Trip report

[aray]

I promised a trip report from last Saturday’s visit to the National Air & Space Museum Annex (not the main NASM on the DC Mall), to the NRA Museum, and to the NRA Range. I’m breaking this up into three different posts due to the post limit of five pictures per post. Obviously I can’t do the museums justice, so instead I focused in on some highlights of interest to me.

First up: the Enola Gay, the airplane that dropped the first atomic bomb (“Little Boy”) over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. They did a fantastic job of restoring the airplane – the aluminum is buffed to a mirror finish and the windows in the front are crystal clear. You can get very close to it, which is good news and bad news. The good news is obvious; the bad news is that people try to “blame the tool” (sound familiar?) and have tried to damage the airplane in protest several times. Indeed while there I observed a golf ball sized ding in the side of an otherwise perfectly smooth airframe. They’ve had to construct a Plexiglas shield to separate the visitors from the plane at the point of closest approach – a modification unique in the museum. In addition two docents were standing right by the plane – to answer questions of course but I’m also sure to help protect the plane against further protests as well.

Interesting personal tie-in: my father was on a troop transport ship going through the Panama Canal on his way to be part of the ground assault against the main island of Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped and the war ended. At the time he was in the Seabees, which historically had very high casualty rates. So I might not even have been born had it not been for the atomic bombs forcing a rapid conclusion of the war.

In the same area is the Langley aerodrome. Interesting bit of trivia for airplane history buffs. Samuel Pierpont Langley was the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and was among those trying to build a flying machine. Two attempts were made in 1903 with both ending in a crash. The aerodrome flew "like a handful of mortar," according to one reporter. Nine days after the second crash, two high school dropouts from Ohio who ran a bicycle repair shop flew into history with four flights in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

This of course was a major embarrassment to the Smithsonian Institution. And although Langley himself accepted it with grace, the Smithsonian did not. After Langley passed away in 1906, his good friend and successor Charles Walcott tried to redeem Langley’s and the Smithsonian’s reputations. Enter Glenn Curtis, who wanted to break the Wright brothers patents, and build airplanes of his own for sale. Having learned the principles of controlled flight from the Wrights, the Smithsonian made Langley’s original aerodrome available to Curtis, who in turn secretly and substantially modified the device in almost 100 different ways, and then publically flew it.

The Smithsonian’s 1914 and 1915 annual reports then lied and said the Langley aerodrome had been flown "without modification” and "the tests thus far made have shown that former Secretary Langley had succeeded in building the first aeroplane capable of sustained free flight with a man”. Other Smithsonian publications echoed the same theme. The final insult was when the Smithsonian Institution put the aerodrome on display with the inscription "the first man-carrying aeroplane in the history of the world capable of sustained flight”.

The original Wright flyer, the real first airplane in the world, was then sent to the London Science Museum, where America might have lost it forever. As the last surviving brother, Orville placed in his will a stipulation that the flyer would remain in London unless the Smithsonian retracted its fraudulent claims. Four decades passed before the Smithsonian backed down, and then only in response to public embarrassment after Orville’s will had been made public.

Finally, they published a list of the modifications, and retracted their claims, but not long before Orville died. The executors of Orville’s will agreed to have the flyer placed under the stewardship of the Smithsonian 45 years to the day from the only day it flew – but with several stipulations. One condition of the sale/lease (for $1) is that the Wright flyer always be displayed with the following sign, which if removed or altered, would cause ownership of the flyer to revert back to the Wright family estate. The sign, on display at the Mall NASM alongside of the Wright flyer reads:

THE ORIGINAL WRIGHT BROTHERS AEROPLANE
THE WORLD'S FIRST POWER-DRIVEN,
HEAVIER-THAN-AIR MACHINE IN WHICH MAN
MADE FREE, CONTROLLED, AND SUSTAINED FLIGHT
INVENTED AND BUILT BY WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT
FLOWN BY THEM AT KITTY HAWK, NORTH CAROLINA
DECEMBER 17, 1903
BY ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH THE WRIGHT BROTHERS
DISCOVERED THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN FLIGHT
AS INVENTORS, BUILDERS, AND FLYERS THEY
FURTHER DEVELOPED THE AEROPLANE,
TAUGHT MAN TO FLY, AND OPENED
THE ERA OF AVIATION

Moral of the story: Don’t believe everything you read or hear. Even if something as "reputable" and as “world class” as the Smithsonian Institution says it is true.

