Archive for the 'restoration' Category

That’s One Small Step. . .

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on December 12, 2011 in Behind The Scenes, Hidden Treasures, Highlights from the Collection, restoration and space.
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , .

These suits have come a long way. True, it’s only 37 miles from Suitland, Maryland to Chantilly, VA. On a good day, that’s less than an hour’s drive on the beltway. But today, like 42 years ago, these suits are worlds away from where they came.

 

Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit

Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit, flown on Apollo 11, is inspected and prepared for shipment at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility. From left to right, Amelia Kile, Samantha Snell, Lisa Young, and Stephanie Harris. Photo by Eric Long

On December 6th, the spacesuit that Neil Armstrong wore as he took his first steps on the Moon made the giant leap from outdated storage facilities to new, state-of-the-art collections storage at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. About 200 suits are being relocated from the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland this winter. These include Michael Collins’ Apollo 11 suit and many more used to develop spacesuit technology and train astronauts.

 

Garber

Spacesuits are loaded onto the “Big Blue” tractor-trailer in Suitland, MD. From left to right, Stephanie Harris, Scott Wood, Pat Robinson, and Christine Cannon. Photo by Eric Long.

Museum staff sometimes calls the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center “the promised land.”  In some ways, the place is a museum worker’s (and culture buff’s) dream come true. The reason for this name? Conditions are ideal for the long-term preservation of these national treasures. Temperature, relative humidity, exposure to light, the elements, and pollutants can all seriously affect the life-expectancy of these beloved artifacts, but each can be tightly controlled at the new facility. Simply having a permanent, secure building with modern infrastructure and adequate physical space for each spacesuit ensures that the National Air and Space Museum’s comprehensive collection of spacesuits will survive for years to come.

 

Hazy

Spacesuits are delivered to the new storage facility. From left to right, Cathy Lewis, Amelia Kile, Stephanie Harris, Christine Cannon, Katherine Watson, Samantha Snell, Scott Wood, and Pat Robinson. Photo by Dane Penland.

In the relatively short time I have worked with the Museum, much progress has been made in preparing this collection to move to its new home, as curator Cathy Lewis explained in a previous post. Many collections staff, volunteers, interns, contractors, and more than one curator and conservator have worked with purpose and diligence in the last decade toward this day and this goal. It opens a new chapter for the Museum, begun earlier this year with the framed art collection. Now this collection will be more accessible to researchers and staff, and in turn, the public. I am honored to participate in this moment.

This is one of many “small” artifact collections being relocated to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in the next several years, so check back for updates on our progress.

Amelia Brakeman Kile is lead move contractor in the Collections Division of the National Air and Space Museum

Preserving and Displaying the “Bat-Wing Ship” – August Update

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on September 9, 2011 in Aviation, Behind The Scenes, Hidden Treasures and restoration.
2 Comments

This post is a follow up to Preserving and Displaying the “Bat-Wing Ship” published on June 24, 2011.

The Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) Conservators and National Air and Space Museum staff spent July and August continuing to investigate the Horten H IX V3 jet fighter for preservation and preparation for display.  Senior Conservator Melvin Wachowiak took the following detailed photographs on Tuesday, June 21, 2011.

Conservators are attempting to determine if the degradation of the plywood is caused by a failure of the adhesive or by biological deterioration of the wood.  Understanding the cause of the deterioration will guide their immediate and long-term preservation strategies.  One of the greatest challenges in this treatment will be in determining the most appropriate adhesive and finding effective methods of getting the adhesive to penetrate into deep areas of delamination. Photos 1 and 2 (seen below)—show 11 sheets of 5 cross-laminated plies each.

 

Horten

Photo 1. Artisans have built airplanes with plywood since well before World War I because crossing each layer, or ply, counters the weakness of a single sheet when bent with the grain rather than across the grain (Melvin Wachowiak /Smithsonian MCI photo).

 

 

Horten

Photo 2. (Melvin Wachowiak /Smithsonian MCI photo).

 

Horten Wing

A robust network of welded steel tubing frames the right outer edge of the H IX V3 center section. Behind the tubing lies a maze of plumbing for one of the Jumo 004 jet engines, the fuel system, and other equipment (Melvin Wachowiak /Smithsonian MCI photo).

 

Horten

German artisans formed the wood around the nose of the H IX center section using steam to make it soft and pliable, and then bending it to shape. Said Melvin Wachowiak , Senior Conservator, Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, "I am still impressed by the bending of the laminated plywood into a conical section without cracks. Nearly 70 years on! The degradation of the broken plys is more like a form of brown rot, but we will have to see what turns up (after further analysis)." (Melvin Wachowiak /Smithsonian MCI photo).

