SECRETARY'S REPORT 107 



rected by Stanley Potter, keeping pace, both in efficiency and speed, 

 with the hard-working Park Ridge crew. The last load was stored 

 on September 9. Most unfortunately Mr. Potter was severely in- 

 jured during the unloading of one of the final deliveries and has not 

 been able to return to work. 



The construction of the largest of the Suitland buildings, which 

 will serve as a shop for the restoration and subassembly of aircraft, 

 was begun October 1 and completed January 27. This is 200 by 180 

 feet in area and will accommodate metal and woodworking machinery, 

 engine-handling devices, stocks of material, a spray booth, a fabric 

 and sheet-metal shop, and other equipment. During the period of 

 about seven years while these aircraft were at Park Ridge they were 

 unavoidably subjected to weather exposure and handling, and fur- 

 ther affected by their recent disassembly and shipment. With the 

 expectation of ultimately obtaining an adequate building for exhibi- 

 tion of the National Aeronautical Collections, it is vitally necessary 

 to conduct a continuing program of preparing these specimens for 

 durable, authentic, and attractive display in that building. 



By the close of the fiscal year a force consisting of a foreman, two 

 mechanics, an assistant for maintenance, and an aide had been en- 

 gaged for duty at Suitland. They were setting up the individual 

 shops, sorting material, and selecting the aircraft most in need of 

 reconditioning. 



Other projects at Suitland have included the repair of vehicular 

 handling equipment which was strenuously used during the aircraft 

 unloading operations, the repair of roads, and the rearrangement of 

 aircraft storage to clear one of the 4,000-square-foot buildings for 

 storing specimens of the Smithsonian's National Collection of Fine 

 Arts and Division of Engineering. 



The four Museum airplanes that were flown to Washington have 

 remained at Andrews Air Force Base where they landed. They were 

 moved to an end of a runway and at the close of the fiscal year a fence 

 was erected around them to protect them from damage. The dis- 

 mantling of the aircraft for storage of their parts at Suitland is the 

 first project of the next fiscal year for the Suitland crew. 



INFORMATIONAL SERVICES 



The supplying of information on aeronautical history; technical 

 development of aircraft ; details of aircraft structure and operation ; 

 the theory of flight; the collections of aircraft, engines, and flight 

 equipment in custody of the National Air Museum ; biographies of air- 

 craft inventors, designers, manufacturers and pilots; and the fur- 

 nishing of photographs and drawings — these and other informational 

 services require a constantly increasing amount of time by the staff 