This is getting longer than I anticipated so I’ll make the other three points brief.

The space shuttle on display is the Enterprise, which was used by NASA in drop tests to ensure it would function as a glider on its return to earth. I understand that once the entire fleet is retired shortly, that one of the shuttles that actually went into space will be taking its place, and the Enterprise will be made available to another museum.

The fourth picture is my favorite plane from an aesthetic perspective: the SR-71. I think it is just the coolest looking plane on the planet – looks like three paper towel tubes connected by a razor blade. Even to this day the height and speed records it set remain classified. And the intelligence secrets it provided to the nation during the Cold War were simple invaluable towards keeping the peace.

Finally, a piece of one of the airplanes recovered from the terrorist hijackings that flew into the World Trade Centers on 9/11. A somber reminder of why we must always remain vigilant. Count me not among those who have forgotten, among those who have grown weary, among those more concerned about offending feelings than protecting lives, among those who deny evil.

[O'Dell]

The 'Enterprise' used to be in the Museum in Huntsville. I saw it there back in the 80's. Looks like they cleaned it up a bit.

[aray]

By the time we got over to the NRA HQS, we only had an hour to tour the NRA Firearms Museum. Tip to others: that is so not enough time!

Oh my goodness. You walk in to the very first room and are just blown away with the quality of the artifacts. Gold, silver, mother of pearl, and all manner of inlaid material are woven together by world-class craftsmen to produce not just functioning firearms, but unquestioned master works of art as well.

Believe it or not I didn’t even try to take photographs of those guns. My poor photographic skills just wouldn’t do them justice. You need a professional photographer to do them right.

I did take a photo of Anne Oakley’s shotgun and pistol. Having a young daughter in tow, I was trying to show her that even girls could enjoy firearms and be a good shot. (Little did I know how prophetic those words would turn out to be an hour later when we went to the range – see next post.)

I also enjoyed seeing the early Gatlin guns display. Dunno why; I guess it was just the raw power of the things that interested me.

And here are a couple of pieces of American history. The 1620 Mayflower was important not only as an early settlement of America, but also because of the early Bill of Rights and Governance that became known as the Mayflower Compact. In addition, the scant harvest and poor productivity resulting from their early experiments in what would later be called socialism, and their rescue from starvation and deprivation by private property and free markets are an important lesson for us today. In that group of hardy souls was John Alden, one of the Pilgrim leaders of the Plymouth colony. Amazingly, someone thought to preserve his .66 caliber Italian wheel-lock carbine through all of the generations, and we can enjoy seeing this on display in the NRA Museum today.

Of similar historic significance to American history is “the shot heard round the world”. In 1775 British General Thomas Gage, in command of 4,000 Redcoat troops, aggravated the local population around Boston by confiscation of civilian firearms, which eventually enraged the local population to the point of armed insurrection. Well we all know what happened next. One of the firearms thought to be used on that fateful day is on display here. What great history of key events in American history, as seen through the use of firearms…

The final photo in this section is of the most monstrously long gun I have ever seen. The display said it was 77 inches long, and used in fowl hunting over the Chesapeake Bay. They claimed that it could take down as many as 100 birds in one shot.

[aray]

On my final posting I’m adding the “Hollywood guns” portion of the NRA Firearms Museum in with a range report, to spread out the 5 photo limit per posting.

