Category Archives: On View at the Museum

The Rutan Voyager

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Twenty-five years ago, the staff of the National Air and Space Museum held its collective breath for nine days as a seemingly fragile, flying fuel tank made its way across oceans and continents in an attempt to become the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop and unrefueled. The odd-looking bird had departed Edwards Air Force Base, California, on the morning of December 14, 1986, and the rest of the world was following as continuous sightings and updates flowed to the media, the Museum, and to the flight’s headquarters in Mojave, California. Everyone wondered if you really could fly around the world on one tank of gas?

 

Voyager

"Voyager" departing the coast of California on Dec. 14, 1986, soon to leave behind Burt Rutan in the Duchess chase plane.

As it turned out, you needed 17 tanks of fuel all in one vehicle from start to finish.  Voyager, the ultimate homebuilt, was the brainchild of unconventional designer Burt Rutan and two record-setting pilots, his brother Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager.  Six years from initial conception on a napkin, as the story goes, to completion of the flight two days before Christmas in 1986, this trio successfully proved that lots of hard work and a little bit of luck could still make dreams come true.  Of course they didn’t do it alone.  A dedicated team of volunteers supported every aspect of the endeavor, but it was Dick Rutan and Yeager who beat the bushes for donations from the general public and corporate sponsors (they never did get a big-time sponsor) and built and tested the aircraft themselves. In the end, their dramatic quest created a public following that rivaled the flight-tracking of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

All of a sudden Museum curators were being asked who else had flown around the world, how and when were the flights accomplished, and was this really the last aviation milestone?  We knew the answers to the first two questions: in 1924, Army Air Corps crews flew two Douglas World Cruisers biplanes on the first round the world flight, a six-month marathon around oceans and through the arctic snow and tropical jungles — one of the airplanes, the Chicago, is in the Museum’s Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery.  Then in 1957, three USAF B-52B bomber crews made the first non-stop flights around the world aided by aerial refueling.  No one seriously considered it possible to accomplish the flight without some sort of refueling, until Burt Rutan did.

The sheer audacity of assuming it could be done had to wait for dramatic changes in aircraft construction material and an out-of-the-box thinker. Weight, the ever-present penalty for aircraft, was the ultimate problem to be conquered.  How could you squeeze in enough fuel to fly nearly 25,000 miles and yet keep the aircraft light enough to even take off? Carbon fiber was the answer, making the aircraft half the weight of conventional aluminum construction, but as strong as steel.  Burt Rutan’s design certainly turned heads with its forward canard and graceful wings connecting two out-rigger booms, all of which contained 7011.5 pounds of fuel.  Every effort was made to keep the aircraft light, and thankfully Yeager weighed only 95 pounds. The two pilots were crammed into a phone booth-sized barebones cockpit and they would be there for nine days.  That alone earns gasps when people first see the aircraft but add the fact that, unbeknownst to the public, the pilots had not been getting along very well and you have a truly incredible feat.

 

Dick and Jeanna

Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in Voyager’s cramped cockpit

The Rutans and Yeager made it clear they expected success and they wanted to see the aircraft hanging at the Smithsonian.  The Museum adopted a wait and see attitude; given the long delays in the program and the dangers and pitfalls of the proposed flight, would this ever really happen?

Ultimately, determination and perseverance prevailed as Voyager and its crew endured the loss of its winglets on and just after  takeoff, a typhoon, thunderstorms that flipped the craft to a 90-degree bank, fuel starvation in one engine, and severe physiological and psychological stress.

The Museum followed the nine-day trip in the Air Transportation gallery but there were still questions — was it really one of the last great records of aviation?  By the time Rutan and Yeager landed back at Edwards AFB at 8:05am PST on December 23, 1986, it was clear that history had been made.  Not only were they the first to fly non-stop non-refueled around the world, they also set eight absolute or world class records.  Winning aviation’s prestigious Collier Trophy settled the discussion. While the press lavished praise couched in holiday cheer, the Museum began planning for a new addition to its collection.

