If you or someone in your household has a real passion for aviation, you should definitely check out the National Air and Space Museum if you haven’t already! Situated adjacent to the Washington-Dulles International Runways, the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center boasts an impressive collection of aircraft.
In fact, there are almost 200 of them on display in the array of expansive exhibit spaces. Head to the Boeing Aviation Hangar to see an Air France Concorde, a historic World War I-era Camel from the Sopwith Company, and the world’s biggest group of World War II planes from Germany and Japan. Nearby in the McDonnell Space Hangar, you’ll get a chance to glimpse the Discovery space shuttle alongside space suits, satellites, and real rockets. If you want to watch the museum’s conservationists at work, the restoration hangar will give you a behind-the-scenes look as they carry on about their daily duties. They’re currently working on refreshing the B-26 Maurader Flak Bait to its former glory. The American plane is famous for having flown the most missions of any U.S. aircraft during World War II.