Naval Aviation | AirSpace

When Secretary of the Navy William J. Middendorf II commissioned the USS Smithsonian, CVM-76, on June 28, 1976, he announced in authentic navy parlance that “the floors are now decks, walls are bulkheads and stairs are ladders. Welcome Aboard!” Visitors to the gallery may not realize that exhibits artisans built the gallery using the decks, bulkheads, ladders and other parts removed from five famous American aircraft carriers. Senior curator Paul E. Garber visited the USS Essex (CVS-9), USS Intrepid (CV-11), USS Randolph (CV-15), USS Hancock (CV-19), and USS Shangri-La (CVS-38) and personally selected components for the gallery as navy personnel decommissioned the warships in 1975.

Entrance to the Sea-Air Operations gallery.

All four museum aircraft displayed in the Sea-Air Operations gallery are seen from the second floor of the gallery. Left to right, Boeing F4B-4, Douglas A-4C Skyhawk, Douglas SBD-6 Dauntless, and Grumman F4F- (General Motors FM-1) Wildcat.

Four significant airplanes flown by U. S. Navy pilots are displayed inside the simulated hangar deck that fills much of the Sea-Air Operations Gallery. The father of Museum director and retired Marine Corps General Jack Dailey flew the Boeing F4B-4 biplane suspended from the gallery ceiling. General Dailey told me a few years ago that his dad

“flew [the F4B-4 in the Sea-Air Gallery] in 1934, and maybe other flights after that, which was the year I was born. He was on the Marine Corps flight demonstration team that toured the country with a 16-plane show to publicize Marine Aviation. They didn’t have a set routine they just followed the leader in a 16-plane tail chase which got pretty hairy. On one occasion the leader inadvertently stalled and spun back down through the formation so they all kicked it into a spin and followed him. I think the airplane we have was a spare because almost everyone in the squadron flew it.”

Museum director Jack Dailey’s father (then Lt. Frank G. Dailey) flew this Boeing F4B-4 fighter during the mid-1930s.

A Douglas SBD-6 Dauntless dive bomber is suspended from the ceiling next to the Boeing fighter. Dauntless pilots opened the large dive flaps perforated with holes at the trailing edge of the wing to slow the aircraft to about 443 kph (275 mph) during steep dives above a target. Pilots and gunners who crewed the SBDs (often called Slow-But-Deadly) did well in every engagement and suffered fewer losses than crews flying any other U. S. Navy carrier aircraft during World War II.

In the Douglas SBD-6 Dauntless dive bomber, nicknamed Slow-But-Deadly, a gunner sitting behind the pilot wielded a pair of machine guns.

America entered World War II in December 1941 and by 1942, Grumman F4F Wildcats such as the one seen on the floor of the Sea-Air Operations Gallery equipped all U.S. Navy and Marine Corps fighter squadrons. New pilots making their first take off could often be spotted wobbling their Wildcats as they spun a crank 30 turns to retract the landing gear. U. S. Navy escort aircraft carriers operating in the Atlantic Ocean also carried Wildcats and the tough little fighter served from Pearl Harbor to the end of the war.

The Museum’s A-4C Skyhawk displayed in the Sea-Air Operations gallery carries a typical combat mission load of external stores consisting of two 1,135 liter (300 gal.) fuel tanks and six 227 kg (500 lb.) bombs.

In his own words, “simplicate and add lightness” guided Douglas chief designer Ed Heinemann when he designed the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk that dominates the floor of the Sea-Air Operations Gallery. Key elements in the design are a strong and simple delta wing, a single engine and single pilot, which saved weight and complexity. The Skyhawk first flew in 1954 and by 1968, Skyhawks equipped 30 U. S. Navy and U. S. Marine Corps attack squadrons.

Navy pilots assigned to VA-76 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, CVA (N)-65, flew the Museum’s Skyhawk during Iron Hand missions to suppress Surface-to-Air Missile radars from October 1965 to June 1966. Navy pilots also flew this Skyhawk from the USS Bon Homme Richard, CVA-31, operating off the Vietnam coast from March-June 1967, and USS Independence during the carrier’s cruise in the Mediterranean in May 1968.

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

Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" (Jay Miller photo).

On February 10, 2012, retired Vought employees officially rolled out the one-of-a-kind Vought V-173 Flying Pancake, following eight years of painstaking restoration work. The Flying Pancake dates to World War II when the Chance Vought Division of the United Aircraft Corporation built and flew the airplane to test Charles H. Zimmerman’s theories about extremely low-aspect ratio wing design that allowed an aircraft to fly at very slow speeds. Among the airplane’s novel features are the two large wooden prop-rotors powered by a pair of 80 HP Continental A-80 engines. More of the history and additional technical details about the Flying Pancake are available in the curatorial web essay.

Vought retirees moved the aircraft to Dallas, Texas, in 2004 for restoration. Early next month, the retirees will move the Flying Pancake to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field near Dallas and the museum will unveil the airplane to visitors on April 15. The National Air and Space Museum accepted the aircraft from the U. S. Navy Bureau of Weapons in September 1960 because the design approach to low-speed flight represented by the Flying Pancake was so unusual. The aircraft will remain on loan from our Museum to the Frontiers of Flight Museum for at least ten years. It is one of almost 30 Museum aircraft on loan throughout the United States.

To maintain wing lift at the slowest speed possible, Vought mounted large prop-rotors at the wing tips, and designed the left prop-rotor to turn counter-clockwise (as viewed by the pilot) and the right prop-rotor to turn clockwise (Jay Miller photo).

Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" Cockpit (Jay Miller photo).

Vought retirees carefully cleaned the cockpit, stuffed a new seat cushion with the kapok that had spilled from the original, and replaced three missing instruments but otherwise, they left the area untouched. The retirees carefully preserved original wear marks seen on the trim wheel left of the seat, the two rudder pedals shaped like stirrups, and various struts and braces. Vought test pilots Boone Guyton and Richard Burroughs, transatlantic flyer Charles A. Lindbergh, and other pilots made these marks while test-flying the V-173 during test flights totaling 131 hours in the air.

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

AirSpace

Tag Archives: Naval Aviation

Sea-Air Operations Gallery

Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation Retirees Finish Vought V-173 “Flying Pancake” Following 8-Year Restoration Effort