Our guide is curator jeremy kinney, who shows us some of the museums rare and oneofakind artifacts to tell the quest to go higher, faster, and further during the first half century of aviation. Jeremy kinney hello. Were going to go through a tour of some artifacts that really stand out in terms of the story of higher, faster, and farther. First, i want to talk about the museum overall. The museum has over 8 million visitors a year. Looking at the story of flight in the atmosphere, where i work in, we are looking at 500 aircraft and helicopters. Of those aircraft, about 67 are on display in the National Mall building. What supports these artifacts is up to 50,000 small and medium artifacts. Were going to talk about the story of higher, faster, and farther which is seen as a cliche in the history of aviation but has a real meaning. We look at the people who made this quest of flying in the third dimension a reality. The idea of flying to the highest altitudes, fastest speeds, and longest distances tells us a lot about the Technical Development of the airplane and the reinvention of what the Wright Brothers did. That is what i would like to talk to you about in terms of the airplanes and people that tell that story. Behind me, you see the wright flyer. The worlds first airplane. On the morning of december 17, Orville Wright takes flight for 130 feet. The first time he man has entered the air in a powered flying machine. At the end of the day, after four flights, orville and wilbur alternate. The fourth flight, 852 feet, 30 miles an hour an altitude of 32 feet and they usher in the aerial age. The age of aviation. How they came to create that moment is very important. Not only did they invent the airplane, but they invent aeronautical engineering in the process needed to create actual flying machines. Beginning in 1899, the brothers, they are unmarried and owned a bicycle shop. They run a printing business. They are yankee mechanics. They know tools and mechanical devices and take that interest and apply it to solving the problem of building a flying machine. In 1899, they write the Smithsonian Institution and asked for all the literature on flight. They learn about the secretary us was sunny and of the smithsonian is going to be a competitor. They learn about the conduit of knowledge between aeronautical exterminators in europe and United States. What sets them apart is they break the problem down. They have to look at an airplane as a system of systems. Looking at propulsion structures, controls, and aerodynamics. The science of flight. Between 1899 and 1902, they start flying gliders. And theyt with kites had gliders. And in 1902, they have a controllable glider. Wing warping. Rather than using weight, they have a mechanical system where they can twist the wings. How they came to conclusion is the brothers always complemented each other as intellectuals and so they argued how they would control the airplane. One day in the bicycle shop, wilbur is talking to a customer and has an inner tube box for a a bicycle tire and is twisting it as he is talking to the individual and he sees in his minds eye, envisioning the threedimensional technology and says if we start twisting the wings of the glider, we can control it and it will turn. That is how they come up with new ideas about what the airplane is. They create the worlds first working wind tunnel to do the math of previous experimenters. I find out it is wrong on the coefficient. They recalculated and designed wings capable of creating lift. By 1902, they have a working glider flying for over 30 seconds from the dunes of kitty hawk. They traveled there because it is the one spot in america that has consistent wins and isolation to work in peace without distraction. Through 190203, they add the last big part of the airplane. They have done the wings, the aerodynamics. They have done the structure influenced by railroad bridges. The at theok at control system, the wing warping. The last ingredient is the propulsion system. They acknowledge it will be a reciprocating system. They create a horizontal force. They know they need that much power to generate the thrust of the propellers. That is another specific choice the Wright Brothers make, they will have propellers on their machine. How do they work . They figure they can go to existing data on ship propellers. That does not give them any answers. The same sort of intellectual giveandtake, the brothers are going at it. And they realize the propeller is a rotating wing. They take their wind tunnel to thehey adapt it designing of a propeller and designed propellers capable of two producing up to 6070 thrust of the 12 horsepower engine. You see the propellers on the back of the wings. They are called pusher configurations. They wanted them to turn in opposite directions. Taking their knowledge of a workshop, you twist the belt of the power system. You can see one of the chains twisted on the drive system. That last ingredient, the propulsion system enables the , brothers to go to kitty hawk in the late fall early winter of 1903 where they start their flying program. They have a crash and her down a couple of days. On december 17, 1903, they fly this airplane behind me. That moment of getting into the air under the power and looking at all the technology in terms of aluminum engine, spruce propellers, spruce structural members, metal fitting. You have muslin fabric. That all comes together in the system of the airplane they create. After those flights, a big wind comes up and the flyer tumbles and is demolished. They claim success, go back to dayton and send a telegram to fuligh ather success for flight. By 1905, they are flying up to half an hour for long distances doing figure eights outside of dayton, ohio. The 03 flyer is forgotten. It sits