Dulles Air and Space Museum

The Smithsonian has two Air and Space Museums.  The one in DC on the National Mall and then there is this one that is located about 40 minutes north by the Dulles Airport.  My parents were in town and we decided to go out to the Dulles Museum cause my dad likes planes.  When I was a kid he would spend hours making model airplanes. He meticulously painted and glued them together and when they were all done, he would hang them from the ceiling.  I wish I had a picture of that. 

The museum had a few simulators that you could get in, they would play a movie that made you feel like you were in the pilot's seat.  One of them was a fighter jet, Ethan and Dalton decided to ride in that one.  The simulator would spin around, upside down, and tilt.  So, the rest of us waited while they went in, we could hear them yelling and whooping.  It was the funnest thing!  It was a fun day.

This is one magnificent plane!  It can travel from LA to DC in one hour and 14 minutes!  Haha that is SO fast!  

 Discovery Shuttle

The size of this machine is shocking!  (I'm running out of adjectives to express my feelings about all of these things I am seeing...)

If you notice the flag, you will notice that it looks backwards.  I learned that the star field is positioned as if it were flying with the plane, thus causing the flag to look as though it is flying backwards on one side of the plane.  (Also, regulation states, the U.S. flag patch is to be worn, right or left shoulder, so that the star field faces forward.  When worn in this manner, the flag gives the effect of flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward.  Our tour guide said the Boy Scouts are the only ones who do not wear their flag patch the "right" way.  Maybe we should get Sister Smart on that.)

In these pictures these just look like toys but they are huge!  It was so fun!

On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, this plane became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb.

I scared myself a little when I thought about what it would feel like if this plane came flying right at me.  It was a little like when you are a kid and you are running up the stairs and you convince yourself there is someone behind you but you know there really isn't.  I knew the plane wasn't coming at me, but standing there, it was easy to imagine it was and it made me feel uneasy.