Report on the National Air Museum 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the activi- 

 ties of the National Air Museum for the fiscal year ended June 30, 

 1961: 



Administrative studies and planning continued for the new Na- 

 tional Air Museum Building, pending the appropriation of planning 

 funds. 



Many interesting and historically significant accessions were re- 

 ceived during the year. Among the more notable ones were a full-size 

 mock-up of an inertial guidance platform used for navigation in 

 space-flight vehicles, from the Autonetics Division of North American 

 Aviation, Inc. ; an early Curtiss-built OX-5 aircraft engine, from the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the E-VX 1-5, first re- 

 covered nose cone after a flight of intercontinental range, from the 

 U.S. Air Force; three additional volumes of Dr. Kobert Goddard's 

 notes on his experiments, from Mrs. Goddard; the XF8U-1 "Cru- 

 sader" airplane (the "One X"), from Chance Vought Aircraft Com- 

 pany and the U.S. Navy; the Hiller "Flying Platform," from the 

 U.S. Army and Navy; memorabilia of Norman Prince of the Lafa- 

