Posted: 4/15/2012 3:45:08 PM EDT
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For those who can... http://www.startribune.com/nation/147515995.html NASA and National Air and Space Museum officials refused to release full details of the flight path, citing security concerns. One NASA official, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak, acknowledged that keeping the flight path secret would lessen the number of viewers who duck outside for the historic sight. At the same time, the museum mounted a Twitter campaign to encourage area residents to spot the shuttle and Tweet photos of it with the hashtag #spottheshuttle. To play, viewers must be willing and able to hang around outside for nearly an hour midmorning Tuesday. That's because the 747 will be zooming by very quickly. NASA did release a list of locations the plane was scheduled to fly near or over, including much of the Potomac River in the District of Columbia, Ronald Reagan National Airport, National Harbor, the U.S. Capitol, the Mall, Andrews Air Force Base and much of the Capital Beltway on the Maryland side. |
| I hope to be down by the river side of the Lincoln Memorial by 10:00. Should be good. One of the local TV stations (Ch.8) said this morning that the plane and shuttle might do a lap around the Beltway. That should scare the piss out of the folks just passing through the area. |
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Quoted:
Why would they fly it low and slow over all these places as a "salute," but then refuse to provide details on the time? Typical bureaucratic bozos. Its not exactly for our benefit that it will be on tour. That aircraft needs to burn off almost ALL of its excess fuel before trying to land in iorder to meet its target landing weight. Even then I guarantee it will use every inch of that runway at Dulles. They will just fly around until the fuel weight is reduced then they will land. |
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Why would they fly it low and slow over all these places as a "salute," but then refuse to provide details on the time? Typical bureaucratic bozos. Its not exactly for our benefit that it will be on tour. That aircraft needs to burn off almost ALL of its excess fuel before trying to land in iorder to meet its target landing weight. Even then I guarantee it will use every inch of that runway at Dulles. They will just fly around until the fuel weight is reduced then they will land. The article sure doesn't make it sound that way. And why would there be press releases naming all the landmarks it would fly past if this was just a routine transport flight with some extra time to burn off fuel? Also, what exactly makes this so scary from the security standpoint? Do they actually think that someone would take a shot at a 747 with a space shuttle on it? Maybe they should just make sure the shuttle flys with its full complement of door gunners onboard. 
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The actual ceremony is on Thursday. They're going to have Enterprise and Discovery nose-to-nose and then roll Discovery in.
I had to make a choice.....go up on Tuesday for the flyover and that's it - or go up Thursday and actually see it on the ground, in the museum. Anyone else going to be there? Any idea how they're mating/demating the shuttles at Dulles? The gantry setup at Kennedy & Vandenburg is huge..... |
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It was pretty cool to see Discovery and the 747 fly over the Capital. From my viewpoint I saw hundreds of people on the tops of their buildings around the L'enfant area.
Reminds me of when I saw the Enterprise on the 747 fly over Springfield years and years ago. |
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It was pretty cool to see Discovery and the 747 fly over the Capital. From my viewpoint I saw hundreds of people on the tops of their buildings around the L'enfant area. Reminds me of when I saw the Enterprise on the 747 fly over Springfield years and years ago. You've been around for quite some time, haven't you!!?? 
For the record, I do remember the Enterprise flyby. I did get to see the Discovery flyby 2x from near Union Station perspective. |
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I saw it three times as I went around the beltway from Maryland and each time it was going it a different direction.
I figured they must have taken out the compass already and were lost. It was pretty neat to see it that close. I also remember when the Enterprise flew up and around the beltway on its way to dulles - way back whenever it was. Sad to see the era end. |
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I was 9 years old on November 18th 1985 when the shuttle Enterprise flew around Washington DC. I remember watching it from our front yard in Silver Spring, Md.
Now here I am 35 years old, watching the shuttle Discovery from the roof of my office building overlooking Dulles Airport. I will again see the Enterprise take to the sky next week on April 23rd when it is flown to New York. |
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I was 9 years old on November 18th 1985 when the shuttle Enterprise flew around Washington DC. I remember watching it from our front yard in Silver Spring, Md. Now here I am 35 years old, watching the shuttle Discovery from the roof of my office building overlooking Dulles Airport. I will again see the Enterprise take to the sky next week on April 23rd when it is flown to New York. Thank you for posting the date Enterprise was flown around DC. Obviously, I was too lazy to look it up, but I have a similar memory of watching the Enterprise from a parking lot in Greenbelt when I was also 9 year old. Today, I got to sit in stop and go traffic on 395, but at least that frustration was tempered by seeing the shuttle three different times as it passed over the Pentagon. |
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I have the most horrific timing.