In the summer of 1987, Voyager was dismantled for its trip by trailer from California to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland.  While Voyager received accolades at the Experimental Aircraft Association Convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, structural engineer and curator Howard Wolko calculated how to get this huge aircraft into the building.  After a midnight wide-load ride from the Garber Facility to the west terrace of the Museum in Washington, DC, our team of specialists moved the center section onto dollies.

Then the carefully laid plans came to a halt. Just inside the west doors a replica aircraft carrier deck which held our Grumman Hellcat protruded a little too far, and it was clear that Voyager would not pass.  In the wee hours of the morning, a solution was found: elevate and tilt the center section with a hydraulic lift, inching it over and past the offending carrier deck.  After barely sliding by the Air Transportation gallery, the center section was rolled into the South Lobby at dawn.  Thankfully the assembly of the wings, empennage, and engines was routine and our able but tired staff suspended Voyager using scissor lifts and winches in time for our 10:00 a.m. opening.  The near catastrophic loss of the winglets on takeoff proved fortunate for us by reducing the wingspan by two feet and allowing the aircraft to fit snugly into the South Lobby. On the first anniversary of the flight, Burt and Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager reached their final goal of seeing Voyager suspended in the south lobby of the National Air and Space Museum.

Dorothy Cochrane is a curator in the Aeronautics Division of the National Air and Space Museum

The Meaning Behind Folding an American Flag

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The American flag is one of the most important symbols of the United States.  For many, it symbolizes respect, honor, and freedom.  For others, the flag represents reflection, courage and sorrow.  The National Air and Space Museum cares for a number of American flags in the Smithsonian Institution’s national collection, many of which represent significant events in the history of space exploration or aeronautics. One belonged to Amelia Earhart.  One was flown aboard Gemini 4 by NASA astronauts James McDivitt and Edward H. White in 1965.  And the Museum has several replicas of the flag that was left on the Moon during the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969.  Although each flag has a story that is worth telling, the care and preservation of these unique objects is also noteworthy.

Even though Museum staff are trained to handle cultural objects, sometimes an object requires special attention. With the upcoming installation of new displays in the Moving Beyond Earth gallery highlighting the history of the space shuttle program, a very special flag was chosen for display.  This particular flag was flown over the U.S. Capitol on February 1, 2003 as a tribute to the crew of STS-107, who died when the space shuttle Columbia was lost during re-entry at the end of its mission.  It was donated to the Museum by Dennis Hastert, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, to honor the astronauts.

 

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This flag was presented to the National Air and Space Museum by Dennis Hastert, then Speaker of the House of Representatives (Photograph by Gregory K.H. Bryant)

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Flag prior to folding on table in conservation laboratory (Photograph by Marcy Borger)

When it was decided to display the flag in the new gallery, the conservation staff unfolded the flag from its original box so that it could be examined, photographed, and cleaned. The curatorial team agreed that the flag should be folded in the traditional, triangular pattern before putting it on display. Because the flag represents an American tragedy of significant proportion and out of respect for the proper treatment of the artifact, the Museum invited a member of the military to assist with folding the flag.  Army Major Warren R. Stump, who recently returned from Afghanistan, assisted the conservation staff.

 

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Flag being folded by Major Warren R. Stump. Moving Beyond Earth contractor Stephanie Spence is assisting (Photograph by Marcy Borger)

Major Stump, with assistance from Stephanie Spence and Dawn Planas (conservation contractors for the Moving Beyond Earth gallery) folded the flag, while I (Lisa Young) read an explanation of the meaning behind each of the thirteen folds in a properly-folded American flag.  The flag is folded to represent the original thirteen colonies of the United States.  Each fold also carries its own meaning.  According to the description, some folds symbolize freedom, life, or pay tribute to mothers, fathers, and those who serve in the Armed Forces.  When the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, representing the soldiers who served under George Washington, the sailors and marines who served under John Paul Jones, and the many who have followed in their footsteps.

