When I first made a model of an Air France Concorde jet way back in 1977, I had never even imagined that I would see it one day. Unexpectedly, a visit to the United States in August 2022 turned this into a reality when I visited Washington DC where my long time friend Srinivas took us to the Smithsonian Institute of Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center. Here I was most delighted to see this huge and beautiful jet from very close range, the very one that had its last flight before being withdrawn from service on 23 Nov 2003. More details on the unique supersonic jet and of the museum are available on the web. It produced a sonic boom, so it flew at a height of 60,000 feet only transoceanic.
Entrance
There it is, the Air France Concorde. Look at it!
Its unique nozzle and cockpit, seen from above
Nearly under it, next to the huge wheels
Here was also the Space Shuttle Discovery, that had spent 365 hours in space on its several visits. Standing under its huge barrel like exhaust outlets was a thrill.
Front portion view
Rear portion view
Above is the model I made from balsa wood, keeping a picture of it from a magazine as the basis, in 1977. I have a separate post on its making here: [Click]
State of Virginia is very close to Washington DC and this is located in this state. This is one place one will remember for a long time, if visited. I will, thanks to my dear friend Srinivas. It's only here we get to see such things under one roof.
~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
1 comment:
So, you went to Washington DC,visited this oe of many Smithsonian cluster of museums; the 2 you have focused here-the Concorde and the Space Shuttle, both had had disatrous ending The ramifications as a result are huge and significant. There as yet, no supersonic passenger jet liners. The NASA uses the old technology of multi-stage rocket.
If you really wanted to see the inventions that changed the lives of humans, you should have visited,in the Smithsonian cluster: The National Museum of American History, where you could see the successful inventions by Morse, Edison and Bell.
By the way, I had travelled on the flights of Air France Concorde and British Airways Concorde, many times. It was not a comfortable journey every time, sitting inside a narrow tube. Yes, when the aircraft broke the sound barrier, it was felt, but other than that,reaching the US less than 3 hours from Europe, for time-critical journey where, the return had to be within the same day. To avail of this opportunity, one needed a non-Indian passport, I had one, so that at the immigration gate in the US, one is waved through. Indian passports are scrutinised for long and the queue involved was huge, defeating the very purpose of the quick journey.
I can see for Indians/Mysoreans sitting in KR Puram for example,Concorde and Space Suttle sounded great!
If you want to learn why the Space Shuttle was a disatrous technology, watch the You Tune where the brilliant Nobel Laureate Richrd Feynman demonstrates why the Challenger exploded. That issuez, he raised is not addressed yet even after these years.
Post a Comment