Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.

The Center was made possible by a US$65 million gift in October 1999 to the Smithsonian Institution by Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, an immigrant from Hungary and co-founder of the International Lease Finance Corporation.Small, L. M. "A century's roar and buzz: Thanks to an immigrant's generosity, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center opens to the public". In "From the Secretary". "Smithsonian". Vol. 34, p. 20.] Construction of the Center, which was designed by HOK, required 15 years of preparation and was built by Hensel Phelps Construction Co.Triplett, W. "Hold everything!" "Smithsonian". Vol. 34, December 2003, p. 59.] Site Civil Engineering design was performed by Patton Harris Rust and Associates, Inc. of Chantilly, Virginia.

NASM has always had more artifacts than could be displayed at the main museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Most of the collection had been stored, unavailable to visitors, at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Silver Hill, Prince George's County, Maryland. Plans call for additional phases that will move the restoration facility and the museum archives from their current location at the Garber facility to the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Collection

Opened in December 2003, the Udvar-Hazy Center displays historic aviation and space artifacts, especially items too large for the National Air and Space Museum's building on the National Mall, including:
* the "Enola Gay", the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
* the Space Shuttle "Enterprise"
* the Gemini VII capsule
* an SR-71 Blackbird
* an Air France Concorde supersonic airliner
* the Boeing 367-80 jet transport, which was the prototype for the Boeing 707
* a Redstone rocket
* the Langley Aerodrome A, an early attempt at powered flight by Smithsonian Secretary Samuel Pierpont Langley
* the Northrop N-1
* the only surviving Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil" [ [http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/dornier_do335.htm Dornier Do-335 ] ]
* the only surviving Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the ex-Pan Am "Clipper Flying Cloud"
* the only surviving Heinkel He 219 "Uhu"
* the only surviving Arado Ar 234 "Blitz"
* one of three surviving Bachem Ba 349 Natters
* the only surviving Nakajima J1N1 Gekko
* one of four surviving Northrop P-61 Black Widows
* one of two surviving Boeing P-26 Peashooters
* a Bede BD-5, single-seat, home-built aircraft that was somewhat popular in the 1970s (5J version is smallest manned jet aircraft)
* the "Beck-Mahoney Sorceress" which is known as the "winningest" racing biplane in aviation history
* a Hawker Hurricane fighter
* a Japanese balloon bomb like the one that killed six U.S. civilians in Oregon during World War II
* Lockheed Martin X-35 Joint Strike Fighter, prototype of the F-35 Lightning II
* F-14 Tomcat involved in the Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)
* The Gossamer Albatross, which was the first man-powered aircraft to fly across the English Channel
* The primary special-effects miniature of the "Mothership" used in the filming of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
* The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer piloted by Steve Fossett for the first solo nonstop and nonrefueled circumnavigation of Earth
* The "Winnie Mae", a Lockheed Vega piloted by Wiley Post
*

The museum is still in the process of installing exhibits, but 141 aircraft and 148 large space artifacts are already on display as of June 2007 [ [http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/pressroom/presskits/museumkit/facts_uhc.cfm "Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Fact Sheet"] ] , and plans call for the eventual installation of over 200 aircraft. [ [http://www.nasm.si.edu/museum/udvarhazy/lookingahead.cfm "Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Looking Ahead"] Accessed September 30, 2006] It also contains an IMAX theater.

Getting there

The Udvar-Hazy Center is located near Dulles Airport. From downtown Washington, D.C., the easiest route runs from I-66 West to VA 267 (Dulles Toll Road) West to VA 28 South, then follow the signs to a specially-marked exit off of VA 28 that leads directly to the museum parking lot.

As in other Smithsonian museums, admission is free, but there is a fee of US$12 per vehicle to park at Udvar-Hazy because of its close proximity to Dulles Airport; the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority requested a parking fee higher than the least expensive parking fee at Dulles due to the possibility of travelers taking advantage of lower-cost parking at a non-airport location, as well as the financial and insurance liabilities associated with airport patrons parking on non-airport property.

While it is possible to get to Udvar-Hazy from the National Air & Space Museum using mass transit, there is no direct transit route on either the DC-based Metro Rail or bus system to the museum. Visitors wishing to take mass transit to Udvar-Hazy from downtown DC should take Metro Bus #5A to Dulles Airport ($3.10), then catch the Virginia Regional Transit [http://www.vatransit.org/a&s.cfm shuttle bus] to the museum ($0.50). The entire commute takes approximately 80 minutes. Shuttle service directly from the National Air & Space museum on the National Mall to the Udvar-Hazy Center was discontinued in 2006. The National Air & Space Museum has a flier available to patrons with shuttle bus schedules and bus & route information.

Media appearances

The center makes its first media appearance in the 2009 film "". The center remained open while filming took place, although certain areas were closed. [cite news | author = Keith Knight | title = More High-Fliers at Air & Space | publisher = The Washington Post | date = 2008-06-07 | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/06/AR2008060603921.html] The SR-71 that is on display in the museum will be used as the Autobot Jetfire in the film.

Photo gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.nasm.si.edu/museum/udvarhazy Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center site]
* [http://dcpages.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Steven-F-Udvar-Hazy-Center/ Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/52851774@N00/sets/72157600225196806/ Flickr Set of Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center - 88 images]