Enterprise's Last Days At Udvar-Hazy

Although I've posted several photographs to my Flickr account from the Discovery events during the week of April 15, 2012, I thought I'd share a more diverse set of images to record not just the Shuttle Discovery's arrival but Enterprise's departure and the atmosphere of the celebration and fly-by. I'll probably spread these over two or three different posts. I hope you enjoy this account of a little piece of history.

Sunday, April 15, 2012
National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Contrail Sculpture

We decided to visit the Udvar-Hazy Center for one last view of Space Shuttle Enterprise and to take some photographs to mark the exhibit that would soon fade into history. Not that Enterprise is gone for good. She travels to New York April 27 if the weather holds and will be displayed at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the Hudson intrepidmuseum.org. Still, she's been displayed at the Udvar-Hazy Center for years and we thought we'd take one last visit to say goodbye.

We also wanted to scout the area for the best locations for the Transfer Ceremony for Discovery's delivery to the museum on Thursday of last week. So we packed up the car and traveled from Annapolis, MD to Chantilly, VA. Not my favorite day trip because traffic can be such a pain but well worth the commute to see this museum.

My husband, Sam, and I arrived early in the afternoon and were greeted by the sculpture "Ascent" placed amid the "Wall of Honor". "Ascent" reminds me of the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, VA. I'll have many photographs from Discovery's fly-by of the Memorial in a future post.

Dulles Airport viewed from the Observation Tower

Our first stop was the observation deck to view Dulles Airport, the museum grounds and hunt for signs of preparation for Discovery's arrival. You can tell from the haze, it was an unseasonably warm April day. Despite the haze, we had a good view of Dulles Airport immediately North of the museum. A surprise to me was our visit to the floor under the observation deck for a demonstration of air traffic control. An wonderful volunteer, a pilot and flight instructor himself, narrated the demonstration to continuous small groups. What stamina he had. We stood through two and a half presentations. It was that good. Be sure to include this exhibit when you visit.

Langley Aerodrome A

From the tower, we began our tour of the museum proper, beginning with the earliest days of flight and winding our way through the rest of the exhibits. What amazing progress in 109 years. The cloth-covered wings of the Langley Aerodrome A really brought this home for me.

Nieuport 28C.1

As a visitor, the museum is a visual delight with color, shape and form all around. As a photographer, it is a challenge in managing point of view, composition, lighting and background clutter. The museum never feels crowded. In fact it offers a remarkably open, airy feel especially from the catwalks but you'll see from my photographs, the camera sees things differently. I should tell you that I shot with a Nikon D300S and 18-135mm, now discontinued, kit lens that came with my D80 a few years ago.

The Nieuport 28C.1 represents best for me the WWI era I studied in high school and college. However the plane on display has quite a history and the tale of its unfolding is a fun read.
Hat-In-The-Ring. 

 

Benoist-Korn Type XII Viewed From Under the Wing of the Nieuport 28C.1

 I have to confess, although very early in our visit, from this point forward I was in visual and historical overload. I should have captured the signs describing each aircraft. Of course, I didn't. So, here are more of my images with captions and text as I have gathered them from the Smithsonian's websites.

North American P-51C, "Excalibur III"

 You can see from the photograph above, it is easy to lose yourself in the shear magnitude of the exhibits. This red single-seater that crossed the North Pole from Norway to Alaska in 1951 definitely caught my attention. This shot shows the lighting challenges the museum poses for cameras but not for eyes which adjust easily to scenes with varied lighting. "Excalibur III" Arctic Flyer

Under the Tail of the Boeing 367-80 Jet Transport

the Grumman F8F-2, Bearcat, "Conquest I",

the Turner RT-14 Meteor and the
Beechcraft 35 Bonanza, Waikiki Beech

The Vast Aviation Exhibit
Vought F4U-1D Corsair? Corrections welcome

Bookends of Commercial Aviation Both Paramount Providers of Customer Service
The Boeing 307 Stratoliner Clipper Flying Cloud Transport and the supersonic Concord

Boeing 307 Stratoliner "Clipper Flying Cloud"

WWII -- Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA) of the Flying Tigers

Enola Gay

Enola Gay and the Republic P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt

e

The Cold War -- Mig-21

Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG 21F-13 FISHBED-C

The Cold War -- North American F-86A Sabre

Blackbird SR-71 and Skunk Works Emblem

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

A Very Cool Aircraft

 

Lined Up
Enterprise is in the background

Entering the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar

 Above is my favorite image of the day. It was taken from the catwalk and "Yes", I did wait for the visitors on the deck to assist the composition.

Enterprise from the catwalk

Enterprise from the Deck

Generations of Space Exploration
Enterprise, Apollo Boilerplate Command Module and the Mobile Quarantine Facility

TDRSS Satellite

Now last but not least, an old friend. As a young child, I used to stand at my bedroom window (when I should have been getting ready for school) and watch the yellow biplane below take off and land on the Severn River a thousand feet or so from my parent's home on the banks of the river and upstream of the Route 50 Bridge. The water is always calmer there than it is in front of the Naval Academy where the Severn joins the Chesapeake Bay. I can't remember if there were pilots in both seats. I know that the biplane was kept at North Severn across the river from the Academy. The ramp and hangar are still there today.

I've included a little text from the Smithsonian's website below the image and the link to their description of the plane and it's history.

Now that Discovery rests at the Udvar-Hazy, there are three exhibits I've seen fly in active service before they came to the museum -- this biplane; the Concord; and of course, Discovery. It gives me an strange feeling -- like I might be getting... O--.  Nah!

Naval Aircraft Factory N3N

Naval Aircraft Factory N3N

"...On June 13, 1946, NASM's N3N-3, outfitted with floats, became part of the Naval Academy's training squadron at Annapolis, Maryland. The aircraft continued in this role until the spring of 1960 when it was struck from the Navy's inventory. That fall, the National Air Museum acquired the aircraft. These N3N seaplanes, when retired in 1961, were the last biplanes retired from US military service. "


Oh, two last tips. You will probably wonder what the interior of these planes and jets look like, take advantage of the 360 degree images available at LDC stations on the deck throughout the hangars. Be sure to visit the museum website and explore the collection before you go. Unless you are already a "flight freak" with all the exhibits memorized, the website will help you appreciate what you're about to enjoy. I don't remember seeing this map I found on the website at the museum but it is very helpful.
Udvar-Hazy Museum -- Three levels of flight

I'm finally getting my Discovery fly-by and Transfer Ceremony pix arranged. I'll post them here as soon as I can.

Thank you for visiting.