Lots of cool prop guns and other Hollywood memorabilia on display to include: a gun used in Terminator 3, one of the guns John Wayne used in the original “True Grit”, Dirty Harry’s badge, and Obi Wan Kenobi’s light saber. They also had the Maltese Falcon “the stuff dreams are made of” on display (loaned from an anonymous owner).

Over to the range. The addition of my wife & kid were last minute changes. I had planned to go over there and check it out while in the area, but also to accomplish two other goals: 1) fire off my Uzi since it had been several years since I had scheduled a “play date” for myself with this toy, and 2) experiment with some different self defense ammunition than what I had been carrying to date in my CW9.

Let’s just say things didn’t go exactly according to plans.

My wife didn’t want to shoot. She was content to sit in the waiting room area and play with her iPad. My daughter, however, wanted to go out on the range. This sorta surprised me, since her only previous experience was firing a 22 (which she liked) and one of my Beretta 92Fs (which she did not like). The 9mm handgun turned out to be a bit much for her and she wouldn’t even touch my CW9.

But she wanted to try the Uzi (semiautomatic only) after I assured her that the recoil would be much less, due to the greater mass of the gun. I fired a couple of rounds to show her how it was done, showed her the different sights on that gun, and then turned it over to her:

Pop (pause)
Pop (pause)
Pop (pause)
Pop (pause)
Pop (pause)

(long pause)

Pop pop pop pop pop poppoppoppoppoppoppoppoppoppop

“Dad, I need another magazine loaded”

Repeat above sequence

“Why haven’t you reloaded yet?”

Repeat again

And so on.

Ya know - it’s really amazing how quickly one can blow through an entire 50 round box of ammunition with a high capacity magazine when a 12 year old is doing rapid fire…

Eventually I inquired as to whether or not I might, perhaps, be allowed to fire another round or two out of “my” Uzi.

I chose to put “my” in quotes. Because rest assured, that word has to be qualified as to past and present tense. The look I got back, like she had just sucked a bad lemon through a straw, told me in no uncertain terms that this was no longer “my” Uzi. It was now hers. And clearly we had not had enough lessons on “sharing” as she was growing up.

Desperately I tried to distract her.

“Wouldn’t you like to fire the Kahr now?”

“No, I want the Uzi.”

“It’s not the same as the Beretta you know.”

“I want the Uzi.”

“Really, try it, you’ll like it. Just one shot.”

“I want the Uzi.”

And so it went.

Moral of the story: don’t get between a girl and her Uzi.

(See photo of one 20-round load at 25 feet – about half timed and half rapid fire. Pretty darned good for her second time to the range, first time to fire an Uzi, and first rapid fire exercise.)

I did finally get to shoot again myself. But only the Kahr, and only two magazines through it, and only in the last few minutes, and only after I sent my daughter back to her mother. Guess I’ll have to finish that SD brand testing some other time…

(FYI as I sit here and type this in, she is sitting over there, & quite rudely remarking on how “You’re welcome I allowed you to use my Uzi”. Clearly we also didn’t have enough lessons about respecting your elders either…)

[aray]

One "parting shot".

[ripley16]

Interesting personal tie-in: my father was on a troop transport ship going through the Panama Canal on his way to be part of the ground assault against the main island of Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped and the war ended. At the time he was in the Seabees, which historically had very high casualty rates. So I might not even have been born had it not been for the atomic bombs forcing a rapid conclusion of the war.

My Dad was in Hawaii waiting for his troop ship to take him to the big invasion in August, 1945. Tibbits is his unabashed hero.

Didn't I tell you you need a drool diaper in the NRA museum? Sounds like you had a great day. Good report, good photos.


...bad news is that people try to “blame the tool” (sound familiar?) and have tried to damage the airplane in protest several times.
I've witnessed this "peaceful" violence on several occations at the air shows at Andrews AFB, one time a nun, of all people, took a hammer to a B52 cockpit.

