So... there I was, in place at the wonderful Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Aerospace museum all ready to take some really spiffy pics with my high-zoot dSLR... only to find the gotdamned camera was pretty much USELESS in the available light at the Udvar-Hazy annex. I pushed the ISO speed up to 1600, played around with various exposure and aperture settings and the results were simply frickin' abysmal. The ONLY way I could have gotten good photos using the SLR would have been to put it on a tripod and set the exposure for a few seconds or so... the lighting wasn't good enough to take hand-held shots without a LOT o' blur, and believe me: I tried.
So... enter the mePhone. You have no idea, Gentle Reader, of how absolutely PISSED I was when I saw that my $100.00 CELL PHONE took better pics than my SLR. So, that said... here are the first few pics from my day at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Annex, ALL o' which were shot with the mePhone. As always, click to embiggen.
We have more pics, believe it or don't... but it's late and I'm tired.
So... enter the mePhone. You have no idea, Gentle Reader, of how absolutely PISSED I was when I saw that my $100.00 CELL PHONE took better pics than my SLR. So, that said... here are the first few pics from my day at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Annex, ALL o' which were shot with the mePhone. As always, click to embiggen.
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| This is an astounding mural... view it full-size. |
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| Adversaries nose to nose: MiG-15 and F-86 Sabre |
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| Milliseconds before the mid-air: Curtiss P-40E and Vought F4U-1D Corsair |
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| Junkers Ju-52 in Lufthansa livery |
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| Another view of the Ju-52 |
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| Boeing 307 Stratoliner |
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| C-121 Constellation in West Virginia ANG livery |
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| Another view of the Connie |
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| Connie... meet Concorde. Concorde... this is Connie. |
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| The Stearman Kaydet, arguably the prettiest bi-plane ever built |
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| Another view of the Stearman |
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| A Jug under the wing of the Enola Gay |
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| An Okha Type 22 under a Nakajima bomber |
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| Arado Ar-234 jet bomber (WW II) |
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| The legendary Fw-190 |
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| Northrop N-1M prototype flying wing, c. 1940 |
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| Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk. BIG brass ones were required to fly this lil guy. |
So many planes; so little time! I think I could have spent lots of time viewing the planes. Years ago when we were in DC, we spent lots of time at the Air and Space Museum. At that time, we heard about this Smithsonian museum - I would love to see this one.
ReplyDeleteUdvar-Hazy has been on my list ever since it opened a few years ago. Like Alison sez below, I could go back today and tomorrow and still not see everything. They also have an IMAX theatre that's currently running four movies... you could spend all day in there!
DeleteHi Buck! Love these! I was able to visit the museum several years ago... my favorite section was the Apollo exhibit! I could have gone back two days in a row and not seen everything... the place is huge! Thanks for posting these!
ReplyDeleteA.
Hey Alison! As I said to Lou: I agree with you. I went over the space side of the museum lightly, airplanes being my "thing," but I'd go back if I had more time.
DeleteTook my Boy Scout troop to DC a few weeks ago. We had to make some hard choices where to spend our time and it almost brought a tear to my eye to have to skip this Cathedral of Aviation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pictures! I look forward to spending some time in this hallowed hall on the next trip.
Old Sailor from MN
I hear ya about choices, Tim. I've had to make some hard ones, too.
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DeleteEnjoy the time with family! It goes too quick, waaaay too quick.
That C-121 brings back some memories.
ReplyDeleteThe one I got personal with wore MATS livery and had backward facing seats.
Also was cramped enough, to make today's aircraft seem roomy.
Meals were served, but in a brown paper bag.
I never got to fly in a Connie but during the early years of my AF career I lived in fear of having to fly in the EC-121, what with me bein' a radar guy. If you scroll down to the "Operational Losses" at this link you'll see that those things fell out of the sky quite often.
DeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteJust wow.
You even have a P-61 in there.
Wow.
Just wow.
These are less than half of the pics I took, too. I have a better shot of that P-61 I'll put up.
DeleteTold you.
ReplyDeleteAnd way over there in a corner you can barely see is a space shuttle.
I love this place.
I'm glad you saw it too.
As noted above... I could have gone back and spent two full days there. The Smithsonian Air & Space museum (both campuses) truly is a national treasure.
DeleteAll I can think is...the place must be GIGANTIC and thensome! Loves me the Stearman but then again, I've flown in one and it is a singular experience.
ReplyDeleteThe place is huge, Kris, absolutely HUGE. I had concerns about my ability to "hang in there" but it all went well.
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