Aircraft – Page 2 – Dynamic Subspace

1929 Ford Tri-Motor Model 4-AT on St. Simons Island, GA

Continuing this week’s aerospace posts (previously, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and NASM’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center), here are some photos that my dad took of a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor Model 4-AT that visited the St. Simons Island Airport at McKinnon Field. My mom and dad took a ride on the plane to experience travel of yesteryear (my first thought when they told me about it was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).

This Ford Tri-Motor is owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Vintage Aircraft Association (EAA/VAA). The EAA is the same organization that convenes OSHKOSH, the BIG annual airshow and fly-in.

1929 Ford Tri-Motor Model 4-AT on St. Simons Island, GA, Cockpit

1929 Ford Tri-Motor Model 4-AT on St. Simons Island, GA, Right Engine

1929 Ford Tri-Motor Model 4-AT on St. Simons Island, GA, Left Engine

November 22, 2023

Photos of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, August 2008

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, Spirit of St. Louis N-X-211

Yesterday, I shared photos of Y’s and my trip to the Stephen Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Today, I have some photos of our stop at the NASM on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

I think of museums of technology, like the NASM, as a kind of technical communication medium. Of course, the work of the displays, diagrams, multimedia, and explanatory text are different kinds of technical communication created to facilitate learning, contextualization, and curiosity. But, the museum as a whole–the system of the museum and its totality, its holism–is a giant technical communication medium, too.

Most of the exhibits seemed similar to the last time that I had visited Washington in the late 1980s, but one notable change is the restoration of the shooting model of Star Trek’s USS-1701 Enterprise, which used to hang in the air but it now at eye-level and encased in plastic (last photos below).

After our visit, the NASM did a big renovation of the museum on the National Mall and the Udvar-Hazy Center (i.e., the replacement of Space Shuttle Enterprise with Discovery).

Above and below, you can see Charles Lindbergh’s Atlantic-crossing Spirit of St. Louis. More pictures of the historic air and spacecraft on display follow.

Spirit of St. Louis

Hughes H-1 Racer

Supermarine Spitfire HF. Mk. VIIc

North American P-51D Mustang

Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6/R3

Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe (Swallow)

Mitsubishi A6M5 Reisen (Zero Fighter) Model 52 ZEKE

North American X-15

Douglas D-558-2

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

Grumman X-29 full-scale model

SpaceShipOne and Bell X-1

SpaceShipOne

Bell X-1

John Glenn’s Spacesuit

Space Capsule Interior

Apollo 11 Command Module

Apollo Command Module Console

Lunar Module LM-2

Apollo-Soyuz Rendezvous Recreation

V-2 Rocket, Skylab, and V-1 Rocket

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, Skylab Interior

Viking Mars Lander

SAGE Core Memory Unit 11, IBM AN/FSQ-7

Boeing X-45A Unmanned Vehicle

Star Trek Shooting Model of the USS-1701 Enterprise

November 21, 2023

Photos of the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, August 2008

National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Entrance

In August 2008, Y and I visited Washington, DC. One of our stops was the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum, which holds some amazing aerospace artifacts including the B-29 Enola Gay, an SR-71 Blackbird, and Space Shuttle Enterprise. There are also many military aircraft, space related artifacts, robots (and rovers), computers, toys, and even a Hugo Award. Below, I’ve included photos grouped around an artifact or theme, but they are not arranged in a particular order–kind of like meandering around such a huge museum.