Author Archives: Kathy Hanser

Take a Look at These Cockpits

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Many visitors express the wish to see the interiors of aircraft and spacecraft on display in the Museum. But to protect these historic treasures, they must be displayed behind barriers, which makes it impossible to see inside. But there are several cockpits you can see in the Museum, a day devoted to getting up close with aircraft, some cool electronic views, and a couple of great books that give those who are curious some excellent interior views.

In the National Mall building visitors can see an authentic reproduction of an Airbus A320 “glass cockpit.” Here, you can experience a take-off and landing at Washington Reagan National Airport as if you were a commercial airline pilot. The simulator is on view in the America by Air gallery.

Airbus A320 Cockpit

In a "glass cockpit," digital electronic displays replace conventional analog instruments. This technology provides flight crews with far better instrumentation and information than ever before.

In the same exhibition are two more cockpits on view. One is the first Boeing 747-151 ever flown by Northwest Airlines. Accessible from a walkway on the second floor, you can enter the forward section and see the cockpit and its over 600 buttons, switches, and knobs. The second is a 1950s-era American Airlines Douglas DC-7 on the main floor, which offers a view of the cabin as well as the cockpit. The contrast between these two aircraft is striking!

747 Nose

This nose section is from a Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-151. First flown in 1970, this 747 was the first built for Northwest and the first 747 to open service across the Pacific. It was retired in 1999. Gift of Northwest Airlines, Inc.

At the Udvar-Hazy Center, there is a view of the nose and cockpit of the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb in combat on Hiroshima, Japan during World War II, a Cessna airplane that kids can sit in, and a space shuttle simulator.

Enola Gay

The historic Boeing B-29 Enola Gay is shown here just after being restored and re-assembled in 2003. The airplane, which received the most extensive restoration in the museum's history, is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Enola Gay Cockpit

Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II, and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments.

Most space capsules on display allow great up-close views inside. For instance, you can get nose-to-nose with the cockpits of three capsules in the National Mall building’s Milestones of Flight gallery: Apollo 11, Mercury Friendship 7, and Gemini IV. In Apollo to the Moon is a full-size simulator of the Apollo lunar module cockpit where you can experience the minute-by-minute thrill of landing on the Moon.

Lunar Module Cockpit

The control panels and triangular windows inside Lunar Module 2

Another chance to see cockpits is at the annual Become a Pilot Family Day and Aviation Display at the Udvar-Hazy Center, held this year on June 19. Over 50 aircraft fly in for the occasion, and you can walk right up to view, and sometimes sit in, the cockpits.

Several cockpits that can’t be viewed in person are available on the Museum’s web site in Quick Time Virtual Reality format. These include the Concorde and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. Check them out here. And next time you’re at the Udvar-Hazy Center, look for the computer kiosks throughout the Center that offer 360 degree views of many airplane interiors and cockpits.

SR-71

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird in a storage hangar at Dulles International Airport before transport to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

SR-71 Cockpit

The Blackbird's cockpit was a tight fit for the crew, who wore bulky pressure suits during each mission.

Finally, you can look at an incredible array of striking cockpit photos in two books written and photographed by Museum staffers. In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft, and In the Cockpit II: Inside History-Making Aircraft of World War II, provide close-up access to the instrument panels and controls of aircraft in the Museum’s impressive collection. Both books are available at the smithsonianstore.com, in person at the Museum Stores, or by calling 202-357-1387 to have one mailed.  Maybe if you buy one for your Dad for Father’s Day he would let you read it!

Kathleen Hanser is a writer-editor in the National Air and Space Museum’s Office of Communications.

A Beautiful Bird Grounded

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Air France Concorde lands at Washington Dulles International Airport on its way to its new home at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

When you visit the Udvar-Hazy Center and see the Air France Concorde on display, it’s hard to believe such a beautiful “bird” is no longer in service. I remember the day it flew into Dulles Airport on its final flight in June 2003, and how modern and elegant it looked as it landed. Once on the ground, it was parked for a while next to the Boeing Stratoliner and the Boeing Dash-80, two of its predecessors from the 1930s and 1950s respectively. The contrast among the three airliners was striking.

The Boeing S-307 Stratoliner, left, the Air France Concorde, center, and the Boeing Dash 80, right, at Washington Dulles International Airport before going on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in 2003.

So why did the supersonic Concorde have to retire? It all boiled down to money.

In January 1976, the Concorde began flying to the United States. The Concorde would cruise at twice the speed of sound between 55,000 and 60,000 feet — so high that passengers could actually see the curvature of the Earth. Transatlantic flight time was half that of conventional jet aircraft, with the average flight taking less than four hours.

Eventually, however, the Concorde became too expensive to operate. For instance, it was only capable of carrying 60 passengers from Paris to Washington, D.C. – 40 shy of its maximum capacity of 100. Furthermore, many of these flights operated at half full, making matters worse. By 2003, Concorde ticket costs averaged around $12,000, and needless to say not many people could afford that!

With an average of one ton of fuel consumed per seat, the already small market for the Concorde gradually grew smaller. Routes were cut back, leaving London to New York and Paris to New York as the only routes. The unfortunate Concorde accident in 2000 added to the aircraft’s problems.

Air France Concorde service ended on May 31, 2003, and British Airways ceased operations on October 24, 2003.

Isn’t it frustrating to think that the technology exists to whisk us across the pond in less than four hours, but no such service is available!

Kathy Hanser is a Writer-Editor in the Office of Communications at the National Air and Space Museum.

