If you have been inspired by the Air and Space Museum and/or you just can't get enough of aviation history, there is a spectacular sister museum near Dulles Airport that houses some of the larger aircraft that the museum just couldn't cram into its two stories (in fact, the original building can show only about a tenth of its collection).

The Udvar-Hazy Center opened to the public in 2003 on a 176.5 acre lot and features exhibit hangars, an observation tower where visitors can watch plane traffic, an IMAX theater, and restaurants. Noted exhibits include the fully restored Enola Gay, the space shuttle Enterprise, an F-40 Phantom Fighter, an SR-71 Blackbird, and one of the few surviving Concorde SST planes that flew between France and England. Another feature of the Center is the Wall of Honor, a permanent memorial to the tens of thousands of people who have contributed to air and space science. In total, the Udvar-Hazy Center displays more than 120 aircraft and 140 major space artifacts, plus thousands of smaller items, with the number growing monthly.