SECRETARY'S REPORT 105 



on December 17, 1955, and at the annual banquet of the American 

 Helicopter Society on May 2, 1956. The head curator continued to 

 serve as a director of the National Aeronautic Association and a 

 member of the Brewer Trophy award committee. On August 28 he 

 received the annually awarded citation of the Air Line Traffic Associa- 

 tion in recognition of the progress achieved by the National Air 

 Museum in memorializing aeronautical history. During the year he 

 gave 17 lectures on various aspects of the history and development of 

 aeronautics as requested by various groups, including the Institute of 

 Aeronautical Sciences at the Fairchild Aviation Division, Hagers- 

 town, Md., and the Management Club of McDonnell Aircraft at St. 

 Louis, Mo. Three television and three radio presentations on histor- 

 ical and current aspects of aeronautics were prepared by the National 

 Air Museum during this year and broadcast from Washington stations. 

 For the annual meeting of the Smithsonian Institution's Board of 

 Regents on January 13, 1956, the National Air Museum prepared a 

 special display illustrating the development of the world's first liquid- 

 fueled rocket by Dr. Robert H. Goddard. The main item of this 

 display was the revised version of the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, 

 fired March 16, 1926. This flight was a significant milestone in the 

 development of rockets. Dr. Goddard's experiments were carried on 

 under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution from 1913 to 1930 

 and were aided by an additional Smithsonian grant in 1932. This 

 Institution allotted funds to Dr. Goddard from a Research Corpora- 

 tion grant, the Smithsonian's Hodgkins fund, and from its own re- 

 search sources. Clark University, the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington 

 also gave aid to Dr. Goddard during the 1917-1930 period. His later 

 sponsor was the Daniel Florence Guggenheim Foundation until, in 

 World War II, the United States Navy financed his final accomplish- 

 ments. Dr. Goddard died on August 10, 1945, at age 62. This Regents 

 display was added to the permanent exhibits of the Museum and now 

 includes full-sized original rockets of 1934-35 and a larger rocket, 

 about 16 feet long and 1 foot in diameter, developed 1939-41. Dr. 

 Goddard's experiments were copied by the Germans during their de- 

 velopment of the V-2 rocket weapon and formed the foundation for 

 modern rocket progress. 



IMPROVEMENTS AND CHANGES IN EXHIBITS 



During the first part of this fiscal year several halls in the Arts and 

 Industries Building were painted, requiring partial disassembly and 

 covering of the suspended aircraft in those halls and the repair and 

 reassembly of the planes after the painters had completed their work. 

 Because of changes being made in the halls of the Arts and Industries 

 Building, in connection with renovation of exhibits pertaining to 



