Hello! Welcome to A Sampling Bee! Today, I share with you our trip to the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA. If you love planes and their history, this is the place to visit. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center consists of two huge hangars. There is the Boeing Aviation Hangar and the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar. These hangars display thousands of aviation and space artifacts.
This Museum is one of nineteen Smithsonian Museums. At the National Air and Space Museum, you can see exhibits such as Business Aviation, Cold War Aviation, Human Spaceflight, Korea and Vietnam Aviation and Modern Military Aviation. To name a few. Some of the planes on exhibit are a Lockhead SR-71, a Concorde and the space shuttle Discovery. The center also has an IMAX theater and an Observation Tower which gives you a 360-degree bird's-eye view of the surrounding areas. Visible from the tower is Dulles International Airport. Feel your tummy start to growl while your looking at all the planes? No worries.. There is a McDonald's right in the museum!
The Air and Space Museum's information:
14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, Virginia 20151
(703)-572-4118
Admission: FREE
Parking: $15
IMAX Theater
Observation Tower
Gift Shop
Baby Changing Rooms available
Handicapped accessible
Restrooms available on each floor
Mcdonald's
Hours:
10 am - 5:30 pm Everyday
Here is the Observation Tower and a photo taken from inside the Tower. Facing towards Dulles International Airport. It was really awesome to see the planes landing and taking off.
Here is the Lockhead SR- 17 Blackbird that my husband was so thrilled about! Its amazing to know that this plane made it from Los Angeles to Washington, DC in one hour and 4 minutes! Fast!
Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver
U.S. Air Force Plane
The Space Shuttle, Discovery. To me, this got my attention the most. It was so cool to see. This space shuttle was so much bigger than I imagined and it was so cool to see what the outside of the shuttle was made out of. Truly fascinating.
While on the lower level, look up! You'll see a bunch of planes!
Our visit was a lot of fun. It was so amazing to see how planes have developed over the years. It was also to be in a place where part of one of the Transformer movies was filmed. The museum has a few pieces on display that you can look at. Including the script, costumes and The All Spark "Sliver". My sons loved sitting inside of a small plane where they got to explore all of the buttons and switches. If you visit the museum during the week, there is a observation deck where you can see workers working on airplanes in the shop. Don't forget to grab a souvenir on the way out from the Museum Store!
The museum was clean and the employees were helpful and friendly. There is a lot to see and do at the Air and Space Museum in Virginia. If you are ever in the area, its a must see. Especially for plane lovers.
For more information visit: http://airandspace.si.edu/visit/udvar-hazy-center/
~Melissa~
What a great experience, my son was a huge fan of air planes, We want to go there someday
ReplyDeletePlease do! It's an awesome experience :)
DeletePlanes have always fascinated me, they are one of the best inventions we have! Thanks for sharing your experience. I would love to visit here with the kids and just learn more about airplanes in general.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elizabeth! Planes really are fascinating. I can't believe how much they've changed over the years.
DeleteOh my kids would love something like this. Especially my boys. I wish I wasn't so far away. This looks like such a great way to spend a weekend! - Jeanine
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a wonderful place to visit for a family trip. My son would just love all those planes. We will have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteI have been in an air musuem, but not for such a long time. This sounds like a great place to take the family.
ReplyDeleteSo neat! I also want to recommend the World War II Museum in New Orleans. It has a lot of 1940's era planes from the USA and England.
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Oh my goodness! This looks like a very cool place to visit! My boys would be so ecstatic to be there. I have to check how to get there!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool place to visit with cousins, I do love visiting historical museum like this.
ReplyDeleteThis is my dad's favorite museum in the world. He is an aerospace engineer, and he took his granddaughter, my teenager, to visit it this past summer. I'm so glad she got to do that with him.
ReplyDeleteThis would be a cool place to visit. My husband has spent his career in aerospace and would really love to check this out.
ReplyDeleteThis looks such a fun place to visit. I am adding to our list of places to visit when we get out that way!
ReplyDeleteOmg what a neat meusum! Looks like a place my hubby would want to visit!
ReplyDeleteI've been to the Air & Space museum in D.C. and it was totally awesome! It looks like you had a great time at this one.
ReplyDeleteHow cool! I live in Singapore so that's way out for me, but what a great place to visit!
ReplyDeleteI love going here with the kids in the summer. So much to see and learn. Great photos
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool! Wish I lived closer to go in person, but your photos put me there!
ReplyDeleteHow fun! Going to the Smithsonian is on my bucket list, I would love to be able to go in the next couple of years with my kids. What a fun learning experience! Thanks for sharing this info and great photos.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving this! I've always wanted to go. Without posts like this I may never know how awesome it is.
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