 

Horten

This photograph by Kenneth S. Kik shows the outer wing panels attached to the center section of the H IX V3 now in treatment at the Paul E. Garber Facility. (Photo credit: Mr. Kenneth S. Kik, 1950. Copyright unknown)

 

Russ Lee is a curator in the Aeronautics Division of the National Air and Space Museum, and Melvin Wachowiak is a Senior Conservator at the National Air and Space Museum.

 

Preserving and Displaying the “Bat-Wing Ship”

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on June 24, 2011 in Aviation, History and restoration.
17 Comments

Early in June, staff of the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility slowly and carefully moved the center section of the Horten H IX V3 all-wing jet fighter from storage into the restoration and preservation shop.  This is a significant event because many people have clamored for decades to see the H IX.  In a few months, after conservators and treatment specialists from the National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) have prepared the fragile center section, Collections Processing Unit staff will move it to the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hanger at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center for eventual public display.

 

Horten H IX V3

The center sections of the Horten H IX V3 being moved from deep storage to the preservation and restoration shop of the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility.

 

Horten H IX V3

Horten H IX V3 in the preservation and restoration shop

 

Horten H IX V3

Center section of the Horten H IX V3

The Museum’s Horten H IX V3 is the only extant example of the world’s first all-wing jet aircraft.  Artisans finished the first prototype as a glider.  Two Junkers 004 jet engines powered the second prototype and German test pilot Erwin Ziller completed two test flights at the controls of this aircraft, called the H IX V2 (“9-vee-two”), but he died during the third flight when one engine failed and the jet crashed.  At a workshop in west central Germany in mid-April 1945, Allied ground forces recovered the center section of the H IX V3, or “Bat-Wing Ship” as one intelligence officer described it.  This prototype was under construction at the time and missing its outer wing panels.

U. S. Army Air Forces Technical Intelligence specialists shipped the wing to Freeman Field, Indiana, with intermediate stops in Farnborough, England, New York, and Newark, New Jersey.  The Allies had managed to recover a set of H IX outer wing panels and technicians attached the panels to the H IX V3 center section before the wing was transferred to the Smithsonian during the late 1940s.

 

Wings

Front to back, the right and left outer wing panels that we hope to attach to the center section of the H IX V3

 

framework

When attached to the center section, the outer wing panels covered the open framework on both sides

The Museum’s Chief of Conservation Malcolm Collum and artifact treatment specialist Bob McLean, along with Melvin Wachowiak (Senior Conservator), Donald Williams (Senior Furniture Conservator), and Jennifer Giaccai (Conservation Scientist) from the MCI, will spend the next few months carefully examining and analyzing the many different materials and techniques used to construct the jet more than 65 years ago.  The team’s goal is to stabilize the artifact so that the Museum’s Collections Processing Unit staff can move the fragile center section to the Udvar-Hazy Center where the outer wing panels have been stored since January.  If the team concludes that the wings and center section are strong enough, then specialists will attempt to join the three major components.

The team plans first to analyze the paint colors found on the jet, and identify the wood filler putty and the interior wood sealant.  Conservators will compare plywood samples from the center section and the wing panels to determine their origins and whether the wing panels were skinned with plywood during the war by the Germans or after by U. S. Army Air Forces personnel.  They want to determine the type of wood, ply thickness, adhesive type, adhesive additives, and how the German artisans glued the plys together.

The Museum’s long-term goal is to prepare the aircraft for permanent display but the immediate objective is to stabilize the fragile center section.  Museum and MCI staff will search the literature for similar projects, and then experiment with various materials to build a protective structure around the center section.

Reimar Horten designed the Horten IX and in the early 1980s near the end of his career, he claimed to have used techniques and materials to render it difficult to detect with radar.  Smithsonian conservators will search for evidence of special radar absorbing compounds in the plywood skin that cover the leading edges of the center section and the outer wings.  They will document each stage of the project using multiple media formats and blog about any new discoveries so please check back.

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

 

 

Getting “Enterprise” Ready for Prime Time

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on June 6, 2011 in Behind The Scenes, Exhibitions, Highlights from the Collection, History, restoration and space.
5 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Early on the morning of March 1, 2004, a small band of preservation specialists consisting of Anne McCombs, Steve Kautner, and Ed Mautner walked into the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.  There was but a single artifact in that huge hangar — OV-101, Space Shuttle Test Vehicle, Enterprise.  The hangar was scheduled to open to the public on October 20, 2004. We had eight  months to clean the exterior and interior; repair and repaint damage to the faux tiles that covered the nose, belly, vertical stabilizer, and rudder; then strip and repaint the center fuselage and payload bay doors.  There we stood with buckets of water, gallon jugs of Amway LOC, which was recommended by NASA and their contractor United Space Alliance (USA), boxes of cotton rags, and a few ladders that would only elevate us 3-3.5 meters (10-12 feet) above the ground.  The size and scope of our task was truly daunting as Enterprise was 37 meters (122 feet) long with a wingspan of 24 meters (78 feet) and a vertical stabilizer that topped out at nearly 18 meters (60 feet) above the floor.

Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Space Shuttle "Enterprise" was the first spacecraft to be moved into the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center's James S. McDonnell Space Hangar in 2004.

Enterprise was originally planned to be an orbiter but was never fully outfitted for spaceflight.  In 1977, it served first as a test vehicle atop a modified 747 in a series of drop and glide tests from about 7,620 meters (25,000 feet).  When its primary test programs ended in 1979, it languished and its appearance began to deteriorate.  In 1983 it was refurbished with a fresh coat of paint and new markings for the 1983 Paris Air Show and the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans.  NASA transferred Enterprise to the National Air and Space Museum in 1985 where it was stored outdoors for two years and in a non-climate-controlled hangar for 17 years. During this time it became dirty and its paint continued to deteriorate.  After it came to the Museum, Enterprise continued to be a test bed for NASA. They performed launch vibration tests, facility test checks, arresting barrier, and emergency crew egress tests.  These last tests scarred the paint on the forward fuselage and payload bay doors.   Our job was to restore it to its  former pristine appearance.

 

Space Shuttle Enterprise

Space Shuttle "Enterprise" flew into Washington Dulles International Airport on November 16, 1985 atop a modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft. Using cranes, the "Enterprise" was removed from the top of the 747 and lowered to the tarmac at Dulles on November 17. On December 6 the National Aeronautic and Space Administration transferred title of the "Enterprise" to the National Air and Space Museum at a black tie gala at the airport.

The ladders made the decision of where to start easy — hit the low hanging fruit — landing gear, wheel wells, and the belly.   As the month progressed we received high lift equipment which gave access to most of the top portions of Enterprise. We also received an additional member, Tony Carp, to clean and repair the vertical stabilizer and rudder. Tony also coordinated the removal of the OMS (Orbital Maneuvering System) pods, which were sent back to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility for restoration.  Once finished with the exterior, we cleaned the cockpit, payload bay, and aft power plant bay.

Our next task was to scrape and sand off the deteriorated paint on the center fuselage and payload bay doors, an area measuring over 372 square meters (4,000 square feet). We did this from scaffolding erected on June 17th.  This structure enclosed and bridged Enterprise, allowing us to safely reach all of the upper areas. With the clock ticking, additional members were allocated on August 9th to do the final sanding, scraping, and paint prep, which we finished on September 2nd.

 

Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Space Shuttle "Enterprise" surrounded by scaffolding that allowed our collections specialists to safely reach all the upper areas of the spacecraft.

Our donated aerospace paint and primer arrived September 17.  Due to the space hangar’s filtration system and health and safety concerns we had to use rollers and apply the paint between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.  PPG-DeSoto, the paint donor, provided an additive that “flowed” the rolled-on paint to give a smooth, sprayed-on appearance.  We finished the prep, priming, and white top coat in the wee hours of September 29.  The scaffolding came down the next day and we were left with just our original team of four plus two part-time volunteers to remove masking; do final clean-up and equipment stowage; touch up many of the polyurethane foam faux tiles; and restore the markings, “United States,” NASA “Worm” logo, and the name Enterprise on the forward payload bay doors.

 

paint

Preservation specialists, Tony Carp (top left) and Bob Weihrauch (bottom right), paint the Space Shuttle "Enterprise" as part of its restoration in 2004.

Long before work began, several curatorial decisions were made. First, Enterprise did not need a full restoration.  It was structurally intact and had no signs of serious corrosion.  So it would be cleaned, signs of corrosion or deterioration noted, and deteriorated paint and markings would be replaced.  The second decision was to return it to its appearance in 1985. To achieve this we carefully traced all of the markings before paint removal began.  When we had sanded through the top layer of paint we discovered earlier markings similar to those of 1985, but with slightly different shape, location, and color shades.  We traced and made notes of these for future reference.  Once repainted, we retraced the markings in pencil then hand-painted them as had been done originally.  While doing this a contract crew was assembling the barriers around Enterprise in preparation for the “Grand Opening” just days away.  We finished clean-up and detailing on October 18, 2004.

