Favorite at the National Air and Space

clint01 (56)in #photography • 8 years ago (edited)

enter image description here

I was privileged to fulfill one of my bucket list items last week. I visited both the National Air and Space Museums - in Washington DC as well as the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport.

This museum has the most incredible collection of historic aircraft. The original 1903 Wright Flyer (the first powered airplane), the first airplane to break the sound barrier (Bell X-1), the first plane through Mach 2 and the fastest airplane (the Mach 6.72 X-15). And they all together in the one hall and annex.

enter image description here
X-15 which has set the highest speed ever recorded by a manned, powered aircraft.

The early flight pioneers along with aircraft from both world wars are extensively covered. Mans early exploration into space is also covered including Friendship 7 (Glenn's Mercury capsule) and the Apollo 11 Command Capsule.

enter image description here
Apollo 11 Command Capsule which brought Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins safely back to Earth from the Moon.

The list just goes on and on. Most peoples' favorites would be the Space Shuttle Discovery and SR-71, both at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. But my personal favorite was not one of the must-see items.

enter image description here
Space Shuttle Discovery

enter image description here
SR-71 Blackbird - the fastest jet aircraft

No - my personal favorite is a Grob 102 Standard Astir flown by Robert Harris to 49,009' in 1986. The aircraft is hanging in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center above such historic aircraft as Enola Gay (the B-29 which dropped the Hiroshima bomb killing between 90,000-146,000 people, mostly civilians), the Boeing 707 prototype and an Air France Concorde.

enter image description here
Enola Gay - an eerie reminder of the horrors of war.

enter image description here
Boeing 367-80 - which is the Boeing 707 prototype and led to the development of the subsequent 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777 and 787 jet airliners.

enter image description here
The Mach 2 Concorde

What makes this non-descript sailplane so special is that it shows average people can still challenge the corporations and governments and break world records. Robert Harris was not a professional pilot, just an average person with a passion who chose to dedicate his weekends to achieving a personal goal. That goal was to take a sailplane higher than anyone had ever gone in a sailplane before. His record was finally broken in 2006 by Steve Fossett (a billionaire and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer) who created the Perlan Project. The Perlan Project is exploring mountain lee waves and the project is currently sponsored by Airbus. The days of single the average Joe breaking world aviation records appear to be over and Robert Harris was perhaps its last true participant. And that makes N-17999 such a special exhibit.

enter image description here
Grob 102 N-17999