The Last Sikorsky JRS-1 Makes A Move to the Udvar-Hazy Center

Posted on March 9, 2011 by The National Air and Space Museum

On December 7, 1941, a US Navy squadron consisting of ten Sikorsky JRS-1 amphibious seaplanes was on station in the Hawaiian Islands. Shortly after the Japanese attack that Sunday morning, the planes were launched in an effort to locate enemy submarines and ships near Oahu. Initially not armed, the first missions included riflemen positioned on board near open windows and doors to shoot potential adversaries in case any were discovered. Later, these ten JRS-1 craft were armed with depth charges, one under each wing that could more effectively attack Japanese submarines.

The Sikorsky JRS-1 fuselage arrives at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Smithsonian photo by Mark Avino.

On Tuesday, March 8 at 10:15am, the world’s only surviving JRS-1 (designated S-43 in the civilian world) arrived at the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport. After 50 years in preservation storage at the Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland, this World War II veteran amphibious sea plane finally emerged into the bright Virginia sunshine—and it looks fantastic.

The Sikorsky JRS-1 is backed into the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar. Smithsonian photo by Dane Penland.

Doug Erickson talks to Matt Jolley from Warbird Radio while Public Affairs Specialist, Frank McNally, looks on.

Doug Erickson, of the Museum’s Collections Division, expertly piloted the “Big Blue” truck and flatbed that carried the fifty-one foot long fuselage from Suitland, around the Washington DC beltway, then via Route 66 to the Udvar-Hazy Center. Aside from a bit of a tight squeeze on the entry ramp to 66 and bunches of “gawkers,” the transport went precisely as planned. For Doug, the significance of the object really hits home AFTER the job of safely loading, moving, and unloading is complete. “It goes from being work, to being really cool!”

Collections staff prepare to offload the Sikorsky JRS-1 inside the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar. Smithsonian photo by Dane Penland.

Museum Technician, Pat Robinson, grabs a strap to help steady the aircraft as it is lifted off of the flatbed trailer.

Museum Technician, Pat Robinson, has been assisting with the disassembly and move preparation for the JRS. Others on the team include, Anthony Wallace, Move Project Manager; Tony Carp, JRS Disassembly Lead; Douglas Erickson, JRS fuselage move driver/coordinator; and Scott Wood. Pat mentioned that while the task has been challenging, the sight of the aircraft in the open air for the first time in decades was a highlight of the day. During the process, the team has uncovered much of the original paint scheme and original colors that will one day guide the restoration of the aircraft. The vibrant green used on the vertical tail and the cherry red on the engine cowlings verify that this JRS-1 belonged to the unit commander.

As curator of the JRS-1, the opportunity to get such a significant artifact into the public view has been a major goal. It seems fitting that this historic American aviation artifact will be on public view at some point during this year of the Centennial of Naval aviation, as well as the seventieth anniversary of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.

In what may be the last “flight of the JRS-1” the team steadies the fuselage in preparation for rotating it 180 degrees for display. Smithsonian photo by Dane Penland.

The team poses in front of the Sikorsky JRS-1, resting comfortably in position for display inside the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar.

This aircraft is one of the most historically significant in the national collection and represents a long, proud heritage of aviation in the U.S. Navy. Moving the JRS-1 to the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar will allow the National Air and Space Museum to utilize the most modern facilities available to improve the long-term preservation of treasures like the JRS-1.

Dik Daso is curator of Modern Military Aircraft in National Air and Space Museum’s Aeronautics Division.

Asking the Experts

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Tim Grove

How did you get an airplane inside the building? Is there life on other planets? What EXACTLY is GPS and how does it work? Why in the world is that in this museum?

We hear these questions every day. There’s so much that goes on in museums that people just don’t understand. And there are a lot of interesting artifacts tucked into smaller galleries that visitors simply don’t notice. Then there are the GREAT stories behind every artifact – stories that just don’t fit on a label. For instance, have you ever wondered how we acquired Gene Kranz’s famous “Failure is NOT an option” white vest? Did you know that Wilbur Wright, while playing with a cardboard box, figured out an essential component for controlling an aircraft? How about what really happened at Roswell, NM? Or about the time Howard Hughes….

