Little bit disappointed....

[scandtours]

Few days ago while I was in New York, I decided to visit also Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. to see the Bensen B-8M Gyrocopter named “Spirit of Kitty Hawk” and the B-6 Gyroglider built by Bensen in 1953.
Unfortunately when I arrived there, at the reception they told me that they had moved both gyros to another city 30 miles away from Washington. They had only a small model for display.
It is very rare that I get disappointed in my life and this was one of them.
Anyhow I had spent much time there taking hundreds of pictures. When I left it was already dark but…..I didn't see what I wanted to see (as per photo one) but fully satisfied of what i had seen.
Photo two is Washington Monument taken from the street while promenading back to the car park.

[WaspAir]

The display in the old black and white photo you attached is two museum buildings ago, when the collection was in the Arts and Industries building. I remember going through that cramped place to see the Spirit of St. Louis as a kid in the 1960s. The building you visited on the mall was opened to give NASM a better permanent home, but it is too small for some of the really big displays, and was always too small to show more than a tiny bit of the whole collection (much of which was stored, not open to viewing, in Silver Hill, Maryland).

Seven or eight years ago, they opened the Udvar-Hazy annex, which is at Washington's Dulles International Airport, located outside the city in Virginia. It's enormous, and has a huge portion of the collection that wasn't available to the public before. It has a Concorde, and SR-71, a Space Shuttle, and all sorts of good stuff to see, and isn't too hard to get to from D.C. by (ground / not space) shuttle.

[md3388]

First time I have tried to add a link, hope it works.

[md3388]

Research into rotor kites began in earnest during World War II, and one type in particular, the Focke Achgelis Fa 330, reached active service, being towed behind German U-boats as an aerial observation platform. In the United Kingdom, Raoul Hafner designed the Rotachute as a means of deploying paratroops, and a larger version, the Rotabuggy was trialled as a means of air-dropping a jeep, but neither of these aircraft progressed past the experimental stage. Plans to similarly equip a tank never left the drawing board.

During the 1950s, rotor kites were developed as recreational aircraft, largely due to the efforts of Dr. Igor Bensen in the United States, whose Bensen Aircraft Corporation produced a series of such aircraft, dubbed "gyrogliders" by Bensen. These were marketed as plans or kits for building at home, beginning with the B-5 and culminating with the B-8 by the end of the decade. The Bensen designs became so ubiquitous that the term "gyroglider" is sometimes used to refer to any rotor kite, regardless of manufacturer. In the 1960s, a B-8 gyroglider was evaluated by the United States Air Force as a "Discretionary Descent Vehicle", to provide a more controllable alternative than a parachute for a pilot ejecting from a stricken aircraft. (Picture is the German, Focke Achgelis FA 330. Rotor Kite)

[scandtours]

Originally Posted by md88

First time I have tried to add a link, hope it works.

Unfortunately it does not work for me.
Can it be this one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FA...achstelze2.jpg

[md3388]

Notice the orizontal stabilizer in the above picture. Source of above info. was Wikipedia.

[scandtours]

md88
Your last post and mine were send at exact same time 01.22 pm

[md3388]

Yes, Giorgos, that's it. I really messed up previous postings, sorry. Anyway, I really like this picture of German rotor kite. Typical German well enginered, high quality machine.

[NoWingsAttached]

Originally Posted by scandtours

Few days ago while I was in New York, I decided to visit also Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. to see the Bensen B-8M Gyrocopter named “Spirit of Kitty Hawk” and the B-6 Gyroglider built by Bensen in 1953.
Unfortunately when I arrived there, at the reception they told me that they had moved both gyros to another city 30 miles away from Washington. They had only a small model for display.
It is very rare that I get disappointed in my life and this was one of them.
Anyhow I had spent much time there taking hundreds of pictures. When I left it was already dark but…..I didn't see what I wanted to see (as per photo one) but fully satisfied of what i had seen.
Photo two is Washington Monument taken from the street while promenading back to the car park.

If you didn't make it out to the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center out at DUlles Airport when you were in WDC, you missed a tour of a lifetime. There are several examples of gyros, including the one towed behind Nazi Subs in WWII. The collection includes the Enola Gay!!! and the SR71 BlackHawk, along with a full scale shuttle craft, used for training.

If you make the trip to WDC, you MUST get out this outstanding museum. I was lucky enough to live 10-15 minutes away from it at one time, and the kids and I visited it over and over. The Smithsonian A&S Museum on the Mall is not to be missed, of course.

[scandtours]

Originally Posted by NoWingsAttached

If you didn't make it out to the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center out at DUlles Airport when you were in WDC, you missed a tour of a lifetime. There are several examples of gyros, including the one towed behind Nazi Subs in WWII. The collection includes the Enola Gay!!! and the SR71 BlackHawk, along with a full scale shuttle craft, used for training.

If you make the trip to WDC, you MUST get out this outstanding museum. I was lucky enough to live 10-15 minutes away from it at one time, and the kids and I visited it over and over. The Smithsonian A&S Museum on the Mall is not to be missed, of course.

I promise my next visit to U.S which will be soon will be a visit to all Smithsonian museums icluding Udvar-Hazy Center at D lles Airport.

One more thing guys, all american folks (and not only) must be proud of your country. You deserve it and we are proud of you...

[Kan Kustom]

Originally Posted by scandtours

I promise my next visit to U.S which will be soon will be a visit to all Smithsonian museums icluding Udvar-Hazy Center at D lles Airport.

One more thing guys, all american folks (and not only) must be proud of their country. They deserve it. I am proud of you...

Thank you for the compliment and you are a very good ambassador for your country. I hope you get to see everything that you want to see.You are already ahead of me and I live here.I have always wanted to go to the Smithsonian and have not made it yet. Have a safe trip home.