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The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. As the NASM continued to collect aircraft, it long ago outgrew its primary facility in crowded downtown Washington, D.C. This center is a companion facility to the National Air and Space Museum. The Center was made possible by a US$65 million gift in October 1999 to the Smithsonian Institution by Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, an immigrant from Hungary and co-founder of the International Lease Finance Corporation.<ref name=Small2003>Small, L. M. "A century's roar and buzz: Thanks to an immigrant's generosity, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center opens to the public". In "From the Secretary". Smithsonian. Vol. 34, p. 20.</ref> Construction of the Center required fifteen years of preparation and was built by Hensel Phelps Construction Co.<ref name=Triplett2003>Triplett, W. "Hold everything!" Smithsonian. Vol. 34, December 2003, p. 59.</ref>

Contents 1 Collection 2 See also 3 External links 4 References 5 Photo Gallery

[edit] Collection

Opened in December 2003, the Udvar-Hazy Center displays historic aviation and space artifacts, particularly items too large for the National Air and Space Museum's building on the National Mall, including:

• the Enola Gay, a Boeing B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
• the Space Shuttle Enterprise
• the Gemini VII capsule
• an SR-71 Blackbird
• an Air France Concorde supersonic jetliner
• the Boeing 367-80 jet transport, which was the prototype for the Boeing 707
• a Redstone rocket
• the Langley Aerodrome A, an attempt at powered flight by Smithsonian Secretary Samuel Pierpont Langley
• the Northrop N-1
• the only surviving Dornier Do 335 Arrow
• the only surviving Heinkel He 219 Owl
• the only surviving Arado Ar 234 "Blitz"
• one of two surviving Bachem Ba 349 Natter's
• the only surviving Nakajima J1N1 Gekko
• one of four surviving Northrop P-61 Black Widows
• one of two surviving Boeing P-26 Peashooters
• a Bede BD-5, a single-seat, homebuilt aircraft that was somewhat popular in the 1970s

The museum is in the process of installing exhibits, but more than 120 aircraft and 140 space-exploration exhibits are already on display as of 2006, and plans call for eventually installing over 200 aircraft.<ref>Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center - Looking Ahead Accessed September 30, 2006</ref> It also contains an IMAX theater.

[edit] See also

• Aviation
• Space exploration

[edit] External links

• Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center site
• Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Photo Gallery
• Aerial view on google maps of partially completed building

[edit] References

[edit] Photo Gallery

MiG 15 of the type piloted by Polish defector Frank Jarecki	The Enola Gay	Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird	Air France Concorde
Interior view showing the Enola Gay	The space shuttle Enterprise	The SR-71 at the center of the hangar	Interior view
Air France Concorde	Panorama from the central catwalk	Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer