Gimme A Ticket For An Airplane

I went on a field trip with Joey, Krissy, and Kevin this past Saturday to the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles for their "Become a Pilot Family Day and Aviation Display". In addition to the museum's normal display of planes indoors, they had an outdoor aviation display with visiting vintage, recreational, and home built aircraft flown in by their owners. You could actually ask the pilots and owners question about their planes and about flying. Some of the pilots also let visitors get in the planes.

This is a shot of the "Wall Of Honor" leading up to the entrance of the museum. There are names of pioneers and enthusiasts etched on those panels on the sides.

These are a few shots I took inside the museum. I didn't take many interior pictures because it's a little dark in the certain areas. I assume that's to preserve the items on display.

Next, it was on to the planes outside. This is an interesting shot because. . . well. . . I used to be a white man until I stuck my face in the back of that jet engine. I had wondered what that "beware of blast" meant.

The plane below actually belonged to The Flintstones. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will notice feet under the plane which is how they get the plane going down the runway. . . I is highlarious!
Also, WRC's traffic copter was on display. I need to get me one of those to get to and from work.
They also had a few military aircraft including this huge cargo plane which, we found out from one of the crewmen, was used to transport Shamu.
This is a shot of the cargo plane taken from the wing of a midair refueling plane. You could actually go into both planes and sit in the cockpit. The cargo plane was so huge that you actually had to climb up a steep staircase to get to the cockpit.
I must say, the whole thing was pretty cool. . . Actually, it wasn't very cool. It was fairly hot out. The heat inside the cargo plane and the refueler was like a sauna. But, I have to tell you, it was worth it. How often do you get to go into the cockpit of a military plane. I'll definitely go back next year. Thanks for the great idea Joey!