Photo: Gene Kranz in his white vest. Photo courtesy NASA. The photo links to the full "Ask an Expert" lecture, given by curator Margaret Weitekamp, which tells the story behind Gene Kranz's vests and how the Museum acquired this white vest that he wore during the Apollo 13 mission.

Before I started working at the National Air and Space Museum I hadn’t heard these stories either. There are so many of them, and since I work in the Museum I get to hear them from our curators, conservators, scientists, and archivists all the time. What’s that? You’d like to hear them as well? Guess what? You can. Every Wednesday at noon we dust off one of the curators, conservators, scientists, or archivists and send one onto the museum floor during lunch to tell these stories. Each Ask an Expert talk runs about 15 minutes and then they take time to answer your questions. If you can’t make it, we record many of the talks and post them on our website. However, if you’ve got time during lunch and you’d like to join us, check out our calendar for a list of upcoming talks. I learn something new at every lecture, and I’ve been listening to our experts for years!

Beth Wilson is the Discovery Station Program Coordinator for the Mall Building.

5 Cool Things at the Udvar-Hazy Center You May Have Missed

Posted on January 11, 2011 by The National Air and Space Museum

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, currently has over 161 aircraft and 160 major space objects on display. With so much to see in such a huge space, it’s easy to focus on the larger and more famous objects like the Concorde, Space Shuttle Enterprise, and Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay. However, there are a host of other objects of historical significance with very interesting stories behind them. Here is a list of just some of the objects that you shouldn’t miss on your next (or first) visit to the Udvar-Hazy Center:

1) First Flying Wing: Northrop N1-M

Northrop N1-M Flying Wing

On display near the center of the Boeing Aviation Hangar is the bright yellow N1-M flying wing. Built by John K. “Jack” Northrop, one of the world’s preeminent aircraft designers and creator of the Lockheed Vega and Northrop Alpha, the N1-M wasn’t his first attempt at creating a flying wing, but it represents the first truly successful design. It’s flight characteristics were not great, but it led to other designs, including the Northrop XB-35 and YB-49 strategic bombers and ultimately the B-2 stealth bomber. The N1-M first flew in 1940 and was one of many experimental aircraft that has been associated with UFO sightings. It’s ominous beauty & important place in history make it a must-see on any visit.

2) Space Backpack: Manned Maneuvering Unit

Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU)

One of the most famous space images is that of lone astronaut Bruce McAndless floating free against the blackness of space – a feat made possible by the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), currently on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center. It was the first time a human had ever flown completely free from a spacecraft. The backpack propulsion system was used on three shuttle missions in 1984 and was transferred to the Museum in 2001. Hanging high above and to one side of the space shuttle Enterprise, it’s easy to miss this important object. Curator Valerie Neal explains more about the MMU in this video:

3) What’s the Hook?: Stinson L-5 Sentinel

Stinson L-5 Sentinel

The Museum’s L-5 is the first production model ever built. One of the most important but overlooked aircraft of WWII, it was versatile, durable and flew a wide variety of missions from photo reconnaissance to VIP transport. Hanging high above the Lockheed SR-71, one of the more frequently asked questions about this aircraft is “what is the hook?” It’s called the Brodie System, an ingenious system designed to allow aircraft to takeoff and land on a ship without landing on the deck. The hook grabs onto a line running along the side of the ship, as shown in the video below. While the Brodie System was operational in the Pacific only toward the end of the war, it made one notable contribution leading up to the invasion of Okinawa, as curator Roger Connor explains:

4) Flying Blind: Saturn V Instrument Unit

Saturn V Instrument Unit

Elevated above the floor is one section of a Saturn V rocket measuring about 1 meter (3 feet) high by 6.7 meters (22 feet) in diameter. This ring, which sat between the third stage of the Saturn rocket and the payload, was incredibly important. Known as the Instrument Unit, it contained crucial systems, including the inertial guidance system that guided the rocket throughout launch. During the launch of the Apollo 12 mission, lightning strikes knocked out the power to the Command Module and its navigation systems. The guidance system in the Instrument Unit continued working and kept the Saturn V rocket on course to a successful mission to the Moon.

