National Air and Space Museum

Space Shuttle Discovery

"Space Shuttle"

144 pieces  |  LEGO: 31134

Assembled by Ryan Snyder, November 2024

Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)

October 27, 2024

While Hunter's brother, Dustin, was still on vacation in Virginia from Mississippi, the couple went up to stay with him at Rachel's house (Hunter's sister) in Alexandria. The big adventure they went on was to the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. It was HUGE. There were hundreds of air and spacecraft on display, including the Space Shuttle Discovery. You can't even begin to fathom how huge the shuttle is until you're standing on the ground next to it and craning your neck up to see the top of it. Dustin was surprisingly knowledgeable about various types of aircraft on display, which ranged from military airplanes and jets to small one-seater planes and other types of flight machines, such as gliders. They saw a full-size Concorde plane, as well as the Enola Gay, which was the airplane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. They didn't realize what they were looking at until they read the nearby sign. Once they understood the significance of the plane, it was quite an emotional experience.

Flying Machine

"Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine"

493 pieces  |  LEGO: 10363

Assembled by Hunter Williams, April 2025

Interaction Rating: 4 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged, but use extra care)

The museum also had many early prototypes of flying machines, which didn't include Leonardo da Vinci's, but did have one that looked incredibly similar, called the Langley Aerodrome A. There was an interactive video next to the model that explained the inventor's history and how many times he attempted to perfect his flying machine, but never lived to see it successfully fly. After exploring the exhibits, they made their way over to the flight simulators, and Hunter, Sarah, and Rachel watched as Andrew and Dustin rode one of them. The giant, capsule-like machine rolled over multiple times. Sarah got motion-sick just looking at it, and had to keep her eyes on steadier ground. The observation tower, which provides a 360-degree view of Washington Dulles International Airport, was unfortunately closed by the time they tried to visit it. Andrew managed to get extremely lucky when he played with a coin-pressing machine on their way out, just cranking the handle for fun. He was amazed when one coin popped up, followed by another, and then another, each with a different aircraft design. Someone had accidentally paid for four and only taken one, they guessed. And Andrew was the lucky beneficiary! (Plus, he had a shake from the Shake Shack attached to the museum, so he was truly living his best life.)

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1) Dustin and Andrew waiting to ride the space flight simulator.

2) Andrew in his astronaut costume that Santa brought him for Christmas '22

3) Andrew having an educational experience with his uncles.

Sarah remembered to get a family photo before they left the Air and Space Museum, and Dustin used his very long arm to make it happen while Andrew wished on a star for world peace right next to the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Photos of the Langley Aerodrome A.