While we never let our eyes slip from our target date, there were interesting diversions that made a challenging project pretty enjoyable.  We were tasked to assist NASA and USA in several of their planned visits to inspect or work on Enterprise.  One day, Col. Joe Engle, one of Enterprise’s command test pilots, came to visit his old craft, inquire about our work, and congratulate us on our efforts.  Another highlight was a visit from Col. Pamela Melroy, USAF.  Col. Melroy was an Air Force test pilot and would become a two-mission space shuttle pilot (STS-92 and 112), and mission commander (STS-120). We met her while she was still a member of the Shuttle Columbia accident investigation team. We escorted her through Enterprise and she also expressed pleasure with our efforts.

The Enterprise project was grand in scope; interesting and exciting every day; and very rewarding in terms of personal gratification.  Our small crew worked without a budget, and with limited resources, personnel, and time.  For so many reasons, I recall looking forward to getting in to work on it every day.  It was an exciting environment that literally put us on a stage where the visitors were always viewing us from barriers at the front of the hangar and from the hangar overlook.  And when the scaffolding was assembled, there was the ever-present element of danger.  Everyday, several times a day, we had to free climb 9-12 meters (30-40 feet) straight up the rungs to the platforms next to or over the shuttle.  Once on top, we could attach our safety harness tethers to the scaffold structure. In eight months we had only one injury.  One of our members slipped off the top of the payload bay doors.  Due to the harness and tether, he suffered only a banged knee.  Our constant discussions about safety and the use of fall protection certainly paid dividends.

 

Enterprise

The Space Shuttle "Enterprise," before and after its restoration.

During our days working on Enterprise we received several recurring questions about it from docents and visitors: is it real and did it go into space?  What does it look like inside and will the Museum let visitors walk through it?  Well, it is quite “real.”  It was the first shuttle of the first batch or “block” of three and with the demise of Challenger and Columbia, it is the sole survivor of that block.  Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour constitute the second block of shuttles.  However, as Enterprise was never fully fitted-out to be an orbiter, the payload bay is a maze of structure and framework that poses too many hazards to permit public entry.  The cockpit, bare of instrumentation, is very small and it would be difficult to route the more than one million visitors who might wish to enter it each year. Furthermore, the National Air and Space Museum has not in the past opened accessioned aircraft or spacecraft for public entry due to preservation concerns.  For all of these reasons the Museum decided not to permit access into Enterprise.

 

crew

Left to right: Steve Kautner, Dave Wilson, Bob McLean (background), Ed Mautner (foreground), Bob Weihrauch, Will Lee, Anne Mccombs.

 

Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Space Shuttle "Enterprise" is the centerpiece of the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar of the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

On the morning of October 19, 2004, members of the press began to arrive to photograph, video, and write about the opening of the John S. McDonnell Space Hangar and its most prominent artifact, the Space Shuttle Enterprise. The public got its first glimpse the following day.  The space hangar and Enterprise were received with praise and excitement by NASA and Museum staff, the media, and the visiting public.  In addition, our small team received one of the two prestigious Peer Awards presented by the Museum for 2004.  Was it a rewarding project? You bet.

Ed Mautner is a preservation specialist in the Collections Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

The Real Wright Flyer

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on April 19, 2011 in Aviation, Behind The Scenes, Highlights from the Collection, History and restoration.
5 Comments

The Smithsonian literally has millions of objects in its vast collections.  Everything from specimens of flora and fauna from around the globe, to machines that have shaped the modern world, to cultural artifacts that reflect our rich diversity, to important works of art.  Even live animals at the National Zoo.  Every aspect of human endeavor and creativity and the natural world can be found at the Smithsonian.

Among this great store of history, science, and art objects, some stand above the rest for their uniqueness, historical importance, and cultural value.  In addition, they are objects that are powerfully associated with the Smithsonian.  I like to call these “signature Smithsonian objects.”  Things such as the Hope Diamond, the Star Spangled Banner, the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, and Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis airplane are good examples—one-of-a-kind items, familiar to all, and widely known to reside at the Smithsonian.  Also in this subset of signature objects is one of the most significant in the entire Smithsonian collection—the Wright Flyer, the world’s first airplane.

Wright Flyer

The original 1903 Wright Flyer at the National Air and Space Museum

The flying machine with which Wilbur and Orville Wright made those historic first flights at Kitty Hawk on a cold December morning in 1903 represents a moment when the world changed.  The ability to fly has so dramatically refashioned human existence that the achievement of the Wright brothers defies measure.  When the Wright Flyer was installed in the Smithsonian in 1948, a visiting dignitary at the ceremony remarked, “It is a little as if we had before us the original wheel.”

