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CNN Saturday Morning News
"Novak Zone"
Aired October 18, 2003 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: What do you do when you run the museum visited by more people than any other in the world, and only 10 percent of your artifacts are on display? You build a new building. Our Robert Novak goes behind the scenes at the National Air and Space Museum's new facility in this week's "Novak Zone."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT NOVAK, HOST: Welcome to The "Novak Zone."
We're at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center in northern Virginia at Dulles International Airport. We're talking to the museum's director, General John R. Dailey, U.S. Marine Corps, retired, who was a naval aviator.
General, many, many Americans have visited the main museum at the Mall in downtown Washington, 28 miles from here. Most-visited museum in the world. Why do you have to have another museum out here?
GEN. JOHN R. DAILEY (RET.), DIRECTOR, NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM: Well, the reason is because, as you may notice, that that museum downtown is completely filled. But it only holds 10 percent of the national collection. Another 10 percent is on loan around the world, but 80 percent of the national collection will be contained in this facility here at Dulles International Airport.
NOVAK: Now, I've got to ask you, who in the world is Steven F. Udbar Hazi?
DAILEY: Well, he's a great American, I can tell you, actually a Hungarian immigrant who came here at age 12, worked his way through school, went to UCLA, by the way, and had a great interest in aviation, and has now developed his company into the largest airliner leasing company in the world.
NOVAK: He made a grant for this?
DAILEY: He did, $65 million. He feels that he owes America, and he owes the aerospace industry, and this is his way of paying us back.
NOVAK: Now, this facility is going to open on December 15 for the public?
DAILEY: Guaranteed.
NOVAK: Guaranteed? Why December 15?
DAILEY: Well, actually, the 17th is the 100th anniversary of the Wrights' achievement of powered flight. We are doing it on the 15th so as not to interfere with the celebration at Kitty Hawk.
NOVAK: Fine. Are you commemorating the Wright brothers' flight in any way at the museum?
DAILEY: Yes, we are. Downtown on last Saturday, we opened the Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age, which is a gallery now featuring the Wright flier at eye level on the ground, it's being displayed differently than we had before, where it was hanging from the ceiling in the Milestones gallery. SO it's an up- close opportunity surrounded by 170 other Wright artifacts that have been borrowed from museums around the world.
So this is an opportunity for people to get to know the Wright brothers firsthand.
NOVAK: General Dailey, here at this center, let's talk about some of the artifacts. Any spy planes?
DAILEY: Well, we have the SR-71, the fastest and most effective reconnaissance aircraft, probably, that's ever been built.
NOVAK: General Dailey, standing right behind you, I almost get a chill when I say it, is a B-29 Super Fortress, "The Enola Gay," which dropped the atom bomb. There was a huge controversy at your museum in 1995, I believe, about an exhibit that a lot of veterans' organizations thought put the United States in a bad light. How do you deal with the "Enola Gay" question now?
DAILEY: Well, I'd like to, if I may, mention that that controversy that took place was on a proposed exhibit that never actually took place. And it was during the development of the script and the approach that was going to be taken that the controversy arose. And the Smithsonian adjusted the approach. And it's actually the one that we're using today, which is to focus on what we are supposed to focus on, the technological advancements, the contribution to technology and to our advancement in air and space.
And so this is, by the way, the first time this airplane has been reassembled in 27 years, and it was a 300,000-man-hour operation to do that, so...
NOVAK: And it was all in -- it's in, in, disassembled in small parts?
DAILEY: Fifty-two pieces.
NOVAK: It's just really like being part of history, isn't it, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
DAILEY: It is. Well, it is. This is probably our first deterrent aircraft right here, even though it was used in World War II, it showed the world what happens should we ever get involved in a nuclear exchange. And I think that it had more of a deterrent effect than probably any other thing that we've had in this collection.
NOVAK: General, do you have any commercial exhibits at this facility?
DAILEY: First of all, we have the Dash 80, it's called. It's the prototype of the Boeing 707, which is the airplane that brought America into jet airlining. We have the Concorde, which was at the other end of the spectrum, where -- the supersonic transport developed by the British and the French. And we have an Air France Concorde in the display. We have the Stratoliner, which was a Boeing airliner, the first pressurized airliner in America.
