So I spent Saturday draggin Pediem around the Smithsonian Air and Space extension at Dulles Airport… Well, actually she ‘wanted’ to go! 
So a few pics… I’m sure she’ll be putting a few up on her blog (hint, hint), and she had the better camera…
Clicken to embiggen on any picture…
The iconic entry picture… SR-71… It looks like it’s going a thousand miles and hour sitting still and it just ‘absorbs’ light…
This one is a Nieuport 28 decked out in the 94th Fighter Squadron (the oldest US fighter squadron) colors.
And it’s ALL about different sizes for different folks… Single seat race plane Nemesis next to the engine of Dash 80 (Boeing 707)… Nemesis weighs less than 500 lbs and goes 300mph… 
Pedi said something to the effect of hell no, that’s not an airplane you get in, it’s an airplane you PUT ON!
Bonus points if you recognize the name Mike Forney and the movie where one of these appeared… 
And most people don’t realize how LITTLE the original jet fighters were… F-86/Mig-15 pair… At the military opening, I was talking to a Korean Era pilot, he said the ‘hardest’ problem was “Seeing the little sumbitches.” 
It was so busy I really couldn’t get many ‘good’ shots without somebody walking through the frame… The next pair is the F-4/Mig-21. Bigger, more complex, easier to see coming at you… And you can see the F-105 “Thud” behind them. 
And this one is back in the restoration section… It’s a PBY JRS-1 (Thanks Stretch) that was at Ford Island and survived the Pearl Harbor bombing (most think because it was actually flying a patrol that morning… 
And another ‘iconic’ reason folks come to Udvar Hazy… 
I hope y’all enjoyed these, I’m working on some other pics and a story tied to one of the birds…
The movie?
The Bridge at Toko-Ri.
Actor?
Mickey Rooney,who also wore a green scarfif I remember right.
Cool movie.
OOps, should be Bridges.
The Bridges at Toko-Ri Mike Forney (Mickey Rooney) was the crewman on the copter who always had a top hat or bowler hat and Green(?) scarf to give the pilots something to laugh at when he pulled them out of the water. Got the book around here some where. Moive still good to look at. Great blog which has given hours of fun plus lead me off to other fun places Bayou Renaissance Man The View From North Central Idaho Lowering the Bar etc etc m/s Danni
Hymie/Danni- Geez, obviously I’m making these questions WAY too easy… 😉 Thanks for the comments, and of course you’re both right! 🙂
The aforementioned Bridges at To Ko Ri.
Man, the F9F was a cool jet.
An old Chief who was one of my high school
JROTC instructors said the PBY was the
plane that won the naval war
Going over to see a B-17, B-25 and P-51 that landed at the airport yesterday. Love old planes.
What are those giant wooden propellers to the left of the PBY from?
I got the movie. Way too easy for old guys who saw the film in the theater when it came out…when we were two years old.
That is such an amazing place. I don’t think I’ve read all the plaques in 3 trips.
Totally cool. Now I’m jealous … again.
SPEMAck- Yep, and he’s probably right about the PBYs, without them it would have been stumble ons to find the Japanese Fleets…
Gerry- Pics??? 🙂
Brad- Those are actually iron blades from a dismantled early wind tunnel!
LL- True… sigh
PH- That it is! 🙂
Looks like a grand visit– wish I could have been there. Hoping to see you both in a couple of months!
Phlegmmy- Workin on it…
I think that is a Sikorsky JRS-1, not a PBY.
Windscreen, landing gear and engine spacing lead me to think so.
“Form follows function” so they would, of course, look alike.
What’s the grey plane next to the PBY?
This would be my guess:
http://www.militaryfactory.com/imageviewer/ac/gallery-ac.asp?aircraft_id=816
I have to agree with Stretch about the seaplane. Whatever it is, it’s not a Catalina. Outrigger floats are fixed in place, no observer bubbles, the body appears wider than a PBY, and the wing mast and supports are different than a PBY. Still a cool plane. Back in the days when you could still open a window and stick your head out to see where you were going when your windscreen iced up.
Great pics!
So… there I was… in the Udvar-Hazy gift shop last summer, checking out with my purchases. The 60-sumthin’, blue-haired lady at the register politely asks me “Did you find everything you were looking for?”
“Umm, no” sez I. “I didn’t find an Enola Gay tee shirt.”
“We don’t SELL Enola Gay tee shirts,” sez she, with icicles dripping from her words.
“Well, alrighty then,” sez I.
We settled on B-17 and Pan Am tee shirts and called it good.
I read the book before I saw the movie! PBY’s are cool but that’s a Martin I think…but not the round-the-world one.
Remember that Ted Williams flew an F9F during the Korean War, because he liked the idea of moving much faster when doing ground-attack runs.
I had forgotten the movie.
I must watch it once more
Stretch/Ray- You’re right… My bad!
Ed/RHT- It’s a Nakajima Kikka. Japanese jet…
Buck- Yeah, they NEVER will (not PC and all that)…
NC- See above… Sigh…
CM- Yep, and he could SEE well enough to see the fire coming up at him…
Rick- It’s a good one!
I have the Robbins AFB museum about an hour south of me. I would love to go to the Smithsonian.
Ken- That is a nice one too!
Those are some excellent pictures…And I’ll bet that JRS float plane brings back some memories, eh? Or maybe the Nieuport?
Mr. AOW and I have been meaning to visit Udvar-Hazy. It’s wheelchair-friendly, and we own our own handicapped van.
Thanks for all the pictures. You have awakened my desire to visit the center.
Hey Old NFO;
Awesome place…..I want to go back….The museum of Aviation down in Warner Robbins is very good also….
I highly recommend the USAF Museum in Dayton, OH. They have the B-29 Bock’s Car, a Wright B-flyer and the Apollo…I think Apollo 12 capsule. All in all 3 or 4 buildings of goodies. Definitley takes a full day to see. Make sure you check out the annex if you go. Doesn’t cost but you have to get a ticket for the bus to the annex.
Great movie and a very good book. I hated the end, but it had to end that way, didn’t it?