Tag Archives: restoration

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

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Horetn

Close up of the acrylic canopy being analyzed by our conservation staff and Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI).

Waiting for an update on the conservation and restoration of our Horten H IX V3 “Bat-wing Ship?” Here’s the latest! Our conservation staff, in collaboration with curator Russ Lee, is working with the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) to figure out the materials and technologies used to craft the Horten H IX V3.  For example, the transparent canopy was analyzed with a portable Raman spectrometer and determined to be a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plastic.  PMMA was developed by Rohm and Haas in the mid-1930s in Germany and the United States, and the material is reputed to have been incorporated quickly into aircraft canopies, gun turrets, and transparent noses. It is lightweight, impact resistant, relatively easy to form, and transmits light even better than glass.  In this instance, identifying the canopy as PMMA confirms what we already expected from our research of trade literature from that period.  It also shows how studying our collection, visually and with analytical tools like MCIs Raman spectrometer, provides direct physical evidence of an aircraft’s manufacture, which enriches our understanding of the history of early plastics in aviation.

Raman spectroscopy identifies materials by shining a laser beam at a surface and measuring the energy distribution of inelastically scattered light.  It is potentially non-destructive and does not require removing a sample from the aircraft.  MCIs spectrometer weighs only 6 lbs. and fits in a convenient “carry on” sized suitcase for trips out to the Udvar-Hazy Center and other Smithsonian museums.

Lauren Horelick is a objects conservator in the Collections Department of the National Air and Space Museum.

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

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This post is a follow up to Preserving and Displaying the “Bat-Wing Ship” published on September 9, 2011.

After preparing hundreds of condition reports last winter on the many artifacts that curators plan to exhibit in the upcoming Time and Navigation gallery opening at the Museum in Washington, DC in April, 2013, while simultaneously helping the Collections Processing Unit move artifacts from the Paul E. Garber Facility to new digs at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, Museum staff could finally return to work on the center section of the Horten H IX V3 jet fighter, the “Bat-Wing Ship.”  With help from retired treatment specialist Karl Heinzel, Museum conservator Lauren Horelick is determining the best methods to stabilize and protect the center section for movement to the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy Center later this year. Lauren carefully mapped the object to establish a baseline of problematic areas and to complete an essential step in recording present damage [Figure 1].

condition map

Figure 1: In-progress condition map showing the types and extent of damage currently seen on the metal components of the center section (Lauren Horelick photo, modified Arthur Bentley drawing published in Shepelev and Ottens, Horten Ho 229, Spirit of Thuringia, 2006).

 

In addition to creating written and photographic documentation of the jet, Lauren is conducting material identification analysis to identify the wood used to make the plywood, the adhesive used to bind the micron-thin layers of the plywood, and the adhesive used to join the large structural members of the wood panels. Her analysis will not only add to the history of the Horten wing, it will also help her craft the best conservation treatment protocol.  Summer interns working with scientists at the Museum Conservation Institute are contributing to the materials identification effort.  We will blog the results at the end of this summer.

We have begun initial effortsto protect the center section during the move to the Restoration Hanger.  These efforts include removing the fragile plywood belly panels so that conservators can treat the wood for long-term stabilization before reattaching it.  To remove the wood panels safely, it was necessary to apply a facing over sections of the wood to prevent loss of material [Figure 2].

horten

Figure 2: Lauren carefully attached a sheet of Reemay, a non-woven spun bonded polyester, to cover a section of fragile and delaminating plywood on the underside of the center section. She used BEVA (Berger’s ethylene vinyl acetate) film, a reversible heat-set adhesive, around the perimeter of the Reemay sheet to hold it in place and stabilize the wood so that the panel can safely be removed for later treatment. Lauren cut the small holes seen in the Reemay to provide access to the bolts securing the panel to the steel tube support frame.

Other conservation efforts include researching adhesives to stabilize the plywood and developing methods to address how to move the center section to the Udvar-Hazy Center.  Lauren is considering a multi-layered envelope system that would enclose the entire center section during travel.

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

 

 

The Real Wright Flyer

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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

First Aircraft Moves Into Udvar-Hazy Center Restoration Hangar

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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.

Vintage Aircraft Tool Cataloging, Re-housing and Preservation Project

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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.