Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
From Freepedia
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. As they continued to collect aircraft, the NASM long ago outgrew its primary facility in crowded downtown Washington, D.C.
Opened in December 2003, the Udvar-Hazy Center displays historic aviation and space artifacts, particularly items too large for display at the National Air and Space Museum's building on the National Mall, such as
- the Enola Gay, a Boeing B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
- the Space Shuttle Enterprise
- the Gemini VII capsule
- an SR-71 Blackbird
- an Air France Concorde supersonic jetliner.
- the Boeing 367-80 jet transport, which was the prototype for the Boeing 707
- the Langley Aerodrome A, an attempt at powered flight by Smithsonian Secretary Samuel Pierpont Langley
- a Bede BD-5, a single seat, homebuild aircraft that was somewhat popular in the 1970s
The museum is in the process of installing exhibits, but currently has more than 100 aircraft and over 120 space exploration exhibitis display, with plans of eventually having over 200 aircraft on display.
The Center was made possible by a US$ 65 million gift in October 1999 to the Smithsonian Institution by Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, an immigrant from Hungary and co-founder of the International Lease Finance Corporation (Small, 2003). Construction of the Center required fifteen years of preparation (Triplett, 2003).
