I went with my daughter on her 8th grade school trip to Washington D.C. last week. One of our stops was the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. I spent some time as an Aircraft Electrician in the US Army and have always been fascinated by all things aviation so I was already super excited to be there.
We were up on a platform next to the space shuttle Discovery and I noticed there was a glass wall behind us overlooking the hangar where I'm guessing they do repair work and get aircraft ready for display. I looked down and saw something really cool....
THEY HAVE AN X-WING FIGHTER!!!
X-Wing
Cool!! They have some neat sci-fi stuff around those museums. It's not uncommon to see R2D2 rolling around there or the one downtown from time to time.
The one in DC proper also has the original model of the Enterprise used for the Star Trek tv show in the sixties. It's pretty cool, and quite a bit larger than I expected.
Quote from: Matmosphere on May 26, 2021, 03:00:00 AM
Cool!! They have some neat sci-fi stuff around those museums. It's not uncommon to see R2D2 rolling around there or the one downtown from time to time.
The one in DC proper also has the original model of the Enterprise used for the Star Trek tv show in the sixties. It's pretty cool, and quite a bit larger than I expected.
Seeing the Discovery was pretty impressive too. I always knew the space shuttles were big but, that thing just seemed absolutely massive in person!
Was the SR-71 still there? That was the one that surprised me as to how big it was.
Quote from: mattc on May 26, 2021, 05:11:16 AM
Was the SR-71 still there? That was the one that surprised me as to how big it was.
That's my favorite one in the collection. So big and so flat!
I have an SR-71 down the road from me at battleship in Mobile bay. Yes, they are big. I'd love to see that X-wing tho
Man, I am jealous that is super cool. Any pictures of the discovery?
Very cool photo. The x-wing looks like it's seen some action.
We planned to go to the Smithsonian when we went to the USA, but the government shut down due to some politics, and all the museums and national parks closed. Hooray.
that's more put together than the last pics I saw of it I think on ... slashdot or nerdist last week
Quote from: mattc on May 26, 2021, 05:11:16 AM
Was the SR-71 still there? That was the one that surprised me as to how big it was.
Yup, still there. I saw one when I was a kid in the museum at Wright Patterson Air Base in Ohio.
It's always been one of my favorites!
Quote from: jjjimi84 on May 26, 2021, 11:13:33 AM
Man, I am jealous that is super cool. Any pictures of the discovery?
Yeah, I have a few...
Another one
And one more...
Quote from: Drew Hallenbeck on May 26, 2021, 03:03:57 AM
Seeing the Discovery was pretty impressive too. I always knew the space shuttles were big but, that thing just seemed absolutely massive in person!
Really? I thought they were small. We were there for a landing and our tour bus happened to pass it when it was being towed back to the hanger. I was amazed at how small it seemed.
That's so cool. Thanks for the shots.
Wow... with the small wings, it looks kinda like a flying brick with rockets on the back. Now I realise why they needed the hooooge solid fuel boosters and the massive jettisoned fuel tank.
Last year I visited the Appollo 13(?) museum in Carnarvon Western Australia. They had heaps of equipment with open side showing of about a million germanium transistors. Wheres a wire cutter when you need one!