So I wait out on my front porch for it to fly over... and just as I turn to go inside to see if I can hear where it's flying over, my neighbor yells "there it is!" and of course, my view is blocked by trees. So I raise up my vid camera, and hit record... but can't see the LCD viewfinder due to sun glare. I get a nice video of my neighbors house across the street. 
I figure it'll come back around for another pass... so I wait and wait and wait. Think to myself, maybe I oughta check the view from the backyard in case it flies back around that way... only to hear my neighbor yell again "there it is!". I run up front, it flies the same path as the first time. And I got the same damned video of my neighbors house and trees! 
So now I figure I've lost my chance... but my neighbor is confident it'll fly over again. So we wait, and wait, and wait... and his daughter comes out and says she heard it was on approach to Dulles, so we think it's over. I head back to my yard, and peek inside to check the TV and what happens? Neighbor yells "there it is again!" WTF!!!!! I did manage to get a really shaky video of it going past that time... but because I had gone inside my house, was not in the best location to film... so of course, had trees obscuring the view. 3 chances... 2-1/2 fails. Wish I had a chance to redeem myself on Monday, but I don't think Enterprise will be flying over me... and I'll be at work where I don't have any windows anyway. ETA: in case anyone wants to see the actual vids, I tried to make the FB vids "public" for anyone to watch. If it doesn't work, I apologize... Vid Fail #1 Vid Fail #2 Vid Fail #3 Vid Fail #4 |
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http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/ALKVA/Landing2.jpg]http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/ALKVA/Landing2.jpg http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/ALKVA/CaptiveCarry.jpg]http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/ALKVA/CaptiveCarry.jpg Awesome. Hi-res available? |
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I was 9 years old on November 18th 1985 when the shuttle Enterprise flew around Washington DC. I remember watching it from our front yard in Silver Spring, Md. Now here I am 35 years old, watching the shuttle Discovery from the roof of my office building overlooking Dulles Airport. I will again see the Enterprise take to the sky next week on April 23rd when it is flown to New York. Thank you for posting the date Enterprise was flown around DC. Obviously, I was too lazy to look it up, but I have a similar memory of watching the Enterprise from a parking lot in Greenbelt when I was also 9 year old. Today, I got to sit in stop and go traffic on 395, but at least that frustration was tempered by seeing the shuttle three different times as it passed over the Pentagon. I remember the same time when my Dad took me too see the shuttle fly over. The excitement I felt then makes it all the more depressing to see how far we have fallen. 
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Those shots are awesome!!!
Thanks for sharing! Quoted:
Here are some cell phone pics I took at work: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/mo4040/IMG-20120417-00085.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/mo4040/IMG-20120417-00084.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/mo4040/IMG-20120417-00082.jpg |
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Quoted:
I have the most horrific timing. So I wait out on my front porch for it to fly over... and just as I turn to go inside to see if I can hear where it's flying over, my neighbor yells "there it is!" and of course, my view is blocked by trees. So I raise up my vid camera, and hit record... but can't see the LCD viewfinder due to sun glare. I get a nice video of my neighbors house across the street.
I figure it'll come back around for another pass... so I wait and wait and wait. Think to myself, maybe I oughta check the view from the backyard in case it flies back around that way... only to hear my neighbor yell again "there it is!". I run up front, it flies the same path as the first time. And I got the same damned video of my neighbors house and trees!
So now I figure I've lost my chance... but my neighbor is confident it'll fly over again. So we wait, and wait, and wait... and his daughter comes out and says she heard it was on approach to Dulles, so we think it's over. I head back to my yard, and peek inside to check the TV and what happens? Neighbor yells "there it is again!" WTF!!!!! I did manage to get a really shaky video of it going past that time... but because I had gone inside my house, was not in the best location to film... so of course, had trees obscuring the view. 3 chances... 2-1/2 fails. Wish I had a chance to redeem myself on Monday, but I don't think Enterprise will be flying over me... and I'll be at work where I don't have any windows anyway. ETA: in case anyone wants to see the actual vids, I tried to make the FB vids "public" for anyone to watch. If it doesn't work, I apologize... Vid Fail #1 Vid Fail #2 Vid Fail #3 Vid Fail #4 I hate when that happens. 
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