For the last 25 years, I have had the great privilege to be the curator of the Wright Flyer.  During that quarter century I have pored over every detail of the airplane, studied every aspect of its design, written three books about the Wright brothers, mounted a major exhibition, and given countless lectures about this artifact.  I have spent a career with this object and at this point have a very personal connection with the Flyer.   I’ll even admit to a bit of an emotional attachment to this machine.  Needless to say, I never tire of talking about the Flyer and sharing its wonderful story.  But there is one thing that always frustrates me when I hear it—when people say the airplane in the Smithsonian is not the real Wright Flyer!  Let me assure you, the airplane on view at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is indeed the actual machine with which the Wrights made their pathbreaking first flights at Kitty Hawk.  IT IS THE REAL WRIGHT FLYER.

So how could anyone doubt this?  Most of the reasons are simple.  First, the Flyer currently doesn’t look old.  The near pristine white fabric on its wooden framework doesn’t look to be a century old.  Well, it isn’t.  In 1984 and 1985, the museum did conservation work on the Flyer.  It was disassembled, inspected, cleaned, and documented inside and out.  The most important decision we had to make was whether or not to save the tattered fabric.  There was much internal debate about this, but in the end we put new fabric on the Flyer.  Critical to that decision was that the fabric then on the airplane was not on it when it flew in 1903.  In 1928, Orville Wright loaned the Flyer to the London Science Museum, where it stayed for 20 years.  In preparation for the trip to England, Orville recovered the Flyer entirely.   So when the Smithsonian received the airplane in 1948, none of the fabric on it dated from 1903.  Considering its condition and that the airplane never flew with that fabric, for the long-term preservation interest of the artifact, new fabric was put on in 1985, precisely to the specifications of 1903.  So to the uninitiated, the Flyer currently doesn’t look old and people sometimes make the assumption that it is not the original airframe.

Fabric

New fabric being sewn on to the original framework of the 1903 Wright Flyer.

Another reason visitors sometimes think the Wright Flyer in the Smithsonian is not real is because so many modern reproductions of the Flyer are on view in other museums.  Especially leading up to the centennial of the first flights in 2003, many reproduction Flyers have been built.   With so many copies out there and the real Wright Flyer having relatively new fabric on it, one can see how visitors might get confused.

Finally, many people know that after the Wrights made their last flight on December 17, 1903, the Flyer was upturned by a strong gust of wind and severely damaged.  Thinking the airplane was destroyed, some of these folks are under the impression that the original 1903 Wright Flyer doesn’t exist at all.

So let me make clear for all, when you visit the National Air and Space Museum and stand before the Wright Flyer you will be just a few feet away from the original, real, world-changing 1903 Wright Flyer—not a copy.  There is also a good chance you’ll find me in the gallery spending time with my old friend, the endlessly fascinating world’s first airplane—a signature Smithsonian object.

Peter Jakab

Peter Jakab seated in front of the 1903 Wright Flyer

Peter L. Jakab is the associate director for collections and curatorial affairs at the National Air and Space Museum

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

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on March 9, 2011 in Aviation, Behind The Scenes, Highlights from the Collection, restoration and Uncategorized.
5 Comments Tags: , , , .

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.

First Aircraft Moves Into Udvar-Hazy Center Restoration Hangar

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on November 24, 2010 in Aviation, Behind The Scenes and restoration.
5 Comments Tags: , , , .
Helldiver

The "Helldiver" arrives at the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar.

This week, the Museum moved its first aircraft into the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hanger in the new wing of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. The aircraft is the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, the same type of aircraft flown by former Museum director, Don Engen during World War II. Designed in 1938 as a scout-bomber to replace the SB2U Vindicator dive-bomber, the SB2C Helldiver rolled off the assembly line in June 1942. Of the over 5,500 production models built, the Museum’s Helldiver is one of only a handful that remain in existence. It will be one of the first aircraft to be restored when the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hanger is fully operational.

Helldiver

Helldiver

Staff move the "Helldiver" into the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar.

The arrival of this first object is an important milestone for the Museum, and the timing couldn’t be better. As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, we at the Museum share this milestone and our gratitude with all of the people who have helped to make the new wing a reality.

staff

Staff along with members of the Engen family pose in front of the "Helldiver" inside the Udvar-Hazy Center's new Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar.

Although the Helldiver is the first to occupy the huge restoration hangar, and cannot yet be seen by the public, it will not be alone for long. The Museum will continue moving into the new wing over the coming year. The Helldiver and other objects will be visible to the public as they are restored to display condition when the viewing mezzanine opens later in 2011.

view

View from the mezzanine with the "Helldiver" on the restoration hangar floor below.

See the latest photos of the new wing and stay tuned for more information as we move into the new facility.