So, you know, we -- it goes all the way down to -- and we, by the way, we have FedEx's first airplane. It's a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Falcon. It's going on display today.
NOVAK: I saw that. Just a small plane, isn't it, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
DAILEY: It's the first one that Fred Smith bought. And I understand that he had three airplanes, but he named -- numbered them 7, 8, and 9, so it would look like they were a bigger company.
NOVAK: That's (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Some thought has been given into how you hang these planes. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
DAILEY: Well, there's two considerations. One is the weight of the aircraft itself, depends on -- these trusses are stressed for 20,000 pounds. And so you see that the gliders and the lighter aircraft, and then even the World War II fighters are -- it's possible to hang them. But once you get over about 20,000 pounds, they have to be on the floor.
So it's been a crossword puzzle to get 200 airplanes into this building and have them make sense as terms of where they're grouped and then also how they're protected. One of the reasons we have the "Enola Gay" raised up on these jacks is so we can put other airplanes under it.
NOVAK: What's the admission to get into this exhibit?
DAILEY: The admission is free. We are required to charge for parking, since we're on the Dulles International Airport complex. That's part of our lease agreement. And we're going to charge $12 for a car, so you can come with nine passengers and get in for $12. So you can enjoy the largest and the most complete collection of air and space artifacts in the world for free.
NOVAK: And now the big question, for General John R. Dailey.
General, it's been 33 years since man first walked on the moon. What's the next great development in aerospace?
DAILEY: I wish I knew, and I hope that it's something really big. The most often-asked question that I get is, What's going to happen in the next 100 years? It was Kitty Hawk to walking on the moon in 66 years. What are we going to do next?
And unless we want to do something spectacular, I don't think we're going to make the progress in the next 100 years that we've made now. We've become too focused on the business side of aviation, of trying to make dollars the next quarter. The people that are leading these companies and airlines are under so much pressure to produce financially that they have no ability to take risk and to go out and try those really hard things.
Boeing bet their company on the Dash-80, and they won. But it was a very bold move, and the type of thing that's going to be required in the future if we're going to do the dramatic things we have done in the past.
NOVAK: General John Dailey, thank you very much.
And thank you for being in The Novak Zone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 18, 2003 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: What do you do when you run the museum visited by more people than any other in the world, and only 10 percent of your artifacts are on display? You build a new building. Our Robert Novak goes behind the scenes at the National Air and Space Museum's new facility in this week's "Novak Zone."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT NOVAK, HOST: Welcome to The "Novak Zone."
We're at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center in northern Virginia at Dulles International Airport. We're talking to the museum's director, General John R. Dailey, U.S. Marine Corps, retired, who was a naval aviator.
General, many, many Americans have visited the main museum at the Mall in downtown Washington, 28 miles from here. Most-visited museum in the world. Why do you have to have another museum out here?
GEN. JOHN R. DAILEY (RET.), DIRECTOR, NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM: Well, the reason is because, as you may notice, that that museum downtown is completely filled. But it only holds 10 percent of the national collection. Another 10 percent is on loan around the world, but 80 percent of the national collection will be contained in this facility here at Dulles International Airport.
NOVAK: Now, I've got to ask you, who in the world is Steven F. Udbar Hazi?
DAILEY: Well, he's a great American, I can tell you, actually a Hungarian immigrant who came here at age 12, worked his way through school, went to UCLA, by the way, and had a great interest in aviation, and has now developed his company into the largest airliner leasing company in the world.
NOVAK: He made a grant for this?
DAILEY: He did, $65 million. He feels that he owes America, and he owes the aerospace industry, and this is his way of paying us back.
NOVAK: Now, this facility is going to open on December 15 for the public?
DAILEY: Guaranteed.
NOVAK: Guaranteed? Why December 15?
DAILEY: Well, actually, the 17th is the 100th anniversary of the Wrights' achievement of powered flight. We are doing it on the 15th so as not to interfere with the celebration at Kitty Hawk.
NOVAK: Fine. Are you commemorating the Wright brothers' flight in any way at the museum?
DAILEY: Yes, we are. Downtown on last Saturday, we opened the Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age, which is a gallery now featuring the Wright flier at eye level on the ground, it's being displayed differently than we had before, where it was hanging from the ceiling in the Milestones gallery. SO it's an up- close opportunity surrounded by 170 other Wright artifacts that have been borrowed from museums around the world.