in crates. It goes through a flood. All of the crates have been sent water and mud. Is starting to reassemble the airplane and put it on display in 1920. In 1926, it goes to england where it is at the science museum. During world war ii, it is stored west of london during the blitz. But it comes to 1948 when orville donates the wright flyer to the Smithsonian Institution and has been on public display weather at the old building. And with the opening of the national air and space museum in 1976, the flyer went on display. In 2003, the centennial of their first flight, this gallery is opened to tell the story of making the first airplane and with it aeronautical engineering. What you see here is the original airplane. It has been restored and changed over the years. The fabric that you see here is not the original fabric from 1903. It has been applied in the sewing methods and construction as the 1903 plane. They made the airplane look better when it when to england. In the 1980s, this airplane underwent a restoration. Spruce structural members, the engine, one of the propellers, all original. Over and the corner of the gallery is one of the original propellers. Tumble, itk its cracked and split that propeller. We just left the Wright Brothers gallery. We are in the world war i gallery now. The airplane behind me is a spaz 13. In many ways, this is the configuration the french and rest of the aeronautical Community Takes what the brothers created in 1903 and make it their own. This is a 1917 design and it is the highest performance french fighter of world war i. What that means is it can go 130 Miles Per Hour. 100 miles an hour faster than a wright flyer. It is also just a large strut and wire flyer. The tractor configuration with the engine propeller in the front, central fuselage, a french word, with two bilane wings. Stabilizer and control at the top for the wings. More french influence. After the creation of the airplane, the Wright Brothers bring it to the world. There are french and european experimenters flying airplanes. The french run with it and take the lead as well as other nations. Looking at this airplane, it is the epiphany of the strut and wire brace configuration the Wright Brothers create. But it has been improved and enhanced. The spaz 13 is a product of a french designer. He designed air racers. He designed a very successful series of fighters. It is important in terms of air combat over france over the western front during world war i. It is the spaz 13 that enter s service in may, 1917 that reflects the epiphany of french highperformance fighter design. It allows it to go very fast. It is fabric covered. Engine, 220 horsepower v8 engine at the core. You see the radiator shutters. It looks like it is a round engine. There is a v8 engine underneath. Tightfitting metal cover that allows the air to flow over more efficiently. Mark burton adapts an important series of automobile engines in the prewar europe. Era. What he does is unique. Instead of having separate cylinders, he casts a row of cylinders out of aluminum. He has cooling passages in the aluminum blocks that allows improved cooling and more power. Instead of a rotary engine doing 120 horsepower, youre looking at 220 horsepower. There is always a technological push and pull over the western front in world war i in which the germans have an advantage with their tubular steel fuselage aircraft like you see in the gallery. 13 is the french answer to that airplane. It is not as maneuverable but has speed and can die the way. So they are going to take this airplane and develop new Group Fighter tactics in response to german fighter tactics. This first generation of significant airplanes fly in the french squadrons. This becomes the highest performance airplane that has 30 caliber machines guns. The ability to fly fast, dive, come back and attack gives the french Fighter Squadron advantage. One of the major technological for Fighter Aircraft the less technological Technological Innovations in world war i for Fighter Aircraft is the creation of a gun system. You can mount a machine gun in front of a pilot with a site and as you point the airplane, you can point the machine gets a hit your target. The problem is that you have a spinning propeller in the way. The creation of a mechanical linkage set up to a camera on the propeller shaft at the propeller blade crosses in front , it turns off the machine gun and that the propeller blade is passed, it turns back on. With the entry of the United States into the war, you have American Air Service pilots coming to the western front being equipped with french aircraft. There is not a frontline ready american fighter for the conflict. What you see here was built by one of the manufacturers contracted. There were 8400 made total. The 22nd aero squadron was assigned this airplane. A young pilot named ray brooks painted the name of his fiancee. s college. He goes into combat with this airplane. He scores one aerial kill. Pilots in the same squadron shootdown at least five more. This flew with the first generation of american combat pilots. Ray brooks names this airplane after his fiancees school. Most people would name their airplane after their girlfriend. But he made a conscious decision. He did not want to have this airplane damaged and have a mechanic saying shes damaged, we have to fix her. He wanted to keep her out of that situation, and so he named her after a college. Smith the fourth is in the 1980 1918 camouflage. You also see small black squares that have german crosses. Those represent bullet holes shot through the fabric in combat. Theres a small indication of it being a combat airplane and surviving. The squares would have been applied by ground mechanics in the field. One of the interesting advantages of a strut