>But it may be worth pointing out that this annex to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is out by Dulles and not very convenient for visitors to access.
It's also the better campus IMO. The one in DC is basically a speed run of the stuff you see in a kids book that just highlights all the "firsts". The one at Dulles has all the cool displays of big or technologically unique stuff.
I agree access isn't great if you're trying to shoehorn it into a visit to all the typical DC monuments type stuff.
Having been a frequent patron of both while living in DC: my opinion is that the Udvar-Hazy center has a much better collection, but I'd argue the NASM on the Mall is the better museum. There's a lot more information and things to learn versus just relying on the presence of artifacts.
I felt that I had to take a guided tour at the Udvar-Hazy center in order to get the full experience.
Those guided tours are so good though! You can learn so many cool stories and details and it's a different experience every time, so it's always fun to go back.
Oh, I don't disagree. Though it took me ages to get there because I sort of needed to arrange a long enough layover in Dulles to grab an Uber and spend a few hours.
You need a lot of space for a really good aviation museum. It's no coincidence that the one in the Seattle area is on a Boeing campus near their big plant.
Yeah it's impractical to have a big aviation museum in a downtown, the planes just take up so much space. Another really good one is the Air Force museum in Dayton Ohio.
It's also the better campus IMO. The one in DC is basically a speed run of the stuff you see in a kids book that just highlights all the "firsts". The one at Dulles has all the cool displays of big or technologically unique stuff.
I agree access isn't great if you're trying to shoehorn it into a visit to all the typical DC monuments type stuff.