharing the artifacts.

I love the Smithsonian's collection but have long been disappointed in their management of it. Their model rocketry collection is fantastic, but what they display is abysmal. Truly terrible.

Years ago The Rocket Doctor (Ken Montanye) and I were in the Udvar Hazy location with Vern and Gleda Estes. The entire model rocketry collection on display was in a cabinet adjacent to the space shuttle. We toured it with Vern and Gleda and were aghast/amazed/embarassed that the display included not a single Estes item. Not a single one! Nothing Model Missiles. Nothing Carlisle. All of which are items the museum owns, and keeps locked away in storage. Vern and Gleda were their usual completely polite selves but Ken and I were really upset.

After that astonishing visit Ken and I and a few others talked to the museum about bettering their display. The bottom line was that we were told if we raised $50,000 to purchase a new display cabinet they "would consider" creating such a display. If we purchased two we would have a better chance. Honestly, we felt like we were being mugged.

And that is why Bill Stine eventually worked so hard to find a museum willing to host the U.S. Model Rocketry Museum. That's why the Stine and Estes and Piester collections are all going someplace other than the Smithsonian.

So, thanks again for posting the reopening info. Even with everything I've said, I still love going there and will be excited to see the revised galleries.

Steve

I remembered the model rocketry display was dismal back in the early 80's when there, but it was the first time I ever saw Enerjet F67 and E24 29mm engines.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

I am fortunate that my wife likes aircraft museums. I figured I was pushing it by spending a day and a half at AF museum in Dayton, and my wife claimed it was barely enough time. If you stopped and read all the displays, I think you could be there a week.

We timed it perfectly. The restoration of the B-17 Memphis Belle was unveiled on 5/17/2018, my birthday, we were there 2 days after the unveiling. The exhibit was crowded, but we had no issues getting views and pictures from every angle. Perhaps the most beautifully restored aircraft I have ever seen. And the storyboards were incredible. I think I could have spent the better part of the day just at that exhibit.

And then there is the XB-70 Valkyrie ... I knew it was huge, and it still surprised me.

__________________
Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

I was amazed at the sheer size of the XB-70 Valkyrie as well.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Back in 2008, I managed to visit the big three within a couple months. I went to NARAM 50 in Virginia -I arrived a couple days early and toured Udvar Hazy (as well as the nearby Civil War battlefield). About a month later, business trip to Cincinatti - we finished up a day early and I volunteered to drive up to Dayton for the USAF Museum (being fellow Boeing engineers - they were all aerospace nerds ).
Then about a month after that, I had to go to Washington DC for an incident investigation at the NTSB. Again, arrived a day early and went to the Smithsonian Air & Space on the Capitol Mall. I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite among the three, but if I had to, I'd probably give a nod to Udvar Hazy.

I must admit, I probably don't give enough credit to the Seattle Museum of Flight. I'm a member of the museum so I can go there for no cost whenever I feel like it, and before I retired I routinely went there for work related special events (GE Aero Engines held their Christmas party there every year). Besides, how special can a museum be if they have a display I put together

Yes it is. It was there at Dayton back when I took the whole family there in 1999. We spent three days going through the museum. THe wife tolerated all 5 kids (me and my 4 boys) spending so much time there.