Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Picture a hall where you turn once on the spot and see the fastest jet of its day, the aircraft of Hiroshima, a Concorde and a Space Shuttle. That is exactly what the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, is. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum built a hall here on the edge of Washington Dulles Airport that is big enough for everything that never had room in the original building on the National Mall. And because the museum stands right at the airport, an observation tower overlooking live operations comes with it.

Why a second hall was needed

The National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington is one of the most visited museums in the world. But there was one thing it never managed: showing really big aircraft. A long-range bomber, an airliner or an orbiter does not fit into a building in the middle of the city. For decades, many of these objects were therefore kept in storage in Suitland, Maryland, or even stood outdoors.

The solution took a long time to prepare. According to the available information, planning took around 15 years before the new building at Dulles Airport stood. A decisive factor was a $65 million donation in October 1999: it came from Steven F. Udvar-Házy, a Hungarian-born entrepreneur and co-founder of the aircraft lessor International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). The building is named after him. The design came from the architecture firm HOK.

The Udvar-Hazy Center opened on December 15, 2003, two days before the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight. The story of that flight is told in the article on the Wright brothers. In a second construction phase, the restoration hangar, the archive and a conservation lab were added later; in 2010 the museum’s restoration workshops moved here.

How the museum is laid out

The site covers around 71,000 square meters in total. The centerpiece is the Boeing Aviation Hangar at just over 27,000 square meters. The hall is so tall that aircraft here do not just stand on the floor but hang in several levels under the roof. Walkways at mid-height let you see smaller aircraft almost at eye level.

Attached is the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar, which is built around Space Shuttle Discovery. In addition there are the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, the archive, the Airbus IMAX Theater and the Donald D. Engen Observation Tower. A dedicated taxiway connects the museum to the airport – which is how large exhibits like the Concorde, the Dash 80 and the SR-71 arrived under their own power.

According to the Smithsonian, the site shows more than 3,000 objects, including over 200 aircraft and spacecraft. Exactly which aircraft stands where changes with restorations and loans. If you are traveling for one particular exhibit, check the museum’s online collection first.

The three icons

SR-71 Blackbird: the record breaker

Most visitors stop here first: the black, flat fuselage of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird in the Boeing Aviation Hangar. The airframe with serial number 61-7972 flew around 2,800 hours in 24 years of service with the US Air Force, according to the Smithsonian.

It secured its place in history on its last flight. On March 6, 1990, Lieutenant Colonels Ed Yeilding and Joseph Vida flew the aircraft from Los Angeles to Washington. The trip took them 1 hour, 4 minutes and 20 seconds – an average of around 3,400 kilometers per hour. After landing at Dulles, they handed the aircraft straight over to the National Air and Space Museum. You can find its reconnaissance colleague from the same workshop in the profile of the Lockheed U-2, and more about today’s group in the portrait of Lockheed Martin.

For your log, the serial number is the entry that matters. How US military serials are structured and what the digits mean is explained in the article on US military serials.

Enola Gay: a difficult exhibit

Just a few steps further on stands the Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay.” On August 6, 1945, under the command of Colonel Paul Tibbets, it dropped the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. Three days later, on the mission against Nagasaki, it flew ahead as a weather reconnaissance aircraft. Tibbets had named the aircraft after his mother.

The aircraft was built at a Glenn L. Martin plant in Omaha, Nebraska. It came into the Smithsonian’s possession in 1949, then stood outdoors at Andrews Air Force Base for years and was taken apart in 1960. The restoration began in 1984 and, according to the museum, took around 300,000 work hours – the most extensive in its history. In spring and summer 2003, the restorers put the fuselage and wings back together in the new hall for the first time since 1960. Since then the Enola Gay has been on display here fully assembled, propped up on supports about 2.4 meters high, according to the museum. With a wingspan of just over 43 meters, it would never have fit in the building on the National Mall.

The aircraft is no ordinary display piece. In the 1990s its presentation was the subject of a heated public debate in the US, and for many people – not only in Japan – it is above all a memorial. Take time for the accompanying texts before you reach for your camera.

Space Shuttle Discovery

In the Space Hangar, a single object dominates: Space Shuttle Discovery. According to the Smithsonian, the orbiter flew 39 missions, spent a total of 365 days in space and covered almost 240 million kilometers – more than any other shuttle. It entered service in 1984 as the third orbiter, and in 2011 it flew the program’s 133rd mission as its last. In April 2012 the Smithsonian took over Discovery after the orbiter had flown over Washington on the back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Until then, the test orbiter Enterprise stood in its place.

Capsules, satellites and rockets are grouped around the shuttle, including Gemini 4 and Gemini VII. For aviation fans with no focus on spaceflight, the hangar is still worth it: seeing the scale of the orbiter up close is an experience in itself.

Civil aviation: Concorde, Dash 80 and Stratoliner

Air France Concorde “Fox Alpha”

Civil aviation is prominently represented at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Right at the front: the Concorde F-BVFA of Air France, known among spotters as “Fox Alpha.” It first flew in October 1975 and logged around 17,800 flight hours in scheduled service. On June 12, 2003, it landed one last time – at Dulles, from where it taxied straight into the museum. That makes it one of the few supersonic airliners you can see up close in North America. The full story of the type is in the article on the Concorde.

Boeing 367-80 “Dash 80”

Less conspicuous, but at least as important for aviation history, is the Boeing 367-80, known as the “Dash 80,” with registration N70700. The prototype first flew on July 15, 1954 and became the starting point of the Boeing 707 – and with it the jet age in scheduled service. Test pilot Tex Johnston’s performance is legendary: in August 1955 he rolled the aircraft twice around its longitudinal axis over Lake Washington in Seattle. Boeing donated the aircraft to the Smithsonian in 1972; on August 27, 2003, it flew one last time to Dulles. Why the 707 changed air travel so fundamentally is told in the article on the Boeing 707. You can find more about the manufacturer in the portrait of Boeing.

