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  • High Altitude Research

    In continuing its program for investigating flight at high altitudes, the Air Corps ordered from Lockheed a twin-engine airplane designated the XC-35. This was the world's first airplane specifically constructed with a pressure cabin. For its achievements with the XC-35 in high-altitude research,

  • First Automatic Airplane Landing

    The first automatic airplane landing occurred on Aug. 23, 1937. A Fokker C-14B took off from Wright Field and after its automatic equipment was switched on, it turned toward Patterson Field several miles away, gradually descended and landed using a ground radio system consisting of five transmitting

  • Four-Engine Bomber

    In the summer of 1935, the Boeing Airplane Co. unveiled its Model 299, a remarkable four-engine, high-speed, long-range, heavy bomber which was eventually designated the B-17 Flying Fortress. This plane, although destined to change the complexion of aerial warfare, initially failed to convince the

  • General Headquarters Air Force

    A milestone was reached in Air Force history in March 1935 when the War Department established the General Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force. Going far beyond the traditional role of supporting Army ground troops on the battlefield, it was to serve as a central striking force for long-range bombardment

  • Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews

    Before his premature death in 1943, Frank Maxwell Andrews played a major role in building the small U.S. Army Air Corps of the 1930s into the powerful U.S. Army Air Forces of World War II. Furthermore, he had become one of the key military commanders in the United States' armed forces. Born in

  • Test Propellers

    (as shown from left to right in photograph)Hinged-Blade Research PropellerThis 10-foot experimental propeller was ground-tested at McCook Field for the U.S. Navy. Built by Paragon Engineers Inc., it was designed with hinged blades to permit it to adapt to changes in air pressure.Micarta Controllable

  • Air Mail Ramp Light

    This 10,000-volt floodlight was manufactured by the BBT Corp. of America of Philadelphia. It was used in the 1930s at a government air mail emergency airfield near Waterman, Ill., where the donor's father was a weather observer and caretaker.Click here to return to the Early Years Gallery.

  • Airplane Landing Lights

    Early in the 1920s, McCook Field began experimenting with night flying equipment. Emphasis was placed upon airplane landing lights to replace highly dangerous wingtip and parachute flares in use at the time. The two lights on display at the museum, designed and tested at McCook Field in 1925, were

  • Early Free-Fall Parachute

    The first successful Army test jump with a free-fall parachute was made by Mr. Leslie Irvin at McCook Field on April 28, 1919, using a chute designed by Floyd Smith and Guy Ball, both civilian employees at McCook.The parachute on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, one of

  • Research & Development at McCook Field

    When the United States entered World War I, an urgent need developed for an active research and development program for military aviation. A site was selected at Dayton, Ohio, because of its location relative to America's industrial complex, and on Oct. 18, 1917, McCook Field was established. For