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  • Flights of Explorer I and II

    In 1934 the National Geographic Society and the Air Corps co-sponsored a balloon flight to investigate the stratosphere. Suspended below a mammoth hydrogen-filled balloon was the sealed gondola named the Explorer, which was designed to carry three passengers. The flight began at 5:45 a.m. on July

  • Roma Tragedy

    In 1920 the Army Air Service purchased a 410-foot long semi-rigid dirigible, the Roma, from Italy. Disassembled and shipped to the United States, the reassembled airship made its first flight in America from Langley Field, Va., on Nov. 15, 1921. Dissatisfied with the Roma's performance, the Army Air

  • Gordon Bennett Balloon Trophy

    This Gordon Bennett Balloon Trophy was awarded to the U.S. in 1928 for winning it for the third successive year when Capt. William E. Kepner and Lt. William O. Eareckson flew 460.9 miles in a free balloon from Detroit, Mich.The first Gordon Bennett Balloon Trophy Race was won in 1906 by two

  • Pan American Good Will Flight

    The MissionThe mission of the Pan American Good Will Flight of 1926-1927 was to take messages of friendship from the United States to the governments and people of Central and South America, promote U.S. commercial aviation and forge aerial navigation routes through the Americas.The MenThe Air

  • Gen. Billy Mitchell's Congressional Gold Medal

    This is the Congressional Gold Medal awarded posthumously to Gen Billy Mitchell in 1946. This medallion, the only one of its kind, was sculpted by Erwin F. Springweiler and struck by the Philadelphia Mint.The inscription on the front of the medallion reads: BRIGADIER GENERAL WILLIAM MITCHELLThe

  • Brig. Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell

    William "Billy" Mitchell became an untiring advocate for air power between the two world wars. His name remains synonymous with military aviation during the 1920s.The son of a wealthy United States senator from Wisconsin, Mitchell was born in Nice, France, on Dec. 29, 1879, while his parents were on

  • Battleship Trials

    For over a century the U.S. Army and Navy were in agreement about the coastal defense of the United States: the Army would defend the beaches and out to the range of their coastal guns, and the Navy would protect anything beyond that range. The airplane, however, changed that arrangement. Since the

  • Ford Model T Ambulance

    During World War I, the Allies used thousands of Model T cars and trucks because of their low cost and ease of repair. The ambulance version's light weight made it well-suited for use on the muddy and shell-torn roads in forward combat areas. If stuck in a hole, a group of soldiers could lift one

  • Aerial Mapping

    After World War I, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey asked for the U.S. Army Air Service's help in using aerial photographs for mapping, and tests conducted during the summer of 1919 proved the concept. In 1920 Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell stated that the Army Air Service -- if properly organized --

  • Aerial Route Flashing Beacon

    The U.S. Army Air Service placed beacons like this one around airfields in the early 1920s. They were also stationed three miles apart along the established air mail routes, and at night, pilots could see their constant glow from 10 miles away. A switch automatically turned the light on at night or