I used to drive by the Smithsonian Anex over off Silver Hill Road often, where years ago many of these displays were housed... some of them outside, where we could see them. Lots of history... I'm glad we're preserving it for the future.

[aray]

My Dad was in Hawaii waiting for his troop ship to take him to the big invasion in August, 1945. Tibbits is his unabashed hero.

Didn't I tell you you need a drool diaper in the NRA museum?

Looks like our dads were headed to the same place...

And yup, needed a whole package of Huggies to keep me dry. Of course at my age I should have bought Depends.

Another nice thing about the Firearms Museum was there was something for everyone. Besides all of the cool guns and that aspect which appeals to all of us, you could enjoy this from the history aspect, or the Hollywood aspect, or the craftsmanship aspect, etc. Very good trip & I'd recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in Northern Virginia.

I forgot to mention two other things about the NRA Range too:
1) Each lane has a touch screen interface. You punch in the distance on the touchpad, and it sets your target exactly at that distance.
2) At my home range the targets are pulled via cables. You have to wait for the cables to stop swinging the target like a pendulum once they get to the desired distance. Not so at the NRA Range - it is rock solid. I didn't think to look, but in hindsight I'm assuming they used a rail system or something with sturdy components. Absolutely no swinging at all.

[jocko]

I have 3 photos (two of the enoal gay and one of bockcar signed by Paul Tibbers and the crews of each plane. One of only 50 photos taken on Titian Island before the take off by a military photgrapher. Very rare photos and very rare to have those signatures and Paul even wrote some special comments on a 3 X 5 index card that is framed in each photo and signed by him and capt dallaway, pilot of bockscar.
The original plate was destroyed after 50 photos of each was produced. Some real history there, for my kids to have when I am gone..
Hell kids today have no clue about enola gay or bockscar, Four sure 90% cold not tell you about bocks car. Enola gay might come to mind for a few. Fokk , if it ain't on twitter they haven't a clue..

[jlottmc]

Hey I can tell you about those two beautiful planes. Here's a tidbit, Nagasaki was actually a miss, bomb was released late (fog) and rolled into the valley that was near by. Still the Japanese figured the game was up, so it worked.

[aray]

Hey I can tell you about those two beautiful planes. Here's a tidbit, Nagasaki was actually a miss, bomb was released late (fog) and rolled into the valley that was near by. Still the Japanese figured the game was up, so it worked.

Interesting; didn't know that. Makes sense though, since Nagasaki was the backup target that day. The primary was Kokura but it was obscured by clouds so eventually they gave up & moved on to the secondary.

Of course I guess your comments about "miss" also proves the old kids saying that "almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and atomic bombs" eh?

[wyntrout]

That's "close" not almost. I had some experience with the latter and the first. The first I've thrown and the latter, I never had to use... thank goodness! When we were on alert in SAC, we figured that if we got off the ground and far enough away to continue our missions, everything we left behind was gone and we'd feel the shockwave. We would then be on a mission of terrible vengeance... not cheery thoughts.

Oh! I had to edit and add that that was a nice report/post, Aray. Thanks!

Wynn:D

[aray]

That's "close" not almost. I had some experience with the latter and the first. The first I've thrown and the latter, I never had to use... thank goodness! When we were on alert in SAC, we figured that if we got off the ground and far enough away to continue our missions, everything we left behind was gone and we'd feel the shockwave. We would then be on a mission of terrible vengeance... not cheery thoughts.

I grew up on SAC bases. My dad left the Seabees after WWII and went into the USAF. Guam, Bitburg Germany, Minot North Dakota, etc.

I can remember standing along the flight line when they flushed the ready alert B52 bombers, as quickly as they could get them out, during practice drills. I remember the sound was so loud I could feel the vibrations deep inside my chest cavity.

It was also interesting to ride around the flat plains of ND, with nothing but wheat as far as the eye could see, not even a tree to block the horizon, except - an occasional road running off to a rectangular barbed wire enclosure, where they kept the underground nuclear ICBMs.

