In support of an official event 

The Museum will be closed Sunday, May 25
In addition, the Fourth Hangar will be closed Saturday, May 24

Access to the Presidential Gallery will be limited from May 15 to June 5
 

Fact Sheet Alphabetical List

Fact Sheet Search

  • German "Fritz X" Guided Bomb

    The "Fritz X" (or PC 1400 X) was a 3,450-pound armor-piercing bomb fitted with a radio receiver and control surfaces in the tail. It was intended for use against heavily armored ship or ground targets. When dropped from 20,000 feet, an altitude above the most effective anti-aircraft defense, it

  • Flakvierling 38 20mm Antiaircraft Gun

    During World War II, Airmen and Soldiers performed ground-based air defense by using large-caliber field guns that fired projectiles at flying enemy aircraft. Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) or Flak if German, posed a particular threat to aircraft because their bullets exploded in the air. This meant

  • Flak 36 88mm Multipurpose Gun

    The versatile 88mm cannon was Germany’s main heavy antiaircraft—or “flak”—gun during World War II.  When an 88mm projectile exploded at altitude, it sent out jagged metal fragments that tore through nearby aircraft.  It also left a characteristic black cloud hanging in the sky.  The 88mm cannon’s

  • "Fat Man" Atomic Bomb

    A "Fat Man" bomb was dropped over Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945, near the end of World War II. Released by the B-29 Bockscar, the 10,000-pound weapon was detonated at an altitude of approximately 1,800 feet over the city. The bomb had an explosive force (yield) of about 20,000 tons of TNT, about

  • German BK-5 50mm Cannon

    The BK-5 was an adaptation of a tank gun and was intended primarily for use against Allied heavy bombers. Its magazine held 22 rounds, and the gun had a rate of 45 rounds per minute. BK-5 cannon were installed in some Me 410 twin-engine interceptors and experimentally in the Me 262 fighter, but the

  • B-17 Upper Machine Gun Turret (Type A-1A)

    This turret was one of the first fully-powered machine gun turret designs used to equip American aircraft and was used initially on the B-17E Flying Fortress. It is operated by an electro-hydraulic system, which powers both elevation and traverse of the turret's two .50-cal. M2 Browning machine

  • AN-M26 Parachute Flares

    Note:  This item has temporarily been removed from display.Parachute flares provided illumination for night photo or observation missions. A fuze ignited the flare, and a parachute retarded its fall while it burned for about three minutes with a yellowish light of about 800,000 candlepower.Click

  • Allison V-1710-85 & Drive Train for P-39Q

    In the aircraft designer's search for better streamlining and higher speed, some aircraft were designed with the large and heavy engine mounted amidships and the propeller driven by an extension shaft that passed between the pilot's feet. This permitted the nose contours of the fuselage to be shaped

  • Allison V-1710

    The V-1710 engine was the product of an extensive Army program to develop a high-power, liquid-cooled engine. Derived from a model designed in 1930 for airship use, the V-1710 was first used by the Air Corps in 1932. Rated at 1,000 hp, it was installed in the Consolidated XA-11A, an experimental

  • Packard V-1650 Merlin

    The V-1650 liquid-cooled engine was the U.S. version of the famous British Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, which powered the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters during the Battle of Britain in 1940. In September 1940 the Packard Co. agreed to build the Merlin engine for both the American and the British