DC flying trip with Charlie 2001
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In March 2001 Charlie Davis & I took about a week and flew up to Maryland in his plane. We stayed in Frederick, MD, the home of our flying organization, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, or AOPA. We checked out Baltimore, DC, and on the way back stopped on the Outer Banks.
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Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum is incredible. Even more incredible, we found a free parking space right next to the building (it was Sunday). Where else can you find numerous famous aircraft, including a DC-3, hanging from the ceiling? The museum is probably best known for its collection of one-of-a-kind aircraft, like the Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St Louis.
We also went to Suitland, MD where we toured the Garber Restoration Facility. This is where the Smithsonian preserves and restores the aircraft that will go on display. This was definitely a nuts & bolts tour, 3 hours of aviation facts and trivia. There are hundreds of aircraft and thousands of parts, including several refrigerated rooms there they keep degradable items like oxygen masks and rubber parts.
The most interesting aircraft we saw was a meticulously restored Japanese Aichi Sieran floatplane from WW2. After Dolittle's raid on Tokyo, the Japanese wanted to find some way to strike back at US cities like New York and Washington. They designed and built 3 huge submarines that had watertight hangers. Each hangar held 3 airplanes, each plane carrying several hundred pounds of bombs. The wings folded back and the floats were detached. The idea was to surface off the coast, attach the floats and wings, hoist the planes into the water, and launch them. This process was only supposed to take 7 minutes for each aircraft. Luckily, the system wasn't deployed until late into the war. In fact, the submarines were enroute to intercept the Allied fleet assembling for the invasion of Japan when the war ended. The Japanese orders were to dump all the planes into the ocean, which they did. Only 2 were left at the factory. One disappeared, and the other is the one at the Smithsonian.
The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum is incredible. Even more incredible, we found a free parking space right next to the building (it was Sunday). Where else can you find numerous famous aircraft, including a DC-3, hanging from the ceiling? The museum is probably best known for its collection of one-of-a-kind aircraft, like the Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St Louis.
We also went to Suitland, MD where we toured the Garber Restoration Facility. This is where the Smithsonian preserves and restores the aircraft that will go on display. This was definitely a nuts & bolts tour, 3 hours of aviation facts and trivia. There are hundreds of aircraft and thousands of parts, including several refrigerated rooms there they keep degradable items like oxygen masks and rubber parts.
The most interesting aircraft we saw was a meticulously restored Japanese Aichi Sieran floatplane from WW2. After Dolittle's raid on Tokyo, the Japanese wanted to find some way to strike back at US cities like New York and Washington. They designed and built 3 huge submarines that had watertight hangers. Each hangar held 3 airplanes, each plane carrying several hundred pounds of bombs. The wings folded back and the floats were detached. The idea was to surface off the coast, attach the floats and wings, hoist the planes into the water, and launch them. This process was only supposed to take 7 minutes for each aircraft. Luckily, the system wasn't deployed until late into the war. In fact, the submarines were enroute to intercept the Allied fleet assembling for the invasion of Japan when the war ended. The Japanese orders were to dump all the planes into the ocean, which they did. Only 2 were left at the factory. One disappeared, and the other is the one at the Smithsonian.
Baltimore
Charlie & I went to Baltimore and walked around the Inner Harbor, a nicely restored, if heavily touristed area of the city. We also toured Ft McHenry which, as everyone knows, is where James Madison wrote the Constitution during the Boston Tea Party. OK, maybe it was where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner during the War of 1812. There is still a humongous flag flying there (almost as big as the ones they fly at Texas car dealerships).
Charlie & I went to Baltimore and walked around the Inner Harbor, a nicely restored, if heavily touristed area of the city. We also toured Ft McHenry which, as everyone knows, is where James Madison wrote the Constitution during the Boston Tea Party. OK, maybe it was where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner during the War of 1812. There is still a humongous flag flying there (almost as big as the ones they fly at Texas car dealerships).
Rural Maryland
We drove around rural Maryland and saw several small towns and numerous dairy farms. We toured Antietam National Battlefield, the scene of the bloodiest single day of battle during the Civil War. Over 23,000 men were killed or injured there. The Confederates under Lee almost held "Bloody Lane", but eventually the Union troops overran them. After the battle, the road itself was not visible; It was estimated that the bodies lay 3 deep. The "Burnside Bridge" is where many Union troops died needlessly because of General Burnside's gross incompetence.
We drove around rural Maryland and saw several small towns and numerous dairy farms. We toured Antietam National Battlefield, the scene of the bloodiest single day of battle during the Civil War. Over 23,000 men were killed or injured there. The Confederates under Lee almost held "Bloody Lane", but eventually the Union troops overran them. After the battle, the road itself was not visible; It was estimated that the bodies lay 3 deep. The "Burnside Bridge" is where many Union troops died needlessly because of General Burnside's gross incompetence.
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Outer Banks
On the way back to Orlando we flew along the Outer Banks, a beautiful series of islands dotted with picturesque lighthouses. We stopped at First Flight airport in Kill Devil Hills where the Wright Brothers made their historic flights. (Kitty Hawk was the nearest town with a telegraph and where news of the historic flight was first reported, so that's why everybody thinks that was the location of the first flight.) There is a small museum there, a monument to Wilbur & Orville, and some markers showing where the first successful heavier-than-air flights took place.
Continuing down the Outer Banks, we stayed in Cape Hatteras where the people are very friendly, but the wind howls. There weren't any rental cars available (they just don't have them), but that was OK since the hotel just let us use their truck. The next day we flew back to Orlando. What a great trip!
On the way back to Orlando we flew along the Outer Banks, a beautiful series of islands dotted with picturesque lighthouses. We stopped at First Flight airport in Kill Devil Hills where the Wright Brothers made their historic flights. (Kitty Hawk was the nearest town with a telegraph and where news of the historic flight was first reported, so that's why everybody thinks that was the location of the first flight.) There is a small museum there, a monument to Wilbur & Orville, and some markers showing where the first successful heavier-than-air flights took place.
Continuing down the Outer Banks, we stayed in Cape Hatteras where the people are very friendly, but the wind howls. There weren't any rental cars available (they just don't have them), but that was OK since the hotel just let us use their truck. The next day we flew back to Orlando. What a great trip!
