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Early Flight

Air and Space Museum

Early Flight uses artifacts like the Lilienthal Glider, 1909 Wright Military Flyer, and the Blériot XI to explore how in one short decade people in America and around the world were pushing boundaries, setting records, participating in air shows, and turning the aircraft into a technology that would usher in the aerial age.

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Medal, Commemorative, Boston to Washington, D.C., July 1911

American Propeller and Mfg Co. Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, wood

Requa Gibson Fixed-pitch, Two-blade, Wood Propeller

Model, Static, Johnson Monoplane, 1911

Reciprocating engine with 28 steam expansion tubes connected at the bottom to a water supply piping system and at the top to a boiler. A slide valve, piston, and pulley are mounted to a steel-framed tower next to the steam generator.

Stringfellow Steam Engine

Plaque, Early Birds

Top view of a gray and white model airplane. The metal struts and wheels are gray, while the wing fabric is white. There is a gray squarelike structure atop the middle set of wings.

Model, Static, Walden IX, 1911

Wood and fabric Bleriot XI aircraft in museum

Bleriot XI

Tandem-wing aircraft with two pusher propellers along a steam engine. Silk-covered wings show exposed wooden ribs on underside.

Langley Aerodrome Number 5

Full view of a brown and white flying boat model. There is a black engine at the front and two brown propellers on the two sets of wings. Brown struts separate the two sets of white wings.

Model, Static, Curtiss Twin Tractor

Two-seat biplane with twin propellers and landing skids in place of wheels. Fabric covered wings, rudder, and elevators. A U.S. Air Corps symbol is painted on the rudder.

1909 Wright Military Flyer

Aeromarine Plane & Motor Co. Ground-Adjustable-Pitch Propeller

Model, Static, Boland Tailless

Plaque, James Gordon Bennett, 1909, Glenn Curtiss

Internal combustion engine consisting of lower crankcase and upper block. The cylinder banks are slightly offset and sit above the block. The cylinder heads house the intake and exhaust valves.

Curtiss B-8, V-8 Engine

Model, Static, Chanute Bi-plane Gliding Machine, 1896

Bastow-Page Ground-Adjustable-Pitch Airship Propeller

Curtiss E-4, In-Line 4 Engine

Model, Static, 1:4 scale, Cayley 1804 Glider

American Propeller and Mfg Co. Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, wood

Collier Plaque

Medal, Circuit de L'Est

Model, Static, Chanute Multiple Wing Gliding Machine, 1896

Medal, Aero Club of America Aviation Medal of Merit, Glenn Curtiss

Langley Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, wood and fabric

Radial, five-cylinder engine, resembling a stylized star when viewed from the front.

Langley-Manly-Balzer Radial 5 Engine

Requa Gibson Propeller Co. Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, wood

Hang glider with natural color fabric over exposed wooden framework. A white mannequin is set inside the frame ring highlighting the hand grip and backrest configuration.

Lilienthal Glider

Silver and black model biplane. There are two wheel-like structures between the two sets of wings, along with a black and silver engine near the center.

Model, Static, Wright Model D

Angled view of a silver model biplane with black wheels and a brown rectangle on the left side. Several strings are attached in between the struts.

Model, Static, Wright "Baby Grand"

All-wood construction biplane with muslin covering and six-cylinder engine between the wings. "ECKER" on vane above upper wing.

Ecker Flying Boat

Full view of a silver and tan model plane with gray strings and triangle shaped wing flaps.

Model, Static, Walden III

Full view of a gray model biplane with two sets of rounded wings and a blue-black pilot's seat. There are two propellers behind the wings.

Model, Static, Wright "R"

Front view of a brown model biplane. There is a black seat in front of the two sets of wings, and a long wooden frame culminating in a single black wheel sitting at an angle.

Model, Static, Martin Bi-plane

Silver model airplane with a brown propeller, strings fastened on the top, and Heinrich written in black on the side.

Model, Static, Heinrich Monoplane

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