Planning Document: Revolutions in the Sky‐Early Flight
‐Theme Statement:
In one short decade the airplane grew from an ancient dream into the reality of a machine that would
shape the future. Between the first flights at Kitty Hawk and the opening guns of WWI, the design and
construction of aircraft and engines, once the work of a handful of individuals laboring in garages and home
workshops, became a global industrial enterprise, supported by the world’s governments, which promised to
exercise enormous impact on society, politics and culture in war and peace. Fueled by the excitement of the
first air races, meets and exhibitions, a wave of public enthusiasm for aviation circled the globe. The men and
women who flew ever higher, faster and farther emerged as the great heroes of the era. The stage was set
for a new age shaped by the fact that human beings can fly
‐Big Ideas:
Innovation – How did we learn to fly? What people and ideas contributed to the invention of the airplane?
Industrialization: How did technical change and improvement occur, 1903‐1914? What factors led to technological advance? How did aviation grow to become an important industry? Globalization: A technology without borders ‐‐ What role did government play in fostering aeronautical progress? What impact did varying levels of government support have on aeronautical progress in different nations? Was early aviation a global technology? What elements promoted technology transfer? Flights of the Imagination: How did public perceptions of the potential of the airplane change attitudes toward science, technology and the future? What sort of individuals emerged as representatives of the new air age? Consequences: What were the social, cultural and political impacts of flight?
‐‐Scope Unit Topics and discussion of major elements in each unit
Unit 1: The Dream – From Icarus and Daedalus to Leonardo
Flight in mythology, religion and literature – small Greek sculpture, Saqqara bird, reproductions of
ancient art
Unit 2: Navigating the Air: The Airship Comes of Age
The airship from Santos‐Dumont to Zeppelin – Santos‐Dumont engine, airship models
(Personal focus on Alberto Santos‐Dumont and Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin; will perhaps
include Aida de Acosta and Clarkson Potter)
Unit 3: Learning to fly ‐‐ Sir George Cayley to the Wright brothers
Cayley‐models, graphics
Penaud and other flying toys
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Lilienthal – Standard glider now on display in EF
Langley – Aerodrome No.5, 1903 engine – now on display
Chanute – model gliders in case, now on display
The Wright brothers, 1899‐1909, a quick survey to set the stage for the core unit
Unit 4: 1909: Dawn of the Air Age—The focus is on the birth and impact of a new industry as seen through
the experience of the Wright, Curtiss and Blériot companies. Major artifacts: 1909 Wright Military Flyer,
Curtiss Headless D, Blériot XI, and Ecker Flying Boat. In 1909 the Wrights sold the world’s first military airplane
to the U.S. Army, Louis Bleriot flew the English Channel and Glenn Curtiss won the first Gordon Bennett speed
classic at the great air meet at Reims, France. This unit will suggest how the events of that year set the stage
for industrial growth and forecast the extent to which the airplane would change the world.
Topics will include:
Building airplanes – the birth of an industry
Great flights with international significance ‐‐ from Ft. Myer to the English channel
Government and industry
International rivalry and the factors supporting industrial growth
The role of competition on technological advance
Personal focus on the Katharine Wright, Benjamin Foulois, Glenn Curtiss and Louis Blériot
Unit 5: Power and Control: engines, propellers, flight control
Some of the engines and propellers now on display—the operation and design of in ‐line and rotary
engines
The propeller as sculpture – an assembly of variously shaped propellers
Aircraft control systems
What was it like to fly early aircraft
Unit 6: The Roar of the Crowd – competitions, air meets, clubs
Art – Rudy Dirks, Fledglings; Dean Mosher, Lady Liberty; James Dietz, Breakthrough Over Kiev
Posters and programs
Trophies and awards
Personal focus on Lincoln Beachey and Harriet Quimby – two exhibition pilots
Georgia “Tiny” Broadwick, parachuting pioneer
Unit 7: The World Takes Wing: American aviators, European aviators, women in flight
An interactive unit invites visitors to see images and learn a bit about fliers from every part of the
nation and around the world.
