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Technology and Culture 45.2 (2004) 358-362



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The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.


It's not every day that a museum opening makes the front pages of the country's best-known news publications. Such was the case, however, with the National Air and Space Museum's newest facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport, outside Washington, D.C.

To characterize the Udvar-Hazy Center as imposing is to do it a disservice. It is immense, more than ten stories high, about three football fields long, and will ultimately enclose 260,000 square feet. Inspired by a dirigible hangar and evoking an actual airport, with its 164-foot-tall observation tower (named in honor of Donald Engen, former NASM director and a tireless advocate for this new museum), Udvar-Hazy inspires its visitors even before they walk through its doors.

A two-thousand-space parking lot directly in front of the museum provides easy access. After the now-familiar security check we passed by visitor services and were immediately drawn to the entrance of the large gallery. You don't have to be an aviation or space enthusiast to appreciate the marvelous panorama of aircraft that seems to float all around you in the main display area. There were groups of seniors, moms and dads with strollers and children, a group of professional women, people of all nationalities speaking many different languages—all walking around doing their own thing and looking happy about it. There were visitors discussing the dynamics of engine power and airworthiness, while others excitedly exclaimed, "look at that yellow one!" This confirmed what I already knew, that enthusiasm for and interest in aviation and space runs the gamut of interests, knowledge, age, and experience. This is one of the reasons that the National Air and Space Museum on the Mall is the world's most-visited museum. The Udvar-Hazy Center soon will not be far behind. [End Page 358]


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Figure 1
Three of the largest planes at Udvar-Hazy: an Air France Concorde, with a Boeing 307 Stratoliner flown by Pan American Airways behind it, and the Boeing 367-80, the prototype for the 707, far right. (Photograph by Steve Abramowitz, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.)

The center was named for Steven Udvar-Hazy, founder and chief executive of the International Lease Finance Corporation, who contributed an unbelievable sixty-five million dollars to the center (whose total cost it is estimated will reach $311 million). The building was designed by the firm of Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum, which also designed the flagship National Air and Space Museum building. Its arched trusses and network of walkways and bridges give visitors eye-level views of hanging aircraft at two levels as well as from the floor. Airplanes are hung as though in the middle of typical flight maneuvers, in contrast to the display positions at most aviation museums, and the effect is dynamic and exciting. The aircraft steal the show here.

The Udvar-Hazy Center currently displays about eighty aircraft and over sixty-five spacecraft. As you walk around, you notice plenty of room for future additions. When all two hundred aircraft and more than 135 large space artifacts are installed, along with a huge array of smaller artifacts, visitors will likely have to make a day of it, if not two. Our legs gave out before our interest did. (Note that the floor is concrete and very hard on the feet, so wear sneakers. Wheelchairs are available.)

The center is divided into ten distinct themes or timelines. Visitors can [End Page 359] go through the galleries by themselves or take one of the tours that docents lead twice daily. Directional signs are clear and concise, making it easy to locate planes of interest. Display areas are titled—Korean and Vietnam Wars, Pre-1920s Aviation, Business and Commercial Aviation, and the like—and large, easy-to-read labels accompanying...

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