A New History of the Museum

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on November 18, 2010 in Aviation, Behind The Scenes, History, Publications and restoration.
4 Comments
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: An Autobiography

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: An Autobiography

Before the recent appearance of Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: An Autobiography (National Geographic, 2010) the Museum had two big, coffee-table books about itself. In 1979 Abrams published C.D.B. Bryan’s The National Air and Space Museum, a gorgeous and very expensive book for the time ($75.00—you’d have to triple that to get to current dollars). It was organized by exhibit galleries, a very logical way to present the Museum, but one that quickly became dated. It got a second life with a new edition in 1988 reflecting the Museum’s floor plan then. To replace it, we published (in collaboration with Bulfinch) Andrew Chaikin’s Air and Space: The National Air and Space Museum Story of Flight in 1997. It was reissued in 2008, but it was already at the tail end of its sales life at that point.

It was in that latter year that Ted Maxwell, then Associate Director for Collections and Research, initiated a project to start a new book. He and publications officer Trish Graboske assembled a group of division chairs, curators and archivists to discuss how to do it. Contracting out the authorship, as was done with the first two books, had its advantages, but also meant that a significant fraction of the earnings did not go to the Museum. Although it put an added burden on the staff, we decided to write the next one in-house, and to make it a history of the Museum, not just a description of it, or a history of flight told with pictures from the Museum. Alex Spencer  (Aeronautics Division) and I (Space History Division) became the editors, the chapter authors would be Tom Crouch, Bob van der Linden, Dominick Pisano, Ted Maxwell and Dik Daso (all in Aeronautics, except Ted in the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies). Melissa Keiser and Marilyn Graskowiak (Archives Division) would do the photo editing. We were pleased when the National Geographic Society wanted to publish the book, and we were then paired with their team, led by Susan Hitchcock. The book came together in scarcely over a year from the time when we began to work on it in summer 2009.

Thaddeus Lowe

Thaddeus Lowe goes aloft aboard the balloon Intrepid to observe Confederate activity during the Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31-June 1, 1862.

For me, the stories and the pictures of the Museum’s prehistory became the most fascinating things that came out of the book. In Chapter 1, Tom Crouch lays out the connections between the first Smithsonian Secretary, Joseph Henry, and ballooning that went back a decade before the Institution was founded in 1846. In mid-1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, Henry lent support to Thaddeus Lowe , who was forming a balloon corps for the Union Army. That June Lowe made tethered ascents from the Mall directly in front of where the Museum now stands—a site that was then occupied by the Columbia Armory. Over fifty years later, another war, World War I, brought some of the first airplanes into the Smithsonian collections (the first was actually the 1909 Wright Military Flyer, acquired in 1911). Aircraft enthusiast Paul Garber began in 1920 as a junior curator and proceeded to build a world-class collection, as Bob van der Linden tells us in Chapter 2. Some of the book’s most interesting photos show the old Aircraft Building, or “Tin Shed,” behind the Castle that housed much of the collection. A few choice artifacts, like Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, which Garber had been instrumental in getting, hung in the Arts and Industries Building.

Tin Shed

Built in 1918, the Aircraft Building housed most of the Museum's aviation collection for decades. Taken in 1938, this photo also shows a tank and artillery piece displayed by the front door.

Spirit of St. Louis

Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" was installed in the North Hall of the Smithsonian Institution's Arts & Industries Building on May 13, 1928.

Congress legislated the National Air and Space Museum into existence in 1946 as the National Air Museum, thanks largely to Paul Garber and the Commanding General of the Army Air Forces, Henry A. “Hap” Arnold. But for some time little changed on the Mall except that the Tin Shed became more crowded. Garber had to create a makeshift storage location outside D.C., now named for him, to accommodate the massive increase in artifacts after World War II. They were often stored in deplorable conditions. In Chapter 3, Dom Pisano tells the story of the long struggle to get a building on the Mall, culminating in the spectacularly successful opening in July 1976. Many assume that that is when the National Air and Space Museum began, but as this book reveals, the organization was already three decades old then, and was built on a foundation of a previous century of Smithsonian involvement with flight.