New types of aircraft—flying boats and multiengine machine
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Visitors have an opportunity to “try on” early flight clothing
Herman Ecker and the home‐building tradition
Unit 8: The Gathering Storm
Lead in to WW I
‐Walkthrough‐The Visitor Experience
A Visit to the Early Flight Gallery:
Unit 1: The Dream
Visitors will enter the gallery through a unit on the pre‐history of flight, where they will be introduced to the people,
ideas and machines that provided the foundation for the invention of the airplane. Through objects, images, labels
and interactives they will be invited to consider some basic questions, such as: How did we learn to fly? What people
and ideas contributed to the invention of the airplane? The only original Otto Lilienthal glider in the western
hemisphere hangs overhead at the entrance. A relatively small opening section will introduce visitors to the ancient
dream of flight. A case housing a large sculptural piece based on Etienne Robertson’s fanciful navigable balloon La
Minerve will set the tone. A small statue of Mercury, the wing‐footed god, and representations of flight in myth,
religion and literature will underscore the deep‐seated desire to take to the air. The unit will conclude with a large
image of Darius Green, the comic hero of the J.T.T Trowbridge’s 1887 comic poem, sitting amid the ruins of the flying
machine in which he has just leaped from the barn roof, the personification of centuries of disappointed would‐be
aviators. A potential interactive will allow visitors to select illustrations and short texts describing myths of flight and
flying from around the world via a touch screen.
Unit 2: Navigating the Air
A second relatively small unit tells the story of the early development of the airship, buoyant powered flight, with a
focus on Alberto Santos‐Dumont and Count von Zeppelin. The display will include several airship models and a silent
audio‐visual presentation showing early dirigibles in the air. In addition, visitors will have an opportunity to interact
with a digital Santos‐Dumont in some fashion. Ideally, you will be invited to pose several suggested questions to this
colorful and eccentric pioneer airman, presented as a full‐size digital image on a screen, or perhaps as a “ghost” image
on scrim. The figure might initially appear to be a figure in a full size painting that comes to life when a visitor
approaches. A sensor will “wake up” the image, which will then introduce himself and ask if the visitor has any
questions for him. The “navigators” in Time and Navigation are our model for this and later figures.
Unit 3: Leaning to Fly
A final introductory unit will establish the foundation for the birth of powered flight. Major objects include the world’s
first purpose‐built aeronautical power plant, a light‐weight steam engine that won first prize at the Aeronautical
Society of Great Britain’s first exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace in 1868; Australian Lawrence Hargrave’s wing‐
flapping model aircraft; Samuel Langley’s Aerodrome No. 5; the engine of Langley’s Great Aerodrome; and a case
filled with models of gliders designed by Octave Chanute. The story of German aeronautical pioneer Otto Lilienthal
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will be linked to his glider, hanging at the entrance to the gallery. A short treatment carrying the story of the Wright
brothers from 1899‐1908 will set the stage for entry into the core of the exhibition. It is possible that full scale digital
images of the brothers, and/or their sister Katharine (as with Santos‐Dumont, above), will play a role in the transition.
Visitors may overhear a conversation among them. Alternatively, Katharine may offer visitors an account of their time
in Europe in 1908 and early 1909. As she speaks, a monitor will play still photos showing Katharine and her brothers
in the air and meeting kings, queens and world leaders.
Unit 4: 1909 – Dawn of the Air Age
The core units of the Gallery will focus on the events of 1909 as the year in which the potential of the airplane to
shape the future became fully apparent. A short film presented somewhere close to the entrance to this central
portion of the gallery will provide a narrative frame helping visitors to understand why this year was so important and
tying the individual sections together. Three major aircraft will serve as the focal points.
The 1909 Wright Military Flyer, the world’s first military airplane, will describe the early recognition of the
military potential of the airplane, the importance of an international market for military aircraft, and the rise
of the aircraft and engine industry. A series of photos taken in the Wright factory give a sense of the process
of building airplanes during this period between the craft era, and the dawn of industrial production. The
display will include models of various Wright types, 1909‐1915. Images and labels will describe the activities of
both the Wright exhibition team and the Wright flying school, both core operations of the Wright Company.
Extended silent footage of the Wrights flying in Europe and America, 1908‐1909, will give visitors a notion of
what it was like to the 1909 Military Flyer hanging overhead in flight.