So this is an opportunity for people to get to know the Wright brothers firsthand.
NOVAK: General Dailey, here at this center, let's talk about some of the artifacts. Any spy planes?
DAILEY: Well, we have the SR-71, the fastest and most effective reconnaissance aircraft, probably, that's ever been built.
NOVAK: General Dailey, standing right behind you, I almost get a chill when I say it, is a B-29 Super Fortress, "The Enola Gay," which dropped the atom bomb. There was a huge controversy at your museum in 1995, I believe, about an exhibit that a lot of veterans' organizations thought put the United States in a bad light. How do you deal with the "Enola Gay" question now?
DAILEY: Well, I'd like to, if I may, mention that that controversy that took place was on a proposed exhibit that never actually took place. And it was during the development of the script and the approach that was going to be taken that the controversy arose. And the Smithsonian adjusted the approach. And it's actually the one that we're using today, which is to focus on what we are supposed to focus on, the technological advancements, the contribution to technology and to our advancement in air and space.
And so this is, by the way, the first time this airplane has been reassembled in 27 years, and it was a 300,000-man-hour operation to do that, so...
NOVAK: And it was all in -- it's in, in, disassembled in small parts?
DAILEY: Fifty-two pieces.
NOVAK: It's just really like being part of history, isn't it, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
DAILEY: It is. Well, it is. This is probably our first deterrent aircraft right here, even though it was used in World War II, it showed the world what happens should we ever get involved in a nuclear exchange. And I think that it had more of a deterrent effect than probably any other thing that we've had in this collection.
NOVAK: General, do you have any commercial exhibits at this facility?
DAILEY: First of all, we have the Dash 80, it's called. It's the prototype of the Boeing 707, which is the airplane that brought America into jet airlining. We have the Concorde, which was at the other end of the spectrum, where -- the supersonic transport developed by the British and the French. And we have an Air France Concorde in the display. We have the Stratoliner, which was a Boeing airliner, the first pressurized airliner in America.
So, you know, we -- it goes all the way down to -- and we, by the way, we have FedEx's first airplane. It's a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Falcon. It's going on display today.
NOVAK: I saw that. Just a small plane, isn't it, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
DAILEY: It's the first one that Fred Smith bought. And I understand that he had three airplanes, but he named -- numbered them 7, 8, and 9, so it would look like they were a bigger company.
NOVAK: That's (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Some thought has been given into how you hang these planes. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
DAILEY: Well, there's two considerations. One is the weight of the aircraft itself, depends on -- these trusses are stressed for 20,000 pounds. And so you see that the gliders and the lighter aircraft, and then even the World War II fighters are -- it's possible to hang them. But once you get over about 20,000 pounds, they have to be on the floor.
So it's been a crossword puzzle to get 200 airplanes into this building and have them make sense as terms of where they're grouped and then also how they're protected. One of the reasons we have the "Enola Gay" raised up on these jacks is so we can put other airplanes under it.
NOVAK: What's the admission to get into this exhibit?
DAILEY: The admission is free. We are required to charge for parking, since we're on the Dulles International Airport complex. That's part of our lease agreement. And we're going to charge $12 for a car, so you can come with nine passengers and get in for $12. So you can enjoy the largest and the most complete collection of air and space artifacts in the world for free.
NOVAK: And now the big question, for General John R. Dailey.
General, it's been 33 years since man first walked on the moon. What's the next great development in aerospace?
DAILEY: I wish I knew, and I hope that it's something really big. The most often-asked question that I get is, What's going to happen in the next 100 years? It was Kitty Hawk to walking on the moon in 66 years. What are we going to do next?
And unless we want to do something spectacular, I don't think we're going to make the progress in the next 100 years that we've made now. We've become too focused on the business side of aviation, of trying to make dollars the next quarter. The people that are leading these companies and airlines are under so much pressure to produce financially that they have no ability to take risk and to go out and try those really hard things.
Boeing bet their company on the Dash-80, and they won. But it was a very bold move, and the type of thing that's going to be required in the future if we're going to do the dramatic things we have done in the past.
NOVAK: General John Dailey, thank you very much.
And thank you for being in The Novak Zone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