 

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Major Stump folding the flag (Photograph by Marcy Borger)

Now folded into the traditional triangle shape, the STS-107 Capitol-flown flag will be displayed in the Moving Beyond Earth gallery. The flag will serve as a reminder of the heroes who flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, and who paved the way for further space exploration.  It will also serve as a reminder to Museum staff about how special objects take on new meaning as they are interpreted for public display.  We are grateful to Major Stump for helping the Museum to pay full respect to this significant artifact.

 

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Presenting the flag to the Moving Beyond Earth Curator, Margaret Weitekamp and conservation team members John Holman, Lisa Young, Dawn Planas and Stephanie Spence. (Photograph by Marcy Borger)

Lisa A. Young is a conservator in the Collections Division and Margaret Weitekamp is a curator in the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

A Christmastime Price War—Over a Toy Ray Gun

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Along the McDonnell Space Hangar’s south wall in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a case of colorful toys beckons to visitors. Older patrons pause in nostalgia to identify the toys of their youth. Children plop on the floor by the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back action figures, studying early-1980s versions of characters they know through the Clone Wars animated series and video games. But ray guns dominate the display.  Hung in a circle facing inward toward the curator’s fabulously-illuminating main label about the parallels between many space stories and American Westerns (make sure you read it the next time you’re there!), the ray guns show an array of different shapes, colors, finishes, and materials.

 

ray guns

Four toy ray guns from the Museum's space popular culture collection illustrate how varied the colors, shapes, and designs of imagined space toys can be. From top left, clockwise, Laser Gun Toy, Taiwan, c. 1970s–1980s; “Space Super Jet” Toy Gun, Japan, c. 1960s–1970s; XZ-44 Liquid Helium Toy Water Pistol, USA, 1936; and Flash Gordon Arresting Ray Pistol Toy, USA, 1952.

But most people fail to notice that the progenitor for all ray gun toys is sitting on the top shelf on the left: quiet, matte, black—and incredibly important.  Given to the Museum by Michael O’Harro in the 1990s, this innocuous wood, metal, and plastic form was the model for the very first metal Buck Rogers gun: the XZ-31 Rocket Pistol, produced in 1934 by the Daisy Manufacturing Company of Plymouth, Michigan. That toy, which was wildly successful, even sparked a Christmastime price war between two of the biggest department stores in the country at the time.

 

Buck Rogers Ray Guns

The progenitor of all ray gun toys that followed, the Buck Rogers XZ-31 Rocket Pistol by Daisy Manufacturing caused a Christmastime sensation in 1934. From top left, clockwise, the prototype for the XZ-31, the XZ-31 itself, and the XZ-35 "Wilma Deering" Rocket Pistol of 1935.

Buck Rogers first appeared in the pulp magazine Amazing Stories in August 1928 as the character Anthony Rogers in Philip Francis Nowlan’s story “Armageddon 2419 A.D.”  Knocked unconscious, the blond hero awakened in the 25th century to find America under attack from “Mongol” hordes, a reflection of the “yellow peril,” contemporary anxiety about Asians in the United States.  National Newspaper Service president John F. Dille saw a potential comic strip—with one small change.  Renamed “Buck” to tap into Westerns’ popularity, “Buck Rogers” (illustrated by Dick Calkins) debuted in 1929, followed by a color Sunday strip in 1930 and a radio program in 1932.  (Created to compete with—and cash in on—that success, Flash Gordon began fighting another Asian enemy, Ming the Merciless, in comic strips in 1934.)

Paper or cardboard Buck Rogers guns quickly become available as mail-away premiums, play kits, or give-aways. But as the comic strip and radio program gained popularity, Daisy Manufacturing Company wanted to make a three-dimensional toy: a metal ray gun. But the guns drawn in the comics were too intricate to produce.  Instead, Daisy executives asked Buck Rogers illustrator Dick Calkins to redesign the guns shown in the comic to make them easier to replicate as three-dimensional toys. The matte black model shows a prototype, a variation upon which was eventually produced.