Chapter 4 (by Ted Maxwell and Tom Crouch) and Chapter 5 (by Dik Daso) discuss the evolution of the Mall building after 1976, and of the creation of the Udvar-Hazy Center, respectively. These chapters were the most problematic to write, as the closer we got to the present, the more difficult it was to gain any perspective on events that many of us had personally experienced. Especially tough, of course, was deciding what to say about the B-29 Enola Gay, not only the 1994-95 national uproar over our proposed exhibit about the first atomic bombings, but also the previous half century in which the airplane was intertwined with the Museum’s history, and the following near-decade it took to complete the restoration and assembly of the full aircraft for the 2003 opening of the Museum’s companion facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.  In fact, this aircraft was one of the main reasons why we decided to have four “interchapter” features, telling decade-long stories that stretched across the boundaries of the five chapters. (In addition to the Enola Gay, these cover the Institution’s long controversy with the Wrights that delayed the arrival of the 1903 Flyer, rocket pioneer Robert Goddard’s intimate engagement with the Smithsonian, and the partnership between the Museum and NASA).

Enola Gay

The historic Boeing B-29 "Enola Gay" is shown here just after being restored and re-assembled in 2003.

When you add more than 700 photos, ten layouts of artifact collections, ten features on famous aircraft and artifacts, ten longer quotations from veterans and observers of the Museum, a foreword by John Glenn and an afterword by Director J.R. Dailey, we feel that we really have created not only a gorgeous gift book, but also a professional history of the Museum, one likely to last for many years to come.

Michael J. Neufeld is Chair of the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

View the Museum’s interactive timeline, featuring images from the book.

Vintage Aircraft Tool Cataloging, Re-housing and Preservation Project

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on November 8, 2010 in Aviation, Behind The Scenes, Hidden Treasures, History, Research and restoration.
8 Comments Tags: , , .

In the years following WWII the United States and her Allies conducted engineering and flight tests of many different types of captured or surrendered Axis aircraft, primarily from Germany and Japan. Many of these aircraft were acquired by Allied and US technical intelligence collection teams.  It was ordered that at least one of each type of enemy aircraft be captured and evaluated by these teams, and that each aircraft type be maintained in flyable condition for a minimum of one year. To make this possible all technical data and support materiel available (such as tool kits, parts, etc.) had to also be captured to meet this requirement.

fuselage

Fuselage of a captured German WWII FockeWulf Ta-152H-0 advanced fighter, currently stored at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility. This aircraft was surrendered to an RAF intelligence team and later transferred to the US for evaluation.

Several of these captured aircraft were donated to the National Air and Space Museum upon completion of US Air Force testing in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and much of the supporting parts and tools came along with them. At the time loose tools and toolkits were not seen as accessionable objects, merely as tools to be used for repair and possible future restoration purposes. They remained in storage for years. Today this collection of tools contains some of the very last examples of their kind to be found anywhere in the world. It is due to the historically important and unique nature of these objects that a Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF) has enabled a project to catalog, re-house, and preserve these irreplaceable examples of tools and kits.

tools

One of several large crates filled with hundreds of loose tools of various types. Sorting these loose tools and beginning a comprehensive identification and inventory process has been the first priority of the 2010 CCPF Vintage Aircraft Tool project.

The  project began in July of 2010. The cataloging, condition assessment, and digital photography of this varied and unique collection was begun immediately so that a comprehensive inventory of this diverse collection could be created.

tools

Examples of sorted and inventoried tools. Upon identification it was discovered that these tools were highly specialized and potentially one-of-a-kind examples. The left tool was designed to cool large bearings with a cryogenic liquid to aid their removal during overhaul of a BMW 801 engine, like the one used to power the Focke Wulf FW-190. The right tool was designed to be used on the cylinder heads of several different types of Daimler-Benz engines, such as those used to power the He-219 Night Fighter currently being restored at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility.

One goal of the project is to create a curatorial and collections guideline for the proper and safe use of these tools, ensuring they remain in an accessible yet preserved condition. To ensure future access to restoration specialists and researchers, a series of protective storage cabinets will provide adequate space that maximizes accessibility yet minimizes unnecessary handling. This system of storage will also allow for easier transportation of the collection to the new Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Additionally, it is necessary to prepare most of these tools for long-term, stable storage via thorough cleaning to remove old, soiled, or failing preservative coatings and service-related grime, and also treating areas of active surface corrosion. Once cleaned and treated each tool will then have a modern preservative coating reapplied, ensuring long-term stabilization and usability.

engines

Both engines above are from the He-219 Night Fighter being restored at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility. The left engine has already undergone restoration at the time this image was taken, while the right engine has yet to be restored. Being able to use or copy examples of purpose-built tools is important to restorers. If these necessary and unique tools are misplaced, damaged beyond usability or disappear, restoration is seriously hindered.

Copies of these tools have been made in the past to perform vital restoration work on some of the associated captured aircraft, and in some instances the tools themselves have been used. But once they are lost, then any similar restoration or stabilization work will be made much more difficult, if not impossible. This project will help ensure that these important objects are preserved.

Ray Barnett is a contractor working with the collections division of the National Air and Space Museum.

