The Center, which opened in December of 2003, is a companion facility of the downtown Air & Space Museum. It dwarfs its counterpart on the Washington Mall in size and its collection of aviation and space artifacts. The museum’s size can only be described as “massive.” The centerpiece aviation hangar is 103 feet high, 986 long and 248 wide. It contains three levels of aircraft in an area consisting of nearly 300,000 square feet.
Charged with a Congressional mandate to memorialize the national development of aviation and space flight, this new facility displays 82 aircraft, 1,000 smaller artifacts, and includes a nearly 500-seat IMAX theater with a screen six stories high. All of this and the most visually striking part of the museum first visible immediately when you arrive, the center's aircraft observation tower that looms nearly 16-stories high.
The museum is built adjacent to Dulles International Airport. The observation tower is located between two parallel runways that allows visitors a 360-degree view of aircraft arriving and departing Dulles, one of the nation's busiest. The observation deck closes each day at 4 pm. Lines to enter the elevator to the top of the tower can get quite lengthy, so make this your first stop during your visit to the museum. One level below the observation deck is a re-creation of a FAA controller’s workstation including detailed information on how to read an FAA controller’s radar screen including the altitude, speed of aircraft, flight number and other important information. This is an interesting behind the scenes view of a controller’s workplace that is rarely, if ever, seen by the general public.
The museum’s showpiece
One of the biggest exhibits, and most controversial to some, is the B-29, Enola Gay. The aircraft that dropped the first atom bomb, which had been languishing outside of the eyes of the public for years, has been fully restored. Visitors will also be able to find inside an Air France Concorde, XV-15, F4U-1D Corsair, P-38J Lightning, SR 71, F-4 Phantom, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and the Space Shuttle Enterprise, to name just a few aircraft.
As far as smaller exhibits, there is something for everyone. There are displays of aircraft engines, an SA-2 Russian missile launcher site and missile, Lt. General James H. Doolittle's uniform, and even former adversary aircraft such as a Mig-15 and a Mig-21 as well as hundreds of other missiles and other aviation related artifacts.
There is no charge to enter the museum, but there is a hefty parking charge of $12 per vehicle. A shuttle is also available to the Smithsonian in downtown Washington for $7. For more information about the Museum visit it on the web at www.nasm.si.edu, or call: 202.357.2700. The Museum is open daily from 10 to 5:30; closed Christmas.
Manassas National Battlefield
From visiting a museum where the jet age and aviation is celebrated to a site only a few miles away where two battles were fought simply yet brutally effectively, is the the Manassas National Battlefield.
The Manassas National Battlefield, also known as Bull Run, is a "must visit" for any history buff.
If you have never visited a US Park Service National Battlefield, it is much more than just driving through an area where history was made. The visitor’s center at Manassas includes a small museum and a 45-minute video that tells the story of the two battles that took place in 1861 and 1862 when forces from the North and South clashed.
There are a number of options for visitors to the park. To get the real flavor - let a Park Ranger lead you on a guided tour of the battlefield. Our Park Ranger did a great job of helping to set the mood of what it might have been like in those dreadful days of the battles when so many perished on the ground that you find yourself actually walking. The two other options are a self-guided guided walking tour of the park or a 16-mile driving tour that covers 11 sites of significance in the park.
