On April 16, 2025, I finally got to visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Virginia—a trip I had been looking forward to for years. Ever since I got into aviation, I’d always dreamed of seeing some of the world’s most iconic aircraft up close.

The two planes I was most excited about were the Concorde and the SR-71 Blackbird.

As soon as I arrived, I headed straight for the Concorde. This supersonic passenger jet could fly at over Mach 2, more than twice the speed of sound, and cruise at 60,000 feet. It flew transatlantic flights in under 3.5 hours! Seeing it in person was amazing—I’d seen pictures and videos before, but standing next to it was a whole different experience. Of course, I took lots of photos.

Next, I made my way to the SR-71 Blackbird. This aircraft is an absolute legend. It could fly over Mach 3 and reach altitudes around 85,000 feet—high enough to see the curvature of the Earth. It was used for top-secret reconnaissance missions and could literally outrun missiles. When I saw it in real life, I was blown away. It looked even cooler than I expected, and yes—I took a ton of pictures.

After that, I explored the rest of the museum. I saw a bunch of military aircraft and even got to see the world’s smallest airplane, which was super cool.

One of the highlights was seeing a NASA aircraft that had been used for flight testing and research. Standing in front of it and learning about its role in pushing aviation forward was awesome—and I made sure to get a picture with it too.

Then came one of the most fun parts: the flight simulator. I climbed into an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet simulator, and for three minutes, I got to experience loops, rolls, and full 360° turns. It was intense and honestly one of the best parts of the day.

After that, I grabbed lunch at Shake Shack (yes, there’s one inside the museum!), and before heading out, I stopped at the gift shop. I picked up an SR-71 hat, a Blue Angels model plane, and a few keychains as souvenirs.

Before leaving, I went up to the observation tower to catch planes landing at Dulles International Airport. It was the perfect way to end the visit—watching real aircraft in action right after seeing so many legendary ones inside the museum.

Overall, visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Virginia was an unforgettable experience—and totally worth it.