In article , Mike Lechnar
wrote:

Allen,

I visited the Hazy center last month and it's obvious that it's still a
work in progress. I hope that when they get everything sorted out that
the information presented will be up to NASM's usual high standards.
With the free shuttle bus from the Mall and listing in the guide books,
it looked to me like most of the visitors were the usual tourists. Back
in the day, only the truly hardcore made the arrangements to visit the
Garber facility. I did it twice in the last 22 years. It was good to
see some of the aircraft in the Hazy center that I'd seen being restored
or just stored at Garber. Being able to poke one's head into Enola
Gay's bomb bay as it sat in pieces was pretty cool. It's a lot prettier
to look at now, but not as much fun.

Mike Lechnar


Please don't get the idea that I think the museum is not worth a visit
it certainly is, and it is clearly a work in progress and given the
space they have maybe 30% done! I was just surprised that the display
board did not move out to Hazy with the FW-190 since it was already up
to the Smithsonians high standards and was pretty simple and
interesting addition to the airplane. It's really nice to see the A-6
is finally moved from alongside the hangar at Andrews out there but an
Intruder looks awfully lonely without some TERs and ordance so I'm sure
they'll find some.
Even with the shuttle from the mall I think it's a two day evolution
for the NASM and Hazy to be covered for a lot of people. So I'm
thinking the primary visitor may not be an airplane nut but will have a
bit more interest than the standard tourist. There's a whole lot to see
in DC just on the mall so I think it's a time commitment a lot won't
make (of course anyone reading this newsgroup will and should!)
I did the Garber facility four times over three years and was always
seeing things I'd not seen before so there's tons of neat stuff out
there.
Allen