Innovations in Flight Day (June 17, 2017)

 Pretty neat event at the National Air and Space Museum annex, which is better known by the name Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Today was the Innovations in Flight Day and as promised it brought out a great crowd. I as always enjoyed the displays. There is the Enola Gay, many historic American aircraft dating to the dawn of aviation, as well as many aircraft that lead to its future such as the F-35. I of course always enjoy this photo which I took today again...which is two of my favorites. In the front an SR-71 Blackbird. Off in the distance is the Space Shuttle Discovery. Discovery was requested and delivered just like NASA got it on its last mission..of course without the dangerous chemicals inside the tanks.
What made today really special though was a fly in by a number of really interesting aircraft. Oh and there was one amazing fly by which is the photo at the very bottom of the page. We will get to that though. For a parking fee of $15 dollars (otherwise the museum is free) you got to see even more than usual and frankly that is a lot.

 

For me a real thrill was seeing the P-3 Orion. Thrill being for four years these are planes that were a part of my everyday life from 1975-1979 when I was in the US Navy. Certainly one of the most interesting periods and on these aircraft I got to see places I have only dreamed about. If it was in the Western Pacific the odds are I have been there, at least for a short while.  

 Not a pilot but this is the cockpit. The P-3 is based on an airliner called the Lockheed Electra and is a four engined turboprop. It fills a number of roles including search and rescue as well as hunting for submarines.
The P-3 is being replaced by the P-8 which like the Orion is based on an airliner. In the case of the P-8 though its the twin jet Boeing 737. I have never flown on the P-8 (and probably never will) but I have flown on the 737...in fact just a few weeks ago. That will be a more modern aircraft and looking forward to seeing one.  

The P-8 did not make it though it was scheduled. The C-17 seen at right did as well as a couple of F-18s, an F-16, an A-10 and an Osprey which is a really remarkable aircraft. They also have a number of interesting private planes, a small car show and some reenactors doing a WWII period camp. It was all really fantastic but they saved the best for last...
I really enjoyed the fly by of the B2 Spirit Stealth bomber. I have seen it before but it never fails to impress. I got this photo on the second of one of its two passes, and heard a lot of "Wows" from the large assembled crowd. When it comes to modern aviation technology the B2 has to be near the top of the list. It was a very pleasant day there, but turned out there was one more thing I did before heading back to Richmond. That will be the subject of my next post!