Exhibits surrounding the Blèriot XI will invite visitors to explore the impact of the airplane on politics and
international relations. Louis Bleriot’s flight across the English Channel in July 1909 demonstrated the
potential of this new machine to overcome age‐old geographic barriers and redefine geopolitical
relationships. We will emphasize the extent to which European nations were willing to invest in the new
technology, and the impact of that investment on the pace of aeronautical development, and the level of
industrial production. While Europeans flew higher, faster and farther, Americans fell behind the cutting edge
of flight technology. The longevity of the Bleriot XI, its popularity in both Europe and America, and the specific
history of our aircraft will round out the story.
The Curtiss D headless pusher will serve as the focal point of a unit introducing Glenn Hammond Curtiss and
his role in establishing the early aircraft industry in the U.S. A case of trophies will illustrate both the
importance of competition in early aviation and the extent to which Curtiss built his business and earned
international fame for his speed and distance flights. Visitors will taste some of the excitement shared by
those who attended the first great air meet at Reims, France, in the high summer of 1909, where Curtiss raced
past all of his European rivals to capture the first James Gordon Bennett speed trophy. Additional topics will
include: the patent battle with the Wrights, the activities of his exhibition flight team, the development of the
flying boat, and the emergence of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company as the leading American
manufacturer of airplanes by 1917.
Interactives, described below, might include a game that would help visitors better understand the aeronautical
rivalry between European nations in the years leading to the outbreak of WWI. In addition, or alternatively, visitors
might be invited to participate in an air race or distance competition, selecting aircraft configuration, engine type and
other elements that would represent competitive advantages.
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Unit 5: Power and Control
Visitors will move from the core unit of the gallery to a space where they will learn something about aeronautical
propulsion and control. A small number of historic power plants will be on display, including a Wright in‐line engine, a
Curtiss V, and a Gnome rotary engine. A mechanical interactive will explain the operation of an in‐line engine, in which
the pistons turn a crankshaft that spins the propeller, and a rotary engine, in which the engine and propeller are
bolted together and spin around a fixed crankshaft. The advantages of the rotary design and its implications for the
aviator, who must blip the engine on and off in order to land, and who is constantly sprayed with castor oil lubricant
while flying the craft, will serve to humanize the technical details. A second interactive will allow visitors to operate
three very different types of flight controls – the Wright three‐stick system, the Curtiss all‐moving control wheel, and
the Blèriot stick‐and‐rudder system. Samples of different aircraft construction materials will be presented, along with
a comparison of standard wood, wire and fabric construction with monocoque, or egg shell, construction used in
racing aircraft.
Unit 6: The Roar of the Crowd
As assortment of colorful posters, programs, mementos, photos and models will communicate something of the
excitement of the air meets, races, long distance and record setting flights and great indoor air shows of the period,
1908‐1914. Art, including Rudolph Dirks’ 1908 painting, Fledglings, Dean Mosher’s contemporary portrayal of Wilbur
Wright circling the Statue of Liberty, and James Dietz’, Breakthrough Over Kiev, showing the multi‐engine Sikorsky
aircraft over the Russian city, will help bring the area to life. As in the case of Alberto Santos‐Dumont and Katharine
Wright, we hope to develop an interactive in which virtual “ghosts,” or full‐size digital images of Harriet Quimby and
Lincoln Beachey, two colorful exhibition pilots of the era, are conversing.
Unit 7: The World Takes Wing
We will invite visitors to interact with a unit loaded with photos and short biographies of scores of men and women
aviators of the period. The unit will prompt the user to select a nation, or an American state. The unit will then
present a list of aviators from the area selected, from which the visitor can select the name of an individual of interest
and see the photo and short biography. This unit will personalize the experience for the visitor and allow the
exhibition planners to prepare a data base including pioneers from all geographic areas. It will satisfy visitors with an
interest in a particular individual that their local hero is included, and connect other visitors to our story by enabling
them to access information on historic figures and events that occurred near their homes. The unit will also include a
variety of aircraft models, including types not otherwise discussed in the exhibition, as well as a section on flight
clothing. See Interactive #10‐ We might allow visitors to image themselves and digitally “try‐on” various early helmets
and items of flight clothing. They could print out the result as a souvenir of their visit to the Gallery. The Ecker flying
boat will be a focal point in this unit. The discussion will include both the notion of Ecker as a “home‐builder” and the
appearance of new types of aircraft, from flying boats to multiengine airplanes.