Restoring and Preserving Aircraft

Published by The National Air and Space Museum on November 1, 2010 in Aviation, Behind The Scenes and restoration.
2 Comments Tags: , , .

Next year, the National Air and Space Museum will begin restoring and preserving aircraft in the brand-new Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hanger, part of the Phase Two complex now under construction at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.  To treat the aircraft, the Museum applies a philosophy and range of techniques that have steadily evolved through the years.  A project may start with an incomplete grouping of components or a complete aircraft in pieces, but most aircraft that pass through the Engen Restoration Hanger will be largely intact with worn exteriors that often hide extensive corrosion beneath fabric, wood, or metal skin.  The treatment team, consisting of curator, lead specialist, and conservator, must first decide on the overall objective of the work after discussing a range of options:

  • Stabilizing conservation that protects the aircraft from further loss or depletion.
  • Preservation that maintains the aircraft in unaltered condition.
  • Minimal structural, mechanical, and cosmetic restoration.
  • Significant structural and mechanical restoration with minor cosmetic restoration.
  • Restoration to a particular period.
  • Restoration to production specifications.

Whatever course is chosen, the primary goal is to maintain authenticity, what I define as tenacious, unwavering concentration on the original history, not just of the aircraft type  say all Piper Cubs, for example, but whenever possible, the specific Piper Cub airframe that is undergoing treatment.  The decision to jettison strict authenticity and adopt a paint scheme and markings never actually applied to the specific airframe during its operational history is widely regarded by curatorial and collections management staff as a choice of last resort.

Photographs, documents and text, scale models, film, and audio are all available to tell the history of almost all types of aircraft.  However, once gone, the original finish, condition, or configuration is forever lost.  Structural damage and original paint and markings contribute to the artifact as an original document with a story to tell, just like an ancient manuscript.  Of course, we must balance the ideal goal of pure preservation with practical requirements such as the safety of our visitors who often are in close proximity to the aircraft on display.

milestones

"Milestones of Flight" Gallery at the National Mall Building.

When selecting specific treatments, the project team selects those that can be undone later without damaging the artifact.  This allows future investigators to return that portion of the aircraft to the condition in which it was found for further study.

Treatment specialists  at the Museum combined restoration and preservation techniques when they prepared Bowlus BA-100 Baby Albatross for display at the Udvar-Hazy Center in 2000.  We had accepted the Baby Albatross in 1963 and suspended it in the rafters of Building 20 at the Paul E. Garber Facility for more than 35 years.

albatross

Albatross before restoration

The original fabric covering was beyond repair but the wooden airframe was in remarkably sound condition.  Specialists had to apply several patches to the Mahogany skin, which they stamped like this example:

label

Labels applied by Museum specialists

Such careful documentation of repairs or replaced parts goes back to the notion of the artifact as an original document.  The right aileron control rod was found bent and because the damage may have occurred in service, it was not repaired.  Original varnish on the wooden cockpit pod, wings and struts, elevators, and vertical fin was preserved by cleaning, polishing, and waxing.

Cockpit

Cockpit of the Albatross

Treatment specialists chose to cover parts of the wings and tail with a clear plastic film called Monokote (favored by enthusiasts of radio-controlled model aircraft) because it allowed visitors to see the delicate internal wood structure, the film was easy to apply using a hot air gun, and it is reversible.

wing

Wing of the Albatross

The cockpit was in excellent condition so the specialists thoroughly but gently vacuumed it out, cleaned the area with mild Ivory Liquid dish soap and water.

albatross

Inside the Cockpit of the Albatross

The specialists wanted to preserve the colorful rudder fabric painted red, white, and blue with yellow stars.  Once cleaned and gently vacuumed, they found it in sound condition except for a long tear, which they repaired with Monokote.  They did not repair a small puncture near the right wingtip because it may have occurred while flying the sailplane, and the hole threatened neither visitor safety nor the integrity of the artifact.

albatross

Albatross rudder

Preservation can be just as difficult to carry out as restoration, but the results are no less attractive.

albatross

Bowlus BA-100 Albatross after restoration

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

Sources

White, John H. “Facadism: Is This Really Preservation?,” Locomotive & Railway Preservation, July/August 1988, 33.

McManus, Edward. “A Restoration Philosophy,” in Collections Care, Report Number 2, (Smithsonian Institution, October 1991).

Mikesh, Robert C. Restoring Museum Aircraft, (Shrewsbury, England: Airlife, 1997). Outdated in a few respects but basically excellent.

Milbrooke, Anne. National Register Bulletin: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Historic Aviation Properties, (U. S. Dept. of the Interior, 1998).