A Museum Tour Through Aviation History

Air Transportation (Gallery 102)

Air transportation came into its own during the decades of the 1920s and 1930s. Beginning with open cockpit biplanes designed primarily to move the U.S. Mail across the country, aircraft of this era quickly developed into streamlined, closed cabin airliners capable of carrying up to 30 passengers in a level of luxury that was unheard of just a few years before. By the mid-1950s, jet power arrived in the world of commercial aviation, opening up a whole new dimension of comfort and convenience that is highlighted in the "Air Transportation" gallery.

Douglas M-2
(1926)

The Douglas M-2 was a commercial variant of the military O-2 observation plane. It was first used by Western Air Service in 1926 for an air mail route between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The M-2 was superior to its competitors of that time in strength, performance, and flying characteristics. Western Air also carried occasional passengers on its mail route, and M-2s (plus upgraded M-3 and M-4 variants) soon took to the air flying for National Air Transport (later United Air Lines) on a route between New York and Chicago. The Museum's M-2 is believed to be the last one still in existence. It flew on Western Air Service's mail route from 1927 until 1930. It later had a series of corporate and private owners until about 1940. It was fully restored in 1974 and made one final, transcontinental flight to the Museum in 1977.

Ford 5-AT Trimotor
(1926)

One of the most famous of the air transports of the classic age of aviation, the Ford Trimotor grew out of a design developed in 1925 by an engineer named William Stout. The 4-AT model, the prototype for the classic Ford 5-AT Trimotor, first flew in June 1926. By 1933, Ford had produced 199 Trimotors, many of which flew with airlines across the United States, Canada, Central and South America, Europe, and Australia. The Museum's Trimotor was purchased by Southwest Air Fast Express in 1929 and later sold to American Airlines. It flew the transcontinental route between Cleveland and Los Angeles until about 1935. It later served in Mexico and Nicaragua before being donated to the Museum in 1962.

Pitcairn PA-5 Mailwing
(1927)

The Pitcairn Mailwing was first flown by Texas Air Transport in 1927, but it was best known for flying on Pitcairn's mail route between New York and Atlanta, which began in 1928. This route was expanded to Miami later in the year, with the 1,355-mile route being covered in 15 hours. Eventually a fleet of 15 Mailwings were flying this route, but advancements in aircraft development soon relegated the workhorse Mailwings to general duties, such as crop-dusting. The Museum's Mailwing was the prototype for the PA-5 model and was flown by Pitcairn pilot James Ray in several cross-country air derbys in 1927. It was later sold to Eastern Air Transport, which used it extensively through 1934. It was donated to the Museum in 1957.

Fairchild FC-2
(1928)

Sherman Fairchild built his first airplane the FC-1 in 1926 to meet a specific need that he had -- a high-wing airplane that could be used for aerial photography. The first production model Fairchild FC-2 was purchased by the U.S. Department of Commerce and used to accompany Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis on a United States tour after Lingbergh's famous solo flight across the Atlantic. Perhaps the most famous FC-2 was the Star and Stripes, which was used by Admiral Richard Byrd on the first aerial tour of Antarctica. The Museum's FC-2 first flew in 1928 for Pan American-Grace Airways in Peru.

Northrop Alpha
(1930)

The Northrop Alpha combined the old and the new in a design that included an enclosed passenger cabin and open pilot cockpit, with a single-wing, all-metal design. It had a moderately fast speed (177 mph) for the time and proved to be popular with airlines. But the advent of larger twin-engine airliners soon relegated the Alpha to cargo service, which it provided in 24-hour coast-to-coast service. The Museum's Alpha was built in 1930 and was the personal aircraft of Colonel C.M. Young, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics. It had several other owners before coming into the ownership of the Museum.

Boeing 247D
(1933)

With a first flight in 1933, the Boeing 247D immediately became the model upon which the "modern" airliner was based. With its completely enclosed cockpit and passenger cabin, twin engines, monoplane design, and retracable landing gear, it soon became the darling of the airlines. But the predecessor companies to United Airlines placed an order with Boeing for 60 of the 247Ds, thus locking in a virtual monopoly. This worked to the disadvantage of both Boeing and United, because United's competitors sought out Douglas Aircraft to build them a better plane -- which eventually developed into the Douglas DC-3. The Museum's 247D flew in several long-distance races in 1934, including an 11,300-mile run from England to Australia, before being returned to United Airlines, where it provided regular passenger service until 1937. It continued to fly until 1953 with the Department of Commerce Air Safety Board.