and wire brace fabric covered airplane is that if the bullet goes through the fabric it passes through the , other side. It just needs a patch. The job of the mechanic is to patch that and restore the integrity and keep fighting. At the end of world war i, in november of this airplane is set 1918, aside by the Army Air Service and brought back to the United States. To display what type of aircraft americans flew, a highperformance french fighter. It is given to the smithsonian. It stays in the collection for decades. It is not until the 1980s that the airplane is fully restored. And put on display in the world war i gallery. If you look at this panel, you can see fabric from the original airplane on display. The fabric you see here is not original. It is restored fabric. Nonetheless, this is one of four remaining in the world. It tells the story of how the Wright Brothers original airplane was maximized and changed but was still essentially the same in terms of materials and the propulsion system. It was a formidable combat fighter of world war i. From the spad 13, we now look at the air racer of the 1920s. Behind me now is the curtis racer. This is an air racer. What is unique about it is that it is built by a national government, the United States, to compete in International Air racing against the air forces of other countries to win a prize. The schnider cup. This technology is built in the name of performance making pursuit and Fighter Airplanes better. What results is this grand spectacle of aviation. But it is a military spectacle in which military officers are getting in these airplanes. Take notice that the u. S. Army on the tail of the air racer and you will see they are in bloodless campaigns against each other. They are promoting their own branch of service. To see if they can become independent and push the technology. It is a twofold Public Relations and Technical Campaign they are waging. What results is an improvement of the airplane in terms of its highspeed technology. This is an International Event created by a french industrialist to influence, develop, and encourage the elopment of speed flame plain technology. It is between the International Aviation clubs of each country and the military takes over in the early 1920s. The curtis is the worlds fastest airplane in the fall of 1925. This racer with a young air service pilot, wins the competition northeast of baltimore maryland. He breaks the world record of 230 Miles Per Hour. This shows the importance of the military and military aviation overall. Just two weeks before, the same installedith wheels wins the pulitzer trophy race. It is not international. It is a National Race pitting the army and navy and marine pilots against each other. It is an aerial armynavy football game. At mitchell field, he flies the same airplane with the wheels and skid installed to win the race at 248 Miles Per Hour. Jimmy doolittle and another man are the worlds fastest men. He was faster than any wind in history. This belief in speed and the pushing of technology and justification of National Governments to encourage this development resulted in what we see here, the curtis rc3. It is a racing system. Look at the gold wings. You see the lines running between the fuselage and wingtips, that is a brass radiator. Instead of having it at the front that creates drag, you have the air traveling over the profile of the wing. It is cooling the engine through the radiators. You see minimal struts and wires on the construction of it. You see a tightly fitting caroling over the engine. You see a metal propeller. One of the latest innovations in the mid1920s. Innovation in terms totransitioning from wood meddle in construction materials. Probably the most important innovation is it is plywood. It is built like a wooden boat and built in spruce shaped to form the fuselage. It is a hollow shell. It incorporates an overall streamlined shape and a blouse it to go faster because of the ability to have less things causing drag along the fuselage. What you have to realize is it is built for a very highspeed, highturning environment. A 20 mile course, a virtual racetrack in the sky. The short wingspan and compact nature allows it to make a tight turn around the pylons. Jimmy doolittle had a Technology Technique where he would start at one pylon and pull up and turn around another pylon to get speed. The short wingspan facilitated that. If you are a spectator watching the race, you would see doolittle climbing, turning, and diving toward the pylons. You also hear the airplane and so this engine, the short stacks are working and making popping noises. The propeller is going supersonic at its tips. Propellers are the first devices that go supersonic. You hear a banging noise. The barking noise of the exhaust and then this airplane zooming by at eyesight level is an amazing thing to see. After he wins the pulitzer, after Jimmy Doolittle wins the snyder, the next year in virginia, a marine pilot comes in second. In the same airplane. After that race, it is given to the Smithsonian Institution where it is on display for a number of years. Then he goes to the National Museum of the u. S. Air force and is restored by personnel there and returns for installation in the flight gallery where you see it here today. Jimmy doolittle goes on to fame in aviation. He is a famous test pilot, a certified aeronautical engineer. He is an air racer again in the 1930s racing across the United States in the bendix trophy. Ii,he opening of world war Jim Doolittle becomes a National Hero as he leads the famous raid named after him against japan in april 1942. He wins the medal of honor and goes on to become one of the leading bomber generals of world war ii. The curtis racer is a fast airplane and it boosted the career of a p