The resulting XZ-31 Rocket Pistol launched with a dedicated display at Detroit’s J.L. Hudson department store, the props from which were then reused at the American Toy Fair to sell the toy to other shops.  Macy’s flagship department store in New York City bought in, negotiating a one-week exclusive marketing agreement. On the first day the XZ-31 sold in New York City, 2,000 eager buyers lined up! By Christmas, a holster and helmet were also available for consumers who wanted to act out Buck’s adventures.

 

holster

The XZ-35 leather holster could hold the smaller version of the Buck Rogers rocket pistol, known as the "Wilma Deering" pistol, made by the Daisy Manufacturing Company of Plymouth, Michigan in 1935.

But once Macy’s exclusive agreement ended, the wild popularity of the metal 50¢ toy gun sparked a Christmastime price war between Macy’s and Gimbel’s department stores. At one point, the price at Gimbel’s reportedly reached as low as two-for-19¢, below the manufacturing cost!

A year later, in 1935, inspired by the XZ-31’s success, Daisy created a smaller version named for the series’ female lead character, Wilma Deering.  The XZ-35 Buck Rogers Rocket Pistol Toy was identical in every way to the original metal Buck Rogers gun—except for its reduced size.

The National Air and Space Museum holds toys and games in the collection because they reflect how people have imagined spaceflight—and how children have been introduced to spaceflight through play, both realistic and fantastical. No matter how you celebrate this holiday season, consider making a visit to the Udvar-Hazy Center to see these fanciful reminders of how children of all ages have imagined their own futures in space.

Margaret A. Weitekamp is a curator in the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

 

Holiday Tips for Visiting the Museum

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As the weather gets cooler and Thanksgiving approaches, I start thinking about the throngs of holiday tourists that will be lining up to get a chance to view the great stuff we have here at the Smithsonian.  For our holiday visitors, I’d like to suggest the following tips for a more enjoyable visit.

 

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"Milestones of Flight" gallery at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

  1. Plan ahead
    First things first, visit the websites of the museums and plan your visit.  The National Air and Space Museum and our Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Northern Virginia have public programs running every day. Both locations have Imax theaters, and the Washington, DC building has a planetarium and an observatory.  Think about what you’d like to see and plan accordingly.  Check out the maps of  the museums you want to visit and the National Mall (central to DC and where the majority of Smithsonian museums are located).  When you get here visit the Welcome Center for any changes or updates.

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  2. If you’re coming down to the National Mall, consider leaving the car behind.
    If you’re not familiar with roads, traffic patterns or parking in the District of Columbia, you might want to consider taking public transportation. Even better, enjoy a great walk in a great walking city. The city’s Metro is clean, comfortable, and easy to navigate. Metro’s website lists the buses and trains you’ll need to take to get you anywhere you want to go. The nearest Metro stop to the National Air and Space Museum is L’Enfant Plaza.

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  3. If you’re coming to the Udvar-Hazy Center, driving is the best choice.
    It takes about 45 minutes by car to get to the Udvar-Hazy Center from Washington, DC. There is plenty of parking at a cost of $15 per car. Public transportation to the Udvar-Hazy Center is available, but only from a few Virginia locations, and you will need to use a combination  of transportation options to get there. Please consult MetroBus and the Virginia Regional Transit for more information.

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  4. Come early or later.
    The Museum is busiest between noon and 4:00 pm. Consider coming at 10:00 am and having to a late lunch. Some of the museums are open late or hold evening programs over the holidays, so you may want to plan your visit for later in the day. Even after the museums close the monuments are open all night.

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  5. Think about having a late lunch.
    Here’s the thing, around noon when everyone is hungry the food courts are packed!  Eat a big breakfast, enjoy the museum while everyone else eats and by the time you start to feel hungry things will most likely have cleared out.