The Cold War was a very real thing to our family. I would have been one of those left behind, as the enemy's missiles would have been coming in seeking to kill the bombers and ICBMs before they could get away.

[wyntrout]

Right, Those were scary times if you thought about it.

The movie "The Day After" gave me chills... not good ones... when they showed the B52 crews responding to the klaxon and racing to get the BUFFs off the ground. Then the highway scene where the the cars all stopped due to the EMP bursts and all of the mushroom clouds in the distance, but not that far, really gave me big chills. That was pretty much what we expected to happen. The whole movie was pretty good and most people probably missed the lessons taught in it, on purpose or inadvertently... how "civilization" is one of the casualties and everyone has to look out for their own and be ready to protect them and what you have. If times get bad enough, people will do whatever it takes to survive, but some are already doing that and will get the jump on a lot of good people who weren't ready... for WTSHTF!

Wynn:yo:

[aray]

I saw that movie. And you're right. Haven't thought about it in years though, but it is a great movie.

On a lighter note, even though it is an anti-war film, one of my favorites is Dr. Strangelove. Lots of classic spoof scenes in there of course, but I have to say that one of my favorite parts is when they're showing the B52 crew going about its business with incredible professionalism. Indeed it's kind of a crazy dichotomy with all of the insanity and comedy going on in the rest of the film, while the B52 crew is dealing with air-to-air missiles, damage to the plane, leaking fuel, range to target issues, and of course the final bomb run. I enjoy the humor, but I enjoy that part too.

[wyntrout]

I don't know if they will ever make a movie about One Second After by
William R. Forstchen (Author) and a forward by Newt Gingrich. I've discussed this before, but this is the most likely catastrophic future for us. The North Koreans and the Iranians are close to the capability of launching a small nuke or series of them to the height of about 200 miles where a detonation will hit everything within line-of-sight with an electromagnetic pulse that will cause overload and destruction of all unshielded(heavily) electronics. In the book a pair or trio was launched to blanket the US and some of our allies. In the course of a year the country lost 90% of its population... unthinkable, but very possible. It's certainly one of the less discussed worst nightmare scenarios... until this book, which was written to try to get politicians to consider some kind of preparation and defense for this type of attack.
While not "easy", many countries have the delivery vehicles and some even have the small nukes or could get them. And most people don't realize how knocking out all electronics affects everything... water supplies and any kind of distribution, except by horse or ox cart.:eek:
How did this thread degenerate into this morbid topic?? Oh... it was I. :rolleyes:

Wynn:D

[jlottmc]

Dr. Strangelove, great movie that. I read my history books, martial history is a favorite topic. What I can't believe is the duck and cover drills. Think about it.

[wyntrout]

I remember Civil Defense drills and ducking and covering behind the brick wall or fence outside in the second grade. In classes we would get under our desks. That was the early 50's and the BOMB was on everyone's minds and private bomb shelters were fashionable must-haves.
That would only help if you didn't look toward the blast and were far enough from the actual blast effects that you weren't crispied or killed by the blast effects and debris, but it's better than just standing there and losing your eyesight while getting your last "tan".

Where I sit with my computer, I have a good view towards the river and across it is the Marine depot on Blount Island, Jacksonville Port(container handling), and a little further the Mayport Naval Station... a few good targets... especially all of those uninspected MILLIONS of containers that are boxcar-sized... couldn't hide a nuke in one of those.:rolleyes: I think sometimes about one going off over in that area while I'm sitting here. I guess I would have a few seconds to react to fried eyeballs before the blast got here. :D
You just can't plan for everything, especially when you're near good targets with no hills or anything for protection.<sigh> But, I can make sure I have enough guns and ammo to protect what we have if less than a military squad wants to share our stuff.