5) By Land or Sea?: Gemini TTV-1 Paraglider Capsule

Gemini TTV-1 Paraglider Capsule

A Gemini capsule with wheels? That capsule is a full-scale Test Tow Vehicle (TTV) built to train Gemini astronauts in a landing procedure that ultimately was not used. At the start of the Gemini program in 1961, NASA considered having the two-man Gemini capsule land on a runway after its return from space, rather than parachute into the ocean. The controlled descent and landing would use an inflatable paraglider wing of the type invented by Francis Rogallo and NASA. The Museum’s TTV was the first of two TTVs flown in several tests at Edwards Air Force Base in California to perfect maneuvering, control, and landing techniques. This video includes an early animation of how the Paraglider Landing System would work:

Both the Gemini TTV-1 Capsule and its Rogallo Wing are on display in the Human Spaceflight exhibit inside the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar.

These are just five of the unique objects on view at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, there are hundreds more. What do you think are other must-see objects?

Santa’s Balloons and Arctic Airships

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Allan Janus

X-Mas Greetings - Success, Prosperity, Good Will. Chromolithograph postcard, c. 1910.

Although the reindeer-powered sleigh is the form of transportation most usually associated with Santa Claus, the right jolly old elf displays an unexpected interest in lighter than air flight by launching festive fire balloons over the North Pole while a polar bear watches admiringly.

Santa wasn’t the last to attempt an LTA mission to the Pole, though – on May 11, 1926, the airship Norge took off from Spitsbergen, Norway. The crew included Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth, and the airship was commanded by its designer, Umberto Nobile (and accompanied by his terrier Titina). The Norge flew over the North Pole on May 12, and the crew dropped Norwegian, American and Italian flags over the Pole. The Norge landed near Nome in Teller, Alaska on the 15th.

But a later North Pole airship expedition, the Italia flight of 1928, ended tragically. Commanded once again by Umberto Nobile, Italia overflew the Pole on May 23 but crashed on the ice the following day. Roald Amundsen took part in the international rescue effort to save Nobile and his crew. Amundsen’s plane went missing on June 18 in the Barents Sea; he and his crew of five were never found.

Umberto Nobile and Titina following the flight of the Norge, 1926.

Allan Janus is a museum specialist in the Museum’s Archives Division.

Rutan Voyager

Posted on December 23, 2010 by The National Air and Space Museum

Rutan Voyager. Photo courtesy of Visions.

On December 23, 1986, nine days, three minutes, and 44 seconds after taking off, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager touched down at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, in the Rutan Voyager aircraft to finish the first flight around the world made without landing or refueling. Rutan’s brother Burt had designed Voyager but it was the availability of carbon-fibers coated with epoxy allowing Burt to design an airframe that could lift more than ten times its flying weight (including 3,180 kg, 7,011 lb, of fuel) that made the flight even possible. The ultra lightweight airframe, advanced technology propellers and engines, state-of-the-art navigation equipment, and a command center on the ground to radio continuous updates on the weather did little to make the flight comfortable for the crew. Dick and Jeana had to take turns sitting at the controls in the cockpit and lying down in the “cabin” which is only .4 m (7 ft 6 in) long and about .6 m (2 ft) in diameter. At least one engine was always operating and even earphones designed to cancel the noise hardly quieted the din.

Jeana Yeager inside the Rutan Voyager. Photo courtesy of Visions.

Along with the incredible physical challenge was the constantly changing weather they faced as they made their way around the world. In the end, Voyager performed flawlessly except for four minutes when the rear engine quit due to a fuel problem. It was considered the “last” great aircraft record and indeed brothers Burt and Dick Rutan, and Jeana Yeager won the Collier Trophy, aviation’s most prestigious award, for the accomplishment.

Russ Lee is a curator in the Aeronautics Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

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Category Archives: Highlights from the Collection