Stratoliner and Constellation

Two more stars come from the propeller era. The Boeing 307 Stratoliner was one of the first airliners with a pressurized cabin; the example in the museum is the only surviving one and once flew as “Clipper Flying Cloud” for Pan Am. Next to it stands a Lockheed Constellation in the military C-121 version with the typical triple vertical stabilizer. If you are interested in this era, read the article on the Lockheed Constellation and on the history of Pan Am.

Alongside them you find record and adventure aircraft like the “Spirit of Columbus,” in which Jerrie Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world in 1964, Steve Fossett’s Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer and the human-powered Gossamer Albatross.

Military aviation: from the Corsair to the Tomcat

The larger part of the Boeing Aviation Hangar belongs to military aviation. From World War II there are, among others, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning with its distinctive twin fuselage and a Vought F4U-1D Corsair with bent wings. From the Cold War, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat with its swing wings catches the eye – for many visitors the navy aircraft since “Top Gun.”

Two one-of-a-kind pieces from Germany are especially interesting for German visitors. The Arado Ar 234 “Blitz” was the first operational jet bomber, and the example at the Udvar-Hazy Center is the only surviving one. The same goes for the Dornier Do 335 “Pfeil” with its unusual drive of a tractor and a pusher propeller. Both aircraft made their way to the US after the war. More about the history of the manufacturer Dornier is shown by the Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen.

If you want to tell historic types apart reliably – especially propeller aircraft that look alike at first glance – the article Spotting vintage aircraft in the sky helps.

The restoration hangar

A visit to the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar shows you the other side of museum work. From a raised gallery you look down into the workshop where specialists repair, reconstruct and conserve aircraft and objects. Which aircraft are in progress changes – sometimes it is a World War II fighter, sometimes part of a larger aircraft. For photographers this is a rare opportunity: disassembled fuselages, exposed structures and details you never see on finished displays.

How volunteers around the world help with projects like these is described in the article on volunteering in aviation museums.

Spotting from the observation tower

What sets the Udvar-Hazy Center apart from almost all other large aviation museums is its location. The museum stands on the grounds of Washington Dulles Airport, one of the major hubs on the East Coast and an important base of United Airlines. From the Donald D. Engen Observation Tower you get a 360-degree view of the surroundings, according to the museum, and can follow takeoffs and landings at Dulles. Tips on vantage point, light and gear are collected on the spot page Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport.

Do not expect a photo position like at an airport fence. You shoot through glass, and depending on the runway direction in use, the movements are rather far away. But for overview shots and for watching the traffic the tower is ideal – and after a day with museum aircraft, it feels good to see what is flying today.

Photography in the hall

The hall is a dream for aviation fans and a challenge for photographers. The aircraft stand close together, many hang from the ceiling, and the light is a mix of daylight and artificial light. A few basic rules help:

• Wide angle first: For big aircraft like the Enola Gay or the Concorde you need wide angle more than telephoto. Even then, often only part of the aircraft fits in the frame.
• Use the walkways: From the raised levels you get perspectives on the tops of fuselages and on groups of hanging aircraft that are impossible from the floor.
• Details instead of overall views: On the SR-71, close-ups of the engine inlets and surfaces pay off; on the Concorde, the nose and the landing gear.
• Manual white balance: Mixed light creates color casts. Shoot in RAW, then you can correct later.
• Follow the rules: What is allowed in terms of tripods and other gear is governed by the Smithsonian’s visitor conditions. Read them beforehand or ask at the entrance.

Planning your visit

According to the museum, the Udvar-Hazy Center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and closed only on December 25 (as of October 2026). Admission is free, and you do not need timed-entry tickets like at the original building on the National Mall. For parking, the museum charges $15 on its own website for arrival before 4 p.m.

By car, you reach the museum via Air and Space Museum Parkway in Chantilly. Without a car, take the Silver Line Metro to the Innovation Center station and change there to the Fairfax Connector bus 983, which stops at the museum. According to the museum, the bus runs only every 25 to 60 minutes depending on the day – plan your trip there and back with the current schedule.

If you are coming from Europe, you may land at Dulles anyway. Then the museum visit can be combined with a layover or the first day of the trip. Basics on entry, rental cars and spotting rules over there are in the articles Plane spotting trip to the USA and Plane spotting in the USA.

Washington as an aviation destination

The Udvar-Hazy Center is only one half of the Smithsonian’s offering. The original building on the National Mall in Washington shows the Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St. Louis, among others, in thematic galleries. For both buildings together you need at least two days.

Then there is spotting of the classic kind: at Reagan National Airport in the city, Gravelly Point is one of the best-known spots in the US (background in the blog post on Gravelly Point), where aircraft on approach thunder right over your head. If you want to extend your US trip, you will find more major aviation museums across the country: the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, the Museum of Flight in Seattle and the Intrepid Museum in New York. In Europe, the only SR-71 on display outside the US is at IWM Duxford.

Conclusion

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the museum where the Smithsonian can finally show its big pieces – and what pieces they are. The SR-71, which crossed the continent in just over an hour, the Enola Gay as a haunting testimony of the atomic age, Discovery as the most-flown orbiter, plus Concorde, the Dash 80 and one-of-a-kind aircraft you will not find anywhere else.

That all of this comes with free admission and a view of a major international airport makes the Udvar-Hazy Center a must-visit for any aviation trip to the US East Coast. Plan your trip, bring wide angle and telephoto, and reserve at least half a day.