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  • Wright Brothers 1901 Wind Tunnel

    This is a replica of the wind tunnel designed and built by the Wright Brothers in the fall of 1901 to test airfoil designs. The blower fan, driven by an overhead belt, produced a 25 to 35 mph wind for testing the lift of various planes and curved surfaces. Aerodynamic tables derived from these tests

  • Kellett K-2/K-3 Autogiro

    Before World War II, aeronautical engineers sought to build an aircraft capable of making short takeoffs and landings. Eventually, their efforts produced the helicopter, but they also pursued a less common design -- the autogiro. Like helicopters, autogiros used a rotary wing to produce lift.

  • U.S. Army Ballooning Renewed

    The rise of civilian sport ballooning and the personal interest of two Signal Corps balloon pilots, Lt. Frank P. Lahm and Capt. Charles DeForest Chandler, renewed the U.S. Army ballooning program.U.S. Army balloonists participated in the Gordon Bennett balloon competition, in which the team that

  • Creation of the Aeronautical Division

    On Aug. 1, 1907, at the recommendation of Maj. George O. Squier, Brig. Gen. James Allen, Chief Signal Officer (1906-1913) of the U.S. Army, established the Aeronautical Division under his office, placing Capt. Charles D. Chandler in command. He tasked this embryonic organization with "all matters

  • Fairchild PT-19A Cornell

    Fairchild developed the PT-19 in 1938 to satisfy a military requirement for a rugged monoplane primary trainer, and it went into quantity production in 1940. In addition to those manufactured by Fairchild, the Aeronca, Howard and St. Louis Aircraft Corps. produced Cornells. Fleet Aircraft Ltd.

  • Cpl. Edward Ward: First Enlisted Airman

    Corporal Edward “Eddie” Ward’s leadership, talent, and technical skills played an essential part in creating American air power. Ward’s service embodies the critical role played by the millions of enlisted Airmen who followed him.In July 1907, the Army sent Ward and PFC Joseph Barrett to learn the

  • Controllable Balloons: Dirigibles

    From the beginning, the usefulness of the balloon depended upon giving it "dirigibility" or directional control -- without it, balloons could only drift with the wind. Although the U.S. Army did not buy its first dirigible until 1908, the technology had existed for more than 50 years.In 1852 Henri

  • North American O-47B

    In 1934 North American Aviation developed the O-47 to replace the O-19 and O-38 observation biplanes. Larger and heavier than most preceding observation aircraft, its crew of three sat in tandem under the long canopy. Since the wings restricted downward observation and photography, North American

  • Glenn Hammond Curtiss: Aviation Pioneer

    Like his main competitors the Wright brothers, Glenn Curtiss was involved in bicycling before he became interested in aviation, first racing bicycles and later motorcycles. Curtiss developed a successful motorcycle business in Hammondsport, N.Y., for which he designed and built relatively light and

  • Army Buys New Airplanes

    On March 31, 1911, Congress made its first appropriation for military aviation, $125,000 for the year 1912. The Signal Corps immediately ordered five new airplanes. The first of these, a Curtiss Type IV Model D "Military", was accepted at Fort Sam Houston on April 27, 1911, and became Signal Corps