Unit 8: The Gathering Storm
A small closing unit including perhaps only a single evocative image and label, will indicate that the embryonic flying
machine will pass through its adolescence in war.
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‐Audio‐Visual Elements
1. One silent film of airships in flight, focusing on original footage of Alberto Santos‐Dumont and Count Ferdinand von
Zeppelin
2. One silent film showing Wright aircraft in the air in Europe and America
3. One 3‐4 minute sound film on the aeronautical events of the year 1909, focusing on the sale of the Wright Military
Flyer, Louis Blèriot’s flight across the English Channel, and the great air meet at Reims, France, including Glenn
Curtiss’ victory in the first James Gordon Bennett speed competition
‐Interactives
The Early Flight team has discussed a wide range of potential interactives. Some are described in the
walkthrough section of this document. The list below includes those, and other ideas that have been
presented and discussed. Final decisions will be based on discussions with professionals in the digital world,
costs and the extent to which the group agrees that a particular interactive meets the needs of visitors most
effectively.
1. Visitors will have access to a touch screen that will enable them to access examples of flight in myth, legend,
religion and literature from around the world.
2. Visitors will be invited to select from a menu of questions to pose to a full‐size digital figure of Alberto Santos‐
Dumont. We will film an actor playing this colorful pioneer responding to a series of carefully prepared, cascading
questions. This digital figure, and those to follow, might be presented in “picture frames,” as though they were full‐
size portraits that come to life. The “navigators” presented in the Time and Navigation gallery are examples of what
we have in mind.
3. A full‐size digital figure of Katharine Wright will chat with visitors about her experiences with her brothers in Europe
and America, 1908‐1909. She will share or somehow refer to moving images of those events playing on a monitor
placed next to her. (See film #2, above)
4. Full‐size digital figures of two daring aviators, Lincoln Beachey and Harriet Quimby, share the experience flying in
pioneer aircraft. Visitors simply overhear their conversation.
5. A mechanical interactive will demonstrate the operation of in‐line and rotary engines. Visitors will be able to start
the in‐line power plant and watch the cylinders rise and fall, turning the crank shaft. When they activate the rotary
engine, the entire motor and propeller spin around a fixed crankshaft.
6. A mechanical interactive enables visitors to operate three very different control systems – the Wright three‐stick
approach; the Curtiss system utilizing a control wheel that can be moved fore and aft for pitch control and turned to
operate the ailerons and rudder; and the Blèriot system, utilizing a stick and rudder bar.
7. An interactive touch‐screen unit invites visitors to access photos and information on a large number of aviators
active in the period, 1906‐1914. Visitors can query the database by searching under a nation or a state, then selecting
an individual aviator from a menu of names resulting from their geographic input.
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8. Either as an interactive of some sort in Unit 3, or as a Discovery station item, we will provide several historic flying
toys, including the Penaud helicopter that inspired the Wright brothers as boys. The notion is to underscore the
importance role of play in technical innovation.
9. An interactive game might be developed to help visitors better understand the aeronautical rivalry between
European nations in the years leading to the outbreak of WWI. . In addition, or alternatively, visitors might be invited
to participate in an air race or distance competition, selecting aircraft configuration, engine type and other elements
that would represent competitive choices
10. Visitors could take a digital image of themselves and digitally “try on” various early aviation helmets and clothing,
printing out the result as a take‐away souvenir.
11. A mechanical interactive might provide a demonstration of the Wright wing warping system and the use of
ailerons.
‐‐Visitor Experience and Goals, both quantitative and qualitative
Goal 1: To share the excitement of early flight with visitors.
Goal 2: To help visitors understand the birth of the relationship between government and the aeronautical
industry.
Goal 3: Underscore the extent to which aviation was a global enterprise.
Goal 4: Point to the broad social, cultural, economic and political impact of flight on the world.
Goal: Explore factors supporting innovation and technological progress.
