CHANTILLY, Va. — Earlier this week we had the opportunity to view the Air & Space’s new galleries on display at the National Mall. So it only seemed fitting to see what’s making headlines at the other museum, the Udvar-Hazy Center located near Dulles International Airport.
Space Shuttle Discovery
Probably the most recent headline around the Smithsonian’s Air and Space collections was a provision passed in the “Big Beautiful Bill” last month to relocate Space Shuttle Discovery from its current location at the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar to the Johnson Space Center Museum in Houston, Texas by the start of 2027.
However, it remains to be seen how such a transfer would actually take place with no aircraft currently capable of ferrying the shuttle across the country. Previously the Space Shuttle(s) would be mounted on top of one of two heavily-modified Boeing 747s for transcontinental transports. Both aircraft have since been retired and are preserved on display in California and Texas.
Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby
Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby was previously on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, however it was removed from display. That museum put B-17 Flying Fortress, Memphis Belle, on display in 2018. Eventually Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby made its way to the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center where it currently awaits reassembly and display.
More Blue Angels content
Several photos were available on this site from the air show practice intended for the Commissioning Week air show by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels in Annapolis, Maryland. In addition to a Blue Angels flight suit, the Smithsonian has one of the Boeing F/A-18C Hornet aircraft on display that was part of the flight demonstration team until 2020. The flight demonstration squadron migrated to using the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet in 2021.
Observation Tower
With rainy and overcast conditions dominating the weather on Friday morning, visitors were treated to a closer viewing experience of aircraft on final approach to Dulles International Airport, with arrivals using runways 1C/1R and landing from the south instead of a more common pattern that brings flights near Leesburg and into the airport from the north on runways 19C/19R.
Getting to the Udvar-Hazy Center
Unlike the Washington D.C. Museum, timed passes are not required for this museum. Like the D.C. museum, it’s open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Paid parking is available at the Udvar-Hazy Center. However, it is also accessible by public transit. Fairfax Connector Route #983 serves the museum every half hour or so with connections to Metrorail at Dulles International Airport and Innovation Center stations. This helps prevent a fairly expensive rideshare back towards downtown Washington D.C.
