HAVE A VERY BRUCE DAY

Our initial excuse for making this trip to DC was going to see the Smithsonian’s new Udvar Hazy Air and Space museum out by Dulles airport, so we did just that. They opened in December, 2003 for the 100th anniversary of flight by the Wright brothers.

Our taxi driver, Mr. Wassie, was content to drive us in silence; however, I started a conversation with him and learned that he was originally from Ethiopia. (This time, I made a point of learning our driver's name by reading his license.) He had a slight accent, so I assumed he’d been in DC for a number of years - and he had. According to our driver, the DC area had over 70,000 Ethiopian immigrants and some authentic restaurants over on 18th Street. Of course, I wanted to talk about food.

On the day we visited, the museum had 85 famous planes on display such as: early planes, planes from each war, cold war technology, the shuttle Enterprise (yes, named for the ship in Star Trek), some space junk (literally discarded equipment from NASA).

They did not have the Wright Flyer – it is still in the air and space museum on the Mall. Rotorcraft -- helicopters -- were noticeably absent, as were early jets and some other significant aircraft. In the future, they planned to have over 200 planes, a rotorcraft display and a restoration hanger that you can tour. We decided that we will have to go back in a few years.

The lighting conditions in the museum were a challenge for taking pictures. Even though the museum was fairly empty, I had to wait 10 minutes or so for a sole veteran staring at an aircraft to get a clear photo.  So, I moved around a lot and improved on my photography skills while Bruce worked his way methodically around all display areas reading each plaque. Fortunately, he’s a fast reader.

The air and space museum was built like a huge airplane hanger, not unlike the blimp hangers on Moffet Field. We thought it was a very good design—good looking, kept to the theme and practical. As with all the Smithsonian museums, admission was free. We came at a good time of year as the museum had few people. I noticed a large number of veterans walking around telling war stories to buddies or staring intensely alone as inspired by the displays. Many came in uniform. 

It was a very “Bruce” day—planes, engines, rockets and space junk. I took so many photographs that I used up all my digital cards. Obsessive compulsive? Maybe just a little, but how many times do you see an SR-71 Blackbird up close and personal?

THE FAMOUS & INFAMOUS

They had the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan (trivia: the second was dropped by a plane called Bochscar). There had been controversy about including this infamous plane in the museum; however, history was history. When I saw the missiles developed by Nazi Germany in the 1940’s, it struck me how close the US and allies came to losing that world war.

In the cold war section, they displayed a Russian anti-aircraft missile—an export version—as all the instructions on the outside of the missile was written in both Russian and English. The English translations were strangely humorous. For example:

AIR CHECK VALVE.
CAUTION:
PRIOR TO DISCONNECTING
THE ADAPTER CHECK THAT AIR
SWITCH IN KN11C IS OFF.

I had no idea what this meant. I found it creepy that this huge missile was and continues to be the most popular anti-aircraft missile in use worldwide and that its sole purpose was to shoot down American planes.

Over in the commercial section, they had the very first plane purchased by Fred Smith when he started Federal Express. In graduate school, Fred Smith had written his MBA thesis, a business case, for a service that would deliver packages by air overnight. His instructor said that it could never be done and gave him a “D” on the project. I wondered whether Fred Smith ever “Fed-Ex’ed” his former professor. I'd have liked to see the contents of that package.

A PERSONAL TOUCH

The displays in this museum seemed more personal to me than other museums. Maybe because we flew ourselves there - a direct result of the people behind these historical aircraft.  It may have been the planes themselves - each aircraft was named, displayed the pilots' names on the side and sometimes the maintenance crews' names. Or, perhaps it was the solitary veteran parked in front of a plane with his silent story.

Having seen the entire museum and exhausting my “film”, we took the last shuttle to the Mall and walked to our hotel. On the way, we passed by the Asia Nora restaurant. When I was gathering ideas for my kitchen remodel, I found a great book on how several professional chefs had designed their own home kitchens. My favorite design was Nora’s kitchen. My kitchen remodel, inspired by Nora, worked out very well for me. Naturally, I had to eat in one of her restaurants. We had duck for dinner, and it was excellent.

MORE DAY 3!  PLANES & PILOT NOTES :: NEXT>