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Sunday, December 28, 2014

The Air and Space Museum at Dulles, Virginia

If you like big machines, the Air and Space Museum at Dulles, Virginia is the place for you. Their collection includes both civilian and military aircraft, since the beginning of aviation to modern times. They also include some amazing items related to space travel such as capsules, space suits, satelites, etc, but pehaps the crown jewel of this museum is the recently retired Discovery Space Shuttle. In terms of military aircraft the collection covers all 20th century conflicts from WWI through the Cold War, and it includes not only domestic craft, but also some captured foreign planes. I have been to this Museum a few times, and every time I enjoy it as much as the first time. Below are some pictures I took during my most recent trip. Clearly, I have a bias towards the WWII items, but I also took a couple snapshots of some other cool things. Let's take a look.

British Hawker Hurricane IIC
British Hawker Hurricane IIC

British Westland Lysander IIIA
British Westland Lysander IIIA

German Arado Ar 234 B Blitz
German Arado Ar 234 B Blitz

German Dornier Do 335 A Pfeil
German Dornier Do 335 A Pfeil

German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F
German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F

German Fw 190 F, Ar 234 B and Do 335 A
German Fw 190 F, Ar 234 B and Do 335 A

German Heinkel He 219 A Uhu
German Heinkel He 219 A Uhu

German Junkers Ju-52
German Junkers Ju-52

German Messerschmitt Me 163 B-1a Komet
German Messerschmitt Me 163 B-1a Komet

Japanese Aichi M6AI Seiran
Japanese Aichi M6AI Seiran

Japanese Kawanishi NIK2-Ja Shiden Kai "George"
Japanese Kawanishi NIK2-Ja Shiden Kai "George"

Japanese Kawasaki Ki-45 KAI Toryu "Nick" under Aichi M6AI Seiran
Japanese Kawasaki Ki-45 KAI Toryu "Nick" under Aichi M6AI Seiran

Japanese Nakajima Jini-S Gekko "Irving" over Kugisho MXY7 Ohka Model 22
Japanese Nakajima Jini-S Gekko "Irving" over Kugisho MXY7 Ohka Model 22

US Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay
US Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay

US Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay
US Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay

US Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk
US Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk

US Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver
US Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver

US Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat
US Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat

US Lockheed P-38J Lightning
US Lockheed P-38J Lightning

US Northrop P-61C Black Widow
US Northrop P-61C Black Widow

US Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
US Republic P-47D Thunderbolt

US Vought F4U-ID Corsair
US Vought F4U-ID Corsair

US Vought-Sikorsky OS2U-3 Kingfisher
US Vought-Sikorsky OS2U-3 Kingfisher

The Concorde
The Concorde

Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird

Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery

The Marine Corps Museum at Quantico Virginia

The Marine Corps Museum, located in Quantico, Virginia, chronicles the history of this distinguished US military unit from its origins as a naval infantry detachment aboard colonial era ships charged with defending against or acting as a boarding party, as well as defending the captain against mutiny from sailors to its modern day deployments. The Museum is nicely done with many impressive and very well made life size dioramas, vehicles & weapons displays, videos, and lots of material to read as you go along. I recently visited it for a third time, and it was just as interesting as the first. This time I did take the opportunity to document some of its displays, namely those depicting the conflicts of the 20th century. Let's take a look. 

Marine Corps Museum Harrier fighter jet
Harrier fighter jet hanging at the main lobby. Note that the Marines have their own air units. 

Marine Corps Museum Helicopter Landing
Life-size diorama of a helicopter landing, something which became quite useful during the Vietnam War. 

Marine Corps Museum Helicopter Landing
Close up of the landing crew. Note the high level of detail on the figures. 

Marine Corps Museum Corsair
A WWII era Corsair.

Marine Corps Museum Amtrak Landng
A WWII diorama depicting an apmphibious landing. Could very likely be at Tarawa.

Marine Corps Museum Tarawa Wall
A wounded man taking cover against the sea wall. Hard to say that he is not real!

Marine Corps Museum Beach Landing
The men jumping off the Amtrak and charging off the beach.

Marine Corps Museum Beach Landing
Overcoming the seawall.

Marine Corps Museum Diorama
Urging the men to follow, despite the flying lead!

Marine Corps Museum Amtrak Landing
The Amtrak MG providing some covering fire. 

Marine Corps Museum Mexico City
A marine unit charging up a street in Mexico City during the war of 1847.

Marine Corps Museum
A rifled artillery piece. 

Marine Corps Museum
An early armored vehicle, of the WWI era.

Marine Corps Museum
Hand to hand fighting at Belleau Woods. 

Marine Corps Museum
Some German casualties at Belleau Woods. 

Marine Corps Museum
A WWI German MG08 Machine Gun.

Marine Corps Museum
WWII era medic tending to the wounded. 

Marine Corps Museum
An updated Browning MG -to be water cooled- being used in the Pacific as AA defense. 

Marine Corps Museum
A WWII Stuart tank.

Marine Corps Museum
WWII era US weapons.

Marine Corps Museum
Some more WWII era weapons. Note the flamethrower, which came in quite handy to deal with caves and bunkers in the Pacific. 

Marine Corps Museum
WWII era Japanese weapons.

Marine Corps Museum
Some more WWII Japanese weapons, including their portable MG and a light mortar. 

Marine Corps Museum
WWII Japanese Pistols.

Marine Corps Museum
WWII Anti Tank Gun.

Marine Corps Museum
A 1/16 scale (my estimate) diorama of the Tarawa landing. 

Marine Corps Museum Sherman Tank
WWII Sherman in action.

Marine Corps Museum Iwo Jima Flag
One of the famous flags flown over Iwo Jima.

Marine Corps Museum Garand
The standard issue M1 Garand.

Marine Corps Museum Pershing Tank
A Korean War Pershing Tank.

Marine Corps Museum
A landing craft such as the ones used at the Incheon landings during the Korean War

Marine Corps Museum
A Vietnam era artillery base.

Marine Corps Museum
A man evacuating a comrade.

Marine Corps Museum
A helicopter unloading cargo at the Vietnam era artillery base.

Marine Corps Museum
A more recent howitzer.