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

  • Consolidated OA-10 Catalina

    The OA-10 was the U.S. Army Air Forces' version of the PBY series flown extensively by the U.S. Navy during World War II. It was a twin-engine, parasol-mounted monoplane equipped with a flying boat hull, retractable tricycle landing gear and retractable wing-tip floats. The OA-10 operated primarily

  • Caproni Ca. 36 Restoration

    Recognizing the significance of the Caproni bombers as an important milestone in the evolution of U.S. strategic bombardment doctrine as well as in the history of U.S. wartime combat aviation, the National Museum of the United States Air Force had the good fortune to arrange a long term loan of one

  • Capt. Phelps Collins

    The first member of the U.S. Air Service to die on a combat mission was Capt. Phelps Collins of Alpena, Mich. He enlisted in the French Aviation Service in May 1917 and transferred to the U.S. Air Service when America entered the war. He was assigned as a pilot to the 103rd Aero Squadron, successor

  • Capt. Frederick Libby

    When the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, Capt. Frederick Libby of Sterling, Colo., was a member of the British Royal Flying Corps. To celebrate American entry into the war, he cut two streamers from a U.S. flag, tied them to the struts of his airplane, and flew them across enemy lines. After

  • Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker

    Capt. Edward Rickenbacker of Columbus, Ohio, was a famous race car driver before the United States' entry into World War I. As the United States prepared to send troops to Europe, Rickenbacker was offered a position as General Pershing's chauffeur. He accepted and enlisted in the U.S.

  • Capt. William C. Lambert

    Capt. William C. Lambert of Ironton, Ohio, was the second-ranking American ace of World War I. He was officially credited with 21 1/2 air-to-air victories, only 4 1/2 victories fewer than the 26 of top American ace Eddie Rickenbacker. Lambert joined the Royal Flying Corps in Canada in 1916 and

  • Combat Record

    The combat record of the relatively small Air Service, AEF, was most impressive. It had logged thousands of combat sorties, flown 150 bombing missions, taken more than 18,000 photos of enemy positions, and had shot down 781 aircraft and 73 observation balloons. Lastly, 72 Air Service flyers had

  • Combat over the Marne

    Aerial combat for the seven U.S. squadrons over the Marne was much more intense than it had been at Toul. Often outnumbered four to one, they were pitted against some of Germany's most experienced units, including the famous von Richtofen squadron with Germany's latest pursuit, the Fokker D. VII.

  • Curtiss O-52 Owl

    In 1940 the U.S. Army Air Corps ordered 203 Curtiss O-52s for observation duties -- signified by the designation "O" -- and used them for military maneuvers within the continental United States. Upon America's entry into World War II, however, the U.S. Army Air Forces realized that the airplane

  • Consolidated PT-1 Trusty

    By 1924 the U.S. Army Air Service needed a new primary training aircraft, and the Army chose the PT-1 designed by Consolidated Aircraft Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y. Deliveries began in 1925, and the PT-1 became the first training airplane purchased by the Army Air Service in substantial quantity following