Trip Report August/September 2024

On Saturday 31st August my wife and I arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport for a one‑week city break vacation in Washington, D.C., the capital city and federal district of the United States.

The city which lies on the Pontomac River is steeped in history and full of historic neoclassical monuments and buildings, many of which are in the core area of the city and within walking distance of each other.

The White House. Official residence and workplace of the president of the United States on Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

Throughout the week we visited the following landmarks (to name a few): ‑  White House, Washington Monument, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, World War II Memorial, Union Station, Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial and the Capital Building.

Washington Monument. An obelisk built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States.

Lincoln Memorial. A memorial that honors the 16th president of the United States.

On Monday 2nd September we visited the U.S. Army's Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, which is one of two maintained by the United States Army. The cemetery is located across the Pontomac River from Washington, D.C. via the Memorial Bridge. We travelled there and back from our hotel by foot (round distance of approximately six miles from our hotel to the cemetery gates only). The cemetery covers an area of 639 acres and within its hallowed grounds is the final resting place of more than 400,000 military veterans (and their immediate family) some of whom sacrificed their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and the American Civil War. Within the cemetery grounds are several well‑known historic sites, including: ‑ Arlington House (former residence of Robert E. Lee), Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, gravesite of President John F. Kennedy and memorials to the Apollo 1 astronauts and the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia astronauts.

On Tuesday 3rd September we visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum located on the National Mall on Independence Avenue and 6th Street SW. The museum which opened in 1976 exhibits aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, rockets and other flight‑related artifacts. Entry to the museum is free but you have to reserve a free timed‑entry pass online which I advise book well in advance of your visit, as the same‑day passes go very quickly.

In 2018 the museum started a monumental large‑scale multi‑year renovation to transfrom the building and introduce 23 all new galleries and public spaces. The first eight galleries located in the West Wing opened in October 2022, but the remaining galleries and spaces in the East Wing were still closed to the public. They are due to reopen in phases from early 2025 through 2026. I was slightly disappointed because one exhibit I was hoping to see was the North American X‑15 #1 (AF Ser. No. 56‑6672) rocket‑powered research aircraft. The aircraft which was exhibited suspended from the ceiling is in storage till the remaining galleries are complete. One consolation was the Thiokol XLR‑99‑RM‑1 rocket motor which powered the X‑15 was on display in the Nation of Speed Gallery.

Aircraft hanging from the ceiling in the America by Air Gallery.

The following is a list of the eight new galleries: ‑
• Wright Brothers & the Invention of the Aerial Age ‑ Explores who the Wright Brothers were, what they achieved and how they did it. At the centre of the story exhibited in the gallery is the original 1903 Wright Flyer.
• Early Flight ‑ How from the time of the Wright Brothers flight in 1903 to the outbreak of World War 1 the aeroplane has developed into a technology that would create an aerial age.
• Thomas W. Haas, We All Fly ‑ Explores the many facets of general aviation and its impact on society ‑ from sport to business to humanitarian.
• America by Air ‑ Traces the history of commercial aviation in the United States from airmail to airlines.
• Nation of Speed ‑ How human ingenuity and technology has developed to propel people faster and faster.
• Destination Moon ‑ The motivation, resources and technologies which made it possible for humans to walk on the Moon. Exhibits include: ‑ Mercury capsule Freedom 7. Gemini VII capsule. Apollo II command and service module Columbia (only portion of the Apollo 11 spacecraft to return to Earth) and the spacesuit worn by Neil Armstrong during his mission the the Moon.
• One World Connected ‑ How aviation and spaceflight has transformed how the Earth came to be viewed and understood as an interconnected world. The gallery features an array of satellites and other tools that have increased human connection.
• Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets ‑ Probes the science and history of our exploration of planets and moons.

Apollo 11 command and service module Columbia in the Destination Moon Gallery.

On Thursday 5th September we visited the Steven F. Udvar‑Hazy Center which is the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum annex at Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. The museum which opened in 2003 consists of two hangars ‑ The Boeing Aviation Hangar and the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar. The museum has a vast collection of aviation and space artifacts, many of which are too large to be shown at the museum in the city. Among the many aircraft exhibited which date from the early years of flight through to the Space Age are: ‑ Boeing B‑29 Superfortress, Enola Gay. Only surviving German Dornier Do 335 Pfeil and Arado Ar 234. Boeing Dash 80 (prototype Boeing 707 airliner). Lockheed SR‑71 Blackbird. Lockheed Martin X‑35 Joint Strike Fighter (prototype of the F‑35 Lightning II) and the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Space Shuttle Discovery exhibited in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar.

Adjoining the main hangars is the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar. The hangar is spacious enough to accomodate several aircraft at one time and has a second floor viewing area where visitors can observe the restoration specialists working on them.

As the museum has such a vast collection of military and civilian aircraft on display, I prioritised capturing photos of the military aircraft first. I captured most aircraft, but not all, as sometimes I found it time consuming trying to get an unobstructed view of the aircraft with the ideal lighting. I prefer not to have people in the photos, so waiting for people to move out of camera frame also took time, sometimes which was not possible.

A small selection of exhibits in the Boeing Aviation Hangar.

The camera equipment I used on this trip was a Canon EF 24‑70mm f/4L USM lens mounted on a Canon R5 mirrorless camera via a Canon EF‑EOS R Mount Adaptor. I did not take a tripod or flash as the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and the annex at Dulles prohibit the use of tripods, monopods, selfie sticks or similar devices as a preventative measure to protect visitors and the exhibits. This made photography challenging as many of the galleries had subdued lighting which meant I was using a high ISO for a slow shutter speed. This is where the Canon R5 truly excelled with its 5‑Axis In‑Body Image Stabilisation (IBIS) system which is compatible with my EF optically stabilised lens. I could capture a sharp image handheld at a shutter speed of 1/5th second and slower. Any noise evident in the photos due to high ISO was sorted using Topaz Labs DeNoise AI.

During the visit to Dulles my camera lens started to malfunction. I started to get an “Err 01” warning message stating: “Communication between the camera and lens is faulty. Clean the lens contacts”. I removed the lens, cleaned the contacts and changed the battery, but the message kept appearing. After some testing I realised the error was only appearing when I had the lens zoomed between approximately 40‑55mm focal length. Thankfully the error did not impact my visit too much as it happened towards the end of the day. After doing some research I concluded the problem could be with the flex cable ribbon, which seems to be a relatively common problem with this style/model of lens. My next step is to get the lens inspected and the fault diagnosed and decide whether it's worth the cost of repairing or put the money towards a dedicated RF lens for my mirrorless camera.