Douglas DC-3
(1936)

In 1933, Douglas Aircraft built a new passenger plane to compete with Boeing's 247D. This plane was designated the DC-1 and soon led to a refined DC-2. In 1935, American Airlines directly petitioned Douglas to build a larger and more comfortable airliner, and Douglas responded with the Douglas DC-3. The "day" version could seat 21 passengers, while a "night" sleeper version could berth 14 passengers on overnight coast-to-coast flights. By 1938, about 95 percent of all U.S. commercial airline service was on DC-3s and by 1939, about 90 percent of worldwide airline service was also on DC-3s. The aircraft took on the military role during World War II, as the troop-carrying C-47 "Gooney Bird," and continued to fly after the war. In all, more tha 800 civilian and an astonishing 10,000 military versions were eventually constructed. Even into the 21st Century, DC-3s continue to fly in some parts of the world in passenger and cargo service.

Grumman G-21 Goose
(1937)

Grumman's first monoplane was the Grumman G-21 Goose a twin-engine amphibious seaplane that first flew in 1938. Among the first customers for the versatile seaplane were department store heir Marshall Field III and other wealthy businessmen. A total of 345 G-21s were eventually built, with many of them servicing in the U.S. and Canadian military during World War II. Even after the war, the G-21 continued in service, now as passenger airliners in remote locations, such as Alaska and the Caribbean. [Of special note is that Antilles Air Boats, based in the U.S. Virgin Islands and owned by Captain Charles Blair -- husband of actress Maureen O'Hara, provided downtown-to-downtown service throughout the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico during the 1970s and 1980s. I had the opportunity to fly in the co-pilot seat on many Antilles Air Boats flights during that time.]

Beechcraft Model 18
(1937)

The Beechcraft Model 18 made its first flight in 1937. Over the next 32 years, more than 30 different variants were produced of this small, 6-8 passenger airplane. At first, there was little market for such a small airliner, and the Model 18 found most of its service in the Canadian wilderness areas. Like many other aircraft of the era, it was pressed into military service during World War II, as a personnel transport, light cargo carrier, bombing trainer, and observation plane. Through 1969, more than 9,000 of the Model 18s were built, with many of them still in active service at the beginning of the 21st Century. The Museum's Model 18 serviced as an air ambulance in the Phoenix area for about 15 years before being donated to the Museum in 1976.

Boeing DASH-80 (707 Prototype)
(1954)

[Museum photo not available]

The Boeing DASH-80 was the prototype for the venerable Boeing 707 jet airliner that dominated airline service during the 1960s and early 1970s. Boeing undertook development of the aircraft without having any guarantee that it would have customers for the plane. The risk paid off, because the 707s early competitor, the British Comet had a fatal design flaw that saw two Comet's disintegrate in flight with catastrophic results. The first customer for the 707 was the U.S. Air Force, which used the KC-135 aerial tanker version for many years. Douglas soon came up with its own, very similar DC-8; but Boeing eventually built a total of 800 707 variants, which have carried well over 50,000,000 passengers for airlines around the world. The DASH-80 will be displayed when the Museum's new facility at Dulles Airport in Virginia opens in 2003.

Dassault Falcon 20
(1963)

The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French-built executive jet designed from a military fighter called the Mystere. The first Falcon made its maiden flight in 1963, and it soon became a popular competitor to other executive jets like the Gates Learjet and North American Sabreliner. In 1972, Federal Express purchased the first two of its eventual fleet of 33 Falcons for its revolutionary express air cargo service. Eventually, the airline had to graduate to larger and larger jet liners as its success and cargo-carrying demand grew.

A less glamorous, but equally important, branch of civil aviation began to develop in the United States around the same time as air transportation. That's the subject of our next stop, the General Aviation gallery.

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Last Updated: January 1, 2003