The Day I Met a Communist Defector

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Flight suit worn by Lt. Franciszek Jarecki when he defected from the Polish Air Force in a MiG-15s. Flight suit is on display at the National Air and Space Museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Flight suit worn by Lt. Franciszek Jarecki when he defected from the Polish Air Force in a MiG-15s. The flight suit is on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, steps away from a MiG-15bis (visible in background).

When you are visiting the Udvar-Hazy Center, you will come across a display case that holds the flightsuit of a former MiG pilot named Frank Jarecki. It is located just in front of the Museum’s MiG in the Cold War Aviation area. Jarecki is not exactly a household name, I know, but someone with a unique and interesting background nevertheless.

A while ago, I was fortunate enough to meet Jarecki when he was at the Center taping a Polish TV documentary about his life.

Jarecki was a pilot in the Polish Air Force when, on March 5, 1953, he defected to the West in his MiG-15 by flying to Bornholm, Denmark. It was the first intact MiG-15 to reach the West. Not only did it allow Western aviation experts to take apart and examine a Soviet fighter jet, but also Jarecki was able to provide first-hand information about Soviet aircraft and air tactics.

Jarecki told me that before his defection, he did not think carefully about what he was doing.  He said he was “ignorant,” actually.  He did not think about what might happen to his mother, who was arrested and imprisoned for a while.

The U.S. government interrogated him a lot when he came to the United States, he told me, trying to figure out if he was truly a defector or a spy.  But, he pointed out, “Why would the Poles let him come here in a MiG?  It was a brand new one, the latest model.”

Once it was determined he was not a spy, Jarecki began a new life in the United States and became somewhat of a media celebrity. He settled in Erie, Pennsylvania and eventually established his own company, Jarecki Industries. He married and had five children.

During our brief meeting, Jarecki was very congenial and told stories about his life in communist Poland and his adjustment in the United States. He particularly enjoyed telling me about all the movie stars he has met. I greatly enjoyed my first, and probably last, encounter with a genuine, history-making figure from the Cold War.

Kathleen Hanser is a Writer-Editor in the Office of Communications at the National Air and Space Museum.

Countdown to the Moon, Thursday, July 16

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Regular summer visitors to the National Air and Space Museum are familiar with the Museum’s popular event, Mars Day. This year, Mars is taking a backseat to allow us to honor the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing with Countdown to the Moon Day.

The Moon in 3-D. This anaglyph shows the area around the Apollo 11 landing site (yellow dot). It can be viewed in three dimensions using red/blue 3-D glasses (red lens over your left eye). More 3D images of the Moon (and glasses) will be on hand as well as staff scientists who will describe lunar geology and spacecraft landing site selection.

The day will be filled with interesting and fun hands-on activities. See the lunar landscape in 3-D; talk with scientists active in lunar research; learn about NASA’s new spacecraft for exploring the Moon; see the materials that protected astronauts on perilous re-entries; hear all about lunar dust; and talk to a geologist who has been a test driver of the new generation of lunar rovers. For youngsters ages 3-8, there will be Moon-related stories.

Meet Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean at Countdown to the Moon Day.

Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean in his studio.

As a special attraction, Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean will be on hand to welcome you to a new exhibition of his art and related artifacts, and sign copies of his book, Alan Bean: Painting Apollo, First Artist on Another World.

Don’t miss this opportunity to speak with the Museum’s experts on this day dedicated to the Moon!

Countdown to the Moon Day is on Thursday, July 16 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the National Mall Building in downtown Washington, DC.  Visit the Countdown to the Moon Day site for more 3D anaglyphs and event information.

Kathleen Hanser is a Writer-Editor in the Office of Communications at the National Air and Space Museum.

Insect Power

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The smallest model airplanes in the Museum collection, displayed here with inactive power sources. Smithsonian, National Air and Space Museum. Photograph by Eric Long.

When a colleague of ours, the curator of the model airplane collection, Tom Dietz, passed away recently, I was reminded of the time I spoke with him about two of the Museum’s model airplanes that I find most intriguing.

Designed and built by famed aircraft modeler Frank Ehling in the 1970s, they are the smallest flying models the Museum owns. But more unusual than their size is that they are powered by flies – yes, you heard right, houseflies, the insect. Constructed from balsa wood and red tissue paper, the one-fly design has a wingspan of two inches, and the two-fly version, which features a delta-wing design, is four inches wide. In both cases, contact cement was used to attach the live powerplant to the fuselage.

The Washington Post’s 2001 obituary of Ehling described the procedure for procuring the flies: “…Ehling honed an effective technique involving cupping a fly with his hands and then hurling it to the ground to knock it unconscious. He would then dab glue on its rear end, carefully avoiding its delicate wings, and attach the fly to the plane. He also was known to capture the fly, stick it in the freezer and glue it to the wood while it was immobile from the cold.

“Either way — as the fly gained consciousness or returned to room temperature — the winged insect would lift the model plane into the air.”

Theoretically, when the fly tired from its effort to stay airborne with the additional weight and drag of the airplane, the model would then glide to the ground.

The insect-powered airplanes are not currently on public display.

Maybe you would like to build an airplane piloted by a fly. Many kits (flies not included) are available online and you can find them by googling “fly-powered airplane.”

To learn more about the Museum’s unparalleled model aircraft collection, check out the book, On Miniature Wings: Model Aircraft of the National Air and Space Museum, by Thomas J. Dietz, with photographs by Eric Long.

Kathleen Hanser is a Writer-Editor in the Office of Communications at the National Air and Space Museum.