More Than 60 Planes Will Fly Into the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Saturday, June 14

The National Air and Space Museum presents its 2008 “Become a Pilot” family day and aviation display Saturday, June 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at its Udvar-Hazy center in Chantilly, Va. More than 60 vintage, recreational, military and home-built aircraft will be flown in for the event and displayed outdoors. Appearing with their aircraft parked outside the center’s huge Boeing Aviation Hangar, pilots will greet visitors and discuss life in the cockpit. In some cases, pilots will let visitors climb behind the controls. The day offers the public the rare chance to study working aircraft up close.

Inside the museum, visitors can test flight simulators, meet model airplane experts and listen to a variety of guest speakers, including fighter pilot retired Capt. Kevin Miller and Joe Edwards, former NASA astronaut and Navy pilot. The U.S. Air Force band “Airmen of Note” will provide musical entertainment at noon.

The event is free and open to the public. More information is available at http://www.nasm.si.edu/becomeapilot/.

The participation of visiting aircraft in this event is weather contingent. Should inclement weather prevent those aircraft from taking part, family day activities inside the center will still occur. A list of participating aircraft is available at http://www.nasm.si.edu/becomeapilot/aircraft.cfm.

The National Air and Space Museum building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. Both facilities are open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (Closed Dec. 25) Admission is free, but there is a $12 fee for parking at the Udvar-Hazy center.

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