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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.

  • National Air and Space Museum 47 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Propulsion systems 21 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Awards 17 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Impellers 13 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Propellers 13 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Medals 10 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Reciprocating (piston) engines 8 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Rotary engines 8 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Trophies 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Aircraft 6 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Works of art 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1860s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
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  • 1900s 10 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1910s 13 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1980s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 2010s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • United States of America 35 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • France 9 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Germany 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • United Kingdom 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Early Flight 47 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • National Air and Space Museum Collection 47 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC 47 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Aeronautics 6 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Art 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
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  • CC0 11 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
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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

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

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

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

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

Bastow-Page Ground-Adjustable-Pitch Airship Propeller

Curtiss E-4, In-Line 4 Engine

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

Collier Plaque

Medal, Circuit de L'Est

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

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

Ecker Flying Boat

Clement V-2 Engine

Boxy, pusher biplane fitted with a tricycle undercarriage. The landing gear and struts are painted orange. The wings are covered in a yellowish fabric.

Curtiss D-III Headless Pusher

Medal, Louis Bleriot

Minerva

Wright Ex "Vin Fiz" Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, wood

Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Glenn Curtiss

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

Cup, Omaha World Herald

Simmons Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, wood and metal

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

Vertical, six-cylinder engine incorporating a flexible flywheel drive and dual carburetors.

Wright 6-70, In-line 6 Engine

Medal, Count von Zeppelin

Kelly Cup

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