Exciting news for fans of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport. The world renowned aviation museum is expanding in a big way.
According to an announcement this week, the main Boeing Aviation Hangar will grow by 44,000 additional square feet, increasing its size by 20 percent. This will be the first major expansion since Udvar-Hazy opened in 2003.
The additional space will allow the center, which is part of the National Air & Space Museum, to bring more of its historic planes and artifacts out of storage as well as display new acquisitions.
Some of the new items from the collection that are expected to be added to the new expanded center include the World War II Martin B-26 Marauder “Flak-Bait;” the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby;” a restored Sikorsky JRS-1, which survived Pearl Harbor; the De Havilland DH-98B Mosquito; and the Franklin “Texaco Eaglet.”
The expansion, which will be privately funded, is expected to be completed in 2028. At that time the museum will begin bringing out the new displays in part of a major rearrangement of the entire space.
(Image at top: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center)