96 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 195 5 



RESEARCH 



The continuing efforts to improve the national aeronautical collec- 

 tion, collect related data, label specimens, plan improved displays 

 and premises, and perform educational service, require constant re- 

 search in aeronautical history and development, and musemn tech- 

 niques. In addition, whenever time permits, individual research 

 projects are advanced. 



During this jfiscal year the text for the 9th edition of the Handbook 

 of the National Aeronautical Collection was completed and all il- 

 lustrations assembled. This edition, much larger than previous ones 

 which were limited to describing the exhibited portion of the collec- 

 tion, will include many of the aircraft necessarily kept in storage 

 until an adequate building can be provided, as it was felt that their 

 interesting histories and important teclinical characteristics should 

 be made known. 



Material is being assembled to provide an interesting and authori- 

 tative description of kite specimens in the Museum collection, together 

 with a brief history of kites and their practical utility, and instruc- 

 tions for building and flying several of the principal types. 



THE LINK FOUNDATION 



Through the sponsorship of the foundation established by Edwin 

 A. Link, of Binghamton, N. Y., two projects were promoted this 

 year. The first was the publication by the Smithsonian Institution 

 of a popular booklet entitled "Masters of the Air," describing 12 of 

 the famous aircraft in the collection. Technical assistance in the 

 preparation of this booklet was given by the staff of the National 

 Air Museum. The second project — a catalog of the man-carrying 

 aircraft in the national collection — has been approved by the Founda- 

 tion and was assigned to the associate curator, who, by the end of the 

 fiscal year, had assembled photographs of most of the aircraft and 

 was engaged in writing the texts for each one. 



INFORMATIONAL SERVICES 



The national aeronautical collection has long since outgrown any 

 characterization as a group of aeronautical oddities. Instead it is 

 recognized as a record of progress, and the proof of its value is evi- 

 denced by the constantly increasing number of visitors and corre- 

 spondents who utilize these aircraft, the associated dociunentary files, 

 and the expert knowledge of the staff. These requests for informa- 

 tion have increased nearly two and a half times in the past three years, 

 but during the same period the curatorial staff has been reduced from 

 four persons to two, who are each, therefore, endeavoring to accom- 

 plish about five times the amount of informational service formerly 



