Udvar Hazy

 This week we went to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Annex!

We only visit once every few years because it's a bit of a haul for us (and they have a pesky $15 parking fee).  But it's SO cool!

This was a great visit for us because we've started the 60s and are knee deep in the Space Race, the Cold War and the Vietnam War.

Indeed we did see plenty of space stuff (OK, the Enterprise is from the 80s, but it was named after the ship in the 60s TV series!), and we saw plenty of Soviet MiGs, and American Hueys.

 The big excitement, however, was the WWII planes - a wide selection of Zeros, Messerschmidts, Hurricanes, and so forth (plus great American planes).

The most interesting, of course, was the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb. 

On this level (there are three levels you can see planes from), you could look right in the cockpit and it looked like the crew had just left.

To give you an idea of how large the Annex is, the Enola Gay, a B-27 "Flying Super Fortress," takes up less than half it's width.

Here's a shot Mxyl took from the upper level.

The other big draw is their SR 71 Blackbird, an amazing machine in any age.  We finally found out why it has a skunk painted on it!

This is the view when you first enter the museum.  If you look closely, you can see the Enterprise in the back ground.