Wynn:D

[jocko]

hellI remember when I was in grade school back 58 years ago, they had us crawling under our desks and covering our heads. Think about how much good that would have done in Hiroshima, Not a damn bit of good... I don't think even the civil defenase people had a clue as to how bad it would have been...

[earle8888]

Yep! Some additional Trivia!
B52's always had sufficient fuel to reach target and return 1/2 way across the ocean! Then IF a tanker was available and had extra JP4 you could load some to get home!!!!**** your load no longer essential! I believe the Russian's are still using Vacuum tube gear. Not as sensitive to EMP spiking.
If you ever had a chance to witness a JATO KILO launch/take-off of a BUFF it is spectacular, for those watching excruciating for those in the plane. Upon return the plane was removed from flying status until a FULL TOTAL inspection of all the structural elements!!

[aray]

"Duck and cover" is actually quite effective depending upon where you are. Too close to ground zero and you're toast. Too far and it doesn't really matter. But there is quite a large "doughnut" area where the shock wave, shrapnel, thermal blast, etc. can do great damage. Even a little bit of cover can be quite effective in that area.

For example there is a famous series of photos of a military officer in Japan who was exposed to one of the nuclear bombs. He was wearing a hat and you can clearly see where his hat was/wasn't. Where bare skin was exposed, that side of his face experienced third degree burns. On the other side and on the clear demarcation line of his hat - no damage.

Remember the light travels much faster than the shock wave. Think lightning vs. thunder. Depending upon your distance, you may have time to protect yourself from the heat and flying debris which otherwise might be fatal. It all depends on where you are.

The worst thing you want to do is to be standing in front of a glass window with open mouth admiring the view and the "pretty colors in the fireball" ... :eek:

[aray]

Yep! Some additional Trivia!
B52's always had sufficient fuel to reach target and return 1/2 way across the ocean! Then IF a tanker was available and had extra JP4 you could load some to get home!!!!**** your load no longer essential!


Wow, didn't know that. Brave men, those.

Would have to bring my fishin' pole with me, a bottle of liquid refreshment, and make sure I had Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger as my pilot.

Or, to put it another way:


Survival kit contents check. In them you'll find: one .45 caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing: antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination Russian phrase book and bible; one hundred dollars in rubles; one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair a nylon stockings. Shoot, a fellah could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.
- Maj. T.J. "King" Kong, in "Dr. Strangelove"

[Bawanna]

Heck with that package could be a pretty good weekend in my neighborhood too. Pretty much got all the bases covered huh. Can't sleep, can't wake up, drugs for all occasions, booty for the locals, protection for Nemo.
Wow!

[aray]

Follow-up:

[getsome]

I remember the silver bracelets they gave all the first graders with your name and blood type which I thought was way cool but I had no idea what they were for....Dr. Strangelove is one of my top 10 all time movies and I think I'm gonna watch it tonight....Plan R for Robert, repeat Plan R for Robert...:eek:

[jimbar]

hellI remember when I was in grade school back 58 years ago, they had us crawling under our desks and covering our heads. Think about how much good that would have done in Hiroshima, Not a damn bit of good... I don't think even the civil defenase people had a clue as to how bad it would have been...

Very true, in 1969 we pulled into Sasebo, Japan (on U.S.S. Ranger) with a broken pump in the fresh-water supply system. It took two weeks to get one, and replace it. Our normal replenishment / liberty stop was three days. The Navy organized side trips we could take, and one was to Nagasaki. I went on that one, and while in Nagasaki, some buddies and I went to a museum at (ground zero) where the bomb exploded. There were hundreds of pictures of what was left of the city, and it wasn't much. We had no idea of the level of destruction before that.
We were in full dress uniforms, and we noticed some of the Japanese people looking at the pics, then at us, not in a friendly way. Understandable, so we just quietly left.
It was really an eye-opening trip. I assure you,hiding under your schooldesk was only to pacify young, unknowing children.