Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Planning

Fitting 300 Aircraft & Spacecraft into the Udvar-Hazy Center

Model of Udvar-Hazy Center ©2000 Smithsonian Institution, SI #99-15312

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will have two major exhibition hangars with over 33,000 square meters (255,000 square feet) of exhibit space. The top of the aviation hangar will soar to 31 meters (103 feet). That may seem like a lot of space, but the challenge to the National Air and Space Museum artifact layout team is to display over 300 aircraft and spacecraft at the new Udvar-Hazy Center, while leaving room for related objects and viewing opportunities for the visiting public.

Layout Team at Work ©2000 Smithsonian Institution, SI #99-15137

Working with the layout model of the aviation hangar are:  Frank Winter, Space History Curator; Lin Ezell, Udvar-Hazy Center Program Coordinator; Bob van der Linden and Dorothy Cochrane, Aeronautics Curators; and William Jacobs, Exhibition Designer. Team members are discussing how they can fit in just one more aircraft, be it a Piper Cub or a Boeing 307.

Anyone who has cut scraps of paper to represent scale models of furniture, then moved them around until they fit on a floor plan of a house or office, will appreciate the approach taken to arrange the aircraft and spacecraft for Udvar-Hazy Center.

The first step was to gather information about the artifacts that will be on view. Most of the historic objects are stored at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility, Suitland, Maryland, where they are crowded into small areas or disassembled into many pieces. Designers could not simply use a tape measure and write down the dimensions of each artifact. Instead, curatorial files, photographs, technical manuals, and a variety of reference materials were used to get enough information to make scale drawings of each of the artifacts. With these, William "Jake" Jacobs from the Exhibits Division of the National Air and Space Museum was able to create drawing files for 250 aircraft, 150 space artifacts, and 150 engines. Jake relied heavily on the help of two Museum interns -- Sheleena Nti, Catholic University in Washington, DC, and Keith DiMuccio, Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI -- who played key roles in the preparation of the drawings.

The drawings of the artifacts were combined with building drawings provided by the architectural firm of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, all entered in a PC database using AutoCAD® (Automated Computer-Aided Design) software. Surprisingly, the 600+ drawings do not use a lot of computer memory since an aircraft line drawing typically requires only 35 to 50 kilobytes of memory.

Plastic Scale Models Are Arranged in Three Layers to Visualize Relations of the Aircraft on the Floor to Those Hanging from the Arches © 2000 Smithsonian Institution, SI #99-15136

AutoCAD® can be combined with manufacturing tools to provide CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Assisted Manufacture) to control various machines. In this case, the aircraft and spacecraft drawing files from AutoCAD® are used by CAD/CAM to drive a router that cuts out scaled two-dimensional models from 1/8-inch-thick plastic. These plastic cutouts can then be arranged in a scale model of the Udvar-Hazy Center exhibit areas to get a better three-dimensional view of how everything should fit together.

William "Jake" Jacobs Deciding How to Transfer Model Layout to Computer ©2000 Smithsonian Institution, SI #99-15138

When the team is satisfied with the arrangement of the items in the hangars, Jake recreates the layout with the AutoCAD® software and captures those ideas in a computer file. So far, there are probably 10 different layouts for each of the 3 levels.

Once in the computer, the files can be used to:

• Print paper copies of the floor and hanging plans.
• Quickly test ideas for placing new artifacts.
• Prepare illustrations for briefings, pamphlets, and other publications.
• Arrange tables for special dinners or functions to be held in the exhibit areas.

According to Jake, the layout team's greatest challenge is to comprehend the large scale of the Aviation Hangar. Washington's Union Train Station is about as high, but with a smaller floor area. The Ronald Reagan National Airport concourse is longer, but has a lower ceiling.

The layout session in March 2000 took about three weeks. Display cases and information kiosks were added. A particular challenge is to allow space for high-lift equipment ("cherry pickers") that are needed to clean artifacts, and to service loudspeakers (2 x 2-meter (6 x 6-foot) assemblies attached to every other arch) or smoke detectors. The lifts can be 26 meters (85 feet) to 44 meters (145 feet) high, and outriggers must be extended for stability. They must also reach through multiple levels of aircraft.

In the long-term, the computer models will be available whenever there is a need to move an artifact.

When move-in day comes in early 2003, these physical and computer models will be the key guides for the movers, riggers, curators, collection managers, and others dedicated to giving the world's public many exciting views of the Smithsonian's priceless air and space collection.

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