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    1903 Wright Flyer

    1903 Wright Flyer

  6. Just ask.
    Want to know where the 1903 Wright Flyer is? Where’s the restroom? Can’t find the closest Metro stop? We know — we live and work here — and we’re happy to help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Just ask any staff member or visit the Welcome Center.

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  7. Remember we’re open 364 days a year.
    The day after Thanksgiving one is the BUSIEST days of the year, period.  Every museum in DC is packed, but don’t worry we’re open every day except Christmas.  Weekdays are quieter than weekends, and the days after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are busier than the days preceding those holidays.

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  8. Comfort is key.
    The National Mall is bigger than it looks.  If you want to see both the National Air and Space Museum and the Lincoln Memorial, for instance, that’s a two mile walk, but the walk is worth it.  Check Google Maps, they have an icon for walking and will tell you the mileage and approximately how long it will take. Wear comfortable shoes and layers of clothes.

 

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The National Air and Space Museum on the Mall in Washington, DC.

 

No matter when you come, whether it’s crowded or not, you will have a great time visiting the Smithsonian — one of the most fascinating museum complexes in the world and a great place to spend your holiday vacation.

Beth Wilson is Discovery Station Program Coordinator at the National Air and Space Museum.

New Plants Blast off in the Landscape

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Space Age Mums

“Space Age Mums” advertisement in Flower Grower, 1961. Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Botany and Horticulture Branch.

Moonbeams, rockets, and Blue Angels are not just showcased in the National Air and Space Museum — they are in the garden too!  The extensive terraced garden that surrounds the Museum is now home to many plants with extraordinary cultivar names that reflect the Air and Space theme, like Skyrocket Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’) and Globemaster ornamental onion (Allium giganteum ‘Globemaster’).

Cultivars are plants with unique characteristics that maintain these traits through breeding.  These plants are typically bestowed a distinctive name which may reflect a particular attribute. Skyrocket Juniper, for example, received its name because it grows quickly to a 6 meter (20 foot) tall spire, but only reaches .5 meters (2 feet) wide, thus resembling a tall green rocket. The range of plant names that can be assigned is practically limitless.  Memorable historical events can also inspire the naming — or renaming — of plants. The launch of Sputnik I in 1957, for instance, opened new frontiers of plant names befitting the Space Age; common marigolds and petunias were reintroduced to gardeners as blazing comets or flying saucers in outer space.

Since January, Smithsonian Gardens staff has been hard at work enhancing the terrace garden surrounding the National Air and Space Museum.  A work plan was launched with a brainstorming session that focused on how best to bring the Air and Space theme to the garden area, essentially reflecting the inside outdoors, and beginning the visitors’ Museum experience as soon as they stepped onto the grounds.  Preliminary planning resulted in an extensive list of plants with air- and space-inspired cultivar names.

 

Smithsonian Gardens

Smithsonian Gardens staffers Jeff Smith and Thomas Hattaway planting Minuteman, Blue Cadet, and August Moon hostas at the Museum

Over the coming months, the garden areas at the Museum will be enhanced with nearly 300 perennials and 13,000 bulbs.  Just a few of the exciting new plants going into the garden include Minuteman and Blue Angel Hosta, orange Tang tulips, giant purple Globemaster ornamental onion, tiny Moonbeam coreopsis, and Eremurus bungei which are commonly called desert candles but very much look like the fiery exhaust that follows the space shuttle into space.

 

Hostas

'Minuteman' Hostas

Despite being earth-bound, the garden at the National Air and Space Museum incorporates a variety of plants, shrubs and trees that pay homage to the skies above us. Now, visitors will not only see Cold War relics, rockets’ red glare, and jet engines inside, but also jetfire daffodils and Minuteman Hostas outside!

 

Brett McNish is a supervisory horticulturist for Smithsonian Gardens