S M I T H S O N I A N I N S T I T U T I O N
N A T I O N A L A I R & S P A C E M U S E U M
Washington D.C.

Here's a McDonnell FH-1 Phantom I. This plane was the first jet aircraft to take off from and land on an aircraft carrier.

Here's a placard regaling the history of the world's speed records. As you can see, it's the USA who's doing most of the booty kicking.

The last plane in the Jet Aviation Gallery is this Messerschmitt Me 262. Nicknamed Schwalbe, or Swallow, this jet outperformed all other fighters during World War II. Faster than the Allies P-51 Mustang by 120 mph, the jet gave the Germans an upper hand that was fortunately short lived. Germany introduced the jet near the end of the war, and by then, Germany had already overreached its ability to maintain its military machine across multiple continents. Total collapse was soon to follow.

Accompanying the German aircraft is this interesting information display. It talks a bit about the airplane, the men behind the machine, and how this particular plane was captured from the Germans, only to be completely restored to its present condition.