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Boeing Aviation Hangar

December 15, 2003 - Permanent

Museum: Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center

Location: Main Level

More than 160 aircraft are currently on view to illustrate the scope of aviation history, including military, commercial, business, sports, and pre-1920 aviation and vertical flight (helicopters). Highlights include:

• Spirit of Tuskegee, a PT-13 Stearman biplane used to train Tuskegee Airmen during World War II,  went on view October 26, 2011; it is on loan from the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
• Pathfinder Plus, a high-altitude, solar-powered, unmanned experimental aircraft, went on view early March 2007. 
• Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer, the 1st non-stop solo airplane flown around the world without refueling in 2005 by Steve Fossett (donated to the Smithsonian on May 23, 2006).
• SR-71 Blackbird: This reconnaissance aircraft is the world's fastest flying airplane in the atmosphere (donated to the Smithsonian by the Air Force on March 6, 1990).
• Air France Concorde 205 Fox Alpha: This 27-year-old aircraft flew at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound.
• Enola Gay (Boeing B-29): This bomber helped to end WWII.
• Grumman Goose: This amphibian is Grumman's 1st twin-engine monoplane and its 1st aircraft to enter commercial airline service
• Boeing 307 Stratoliner: This is the 1st airliner to have a pressurized fuselage; 1st flown in 1938.
• Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation: Known as the Connie, this plane, introduced in 1951, shortened transcontinental travel by an astounding 5 hours
• Langley Aerodrome A: This craft represents the failed attempt at human flight by Samuel Pierpont Langley (Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1887-1906)
• Biplanes, gliders (e.g., Bensen B-6 Gyroglider), ultralights, and aerobatic planes (e.g., Little Stinker, flown by Betty Skelton) suspended from the ceiling
• Several helicopters, including a Bell UH-1H "Huey" and the Bell LongRanger Model 206L, Spirit of Texas (spring 2010), in which H. Ross Perot Jr. and Jay Coburn completed the 1st around-the-world helicopter flight, Sept. 1-30, 1982
• Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, the 1st aircraft to fly mail, has been moved from the Mall museum (fall 2009) and is on view here while it is being restored
• Arado AR 234 B-2 Blitz (Lightning), the world's first operational jet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft
• Artifacts of varying sizes (e.g., uniforms, equipment, aircraft models, etc.) on view in a number of glass-fronted cases
• Transformer toys and props from the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which was filmed in part at the museum.

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