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Fact Sheet Alphabetical List

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  • 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

  • Pancho Villa Attacks New Mexico

    On March 9, 1916, the Mexican revolutionary, Pancho Villa, crossed the international border with more than 500 men and raided Columbus, N.M., killing 17 Americans. The next day, Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing was directed to organize a force to protect the border and the 1st Aero Squadron, commanded by

  • Philippine Air School

    In December 1911, the Signal Corps had shipped a Wright B airplane to the Philippines so that Lt. Lahm, already in the islands with the 7th Cavalry Regiment, could establish a flying school. He opened the Philippine Air School on March 12, 1912, and nine days later made the first flight from the

  • Packard LePere LUSAC 11

    Designed in 1917 by Capt. Georges LePere, a French aeronautical engineer working for the U.S. Army Air Service, the LUSAC 11 was the result of efforts to get an American built fighter into combat as soon as possible. The acronym "LUSAC" stood for LePere United States Army Combat. LePere designed the

  • Progress in Flying Machines: Octave Chanute

    Octave Chanute was already a well-known engineer when he began studying the problem of flight. His classic 1894 volume Progress in Flying Machines brought together in one book a history of humankind's attempts to fly. Chanute also applied his knowledge of bridge building to the design of gliders.

  • Popular Songs of the AEF

    Note: This item is currently in storage.This song booklet, compiled and distributed by the YMCA, was a staple among the soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I.Click here to return to the Featured World War I Artifacts index.

  • Pre-war Super Bombers

    Although the Boeing B-17 was to gain greater fame, Boeing also designed and built an even larger four-engine bomber in the mid-1930s, the XB-15. Its design was actually begun before the B-17, but it did not make its first flight until 1937, more than two years after that of the B-17. With a wingspan

  • Proving the Flying Fortress

    As a result of the General Staff's decision, only 13 YB-17s and one YB-17A were ordered by mid-1937 as compared to 133 B-18s and 177 B-18As. The Air Corps was determined to prove the value of the four-engine B-17 with this handful of service test planes. It flew its YB-17s at every opportunity over

  • POW Canteen

    Note: This item is currently in storage.This canteen was carried throughout the Bataan Campaign and on the infamous Death March. It was taken from the donor by one of the Japanese sergeants at the command of Japanese officers.Donated by Master Sgt. (Ret.) Robert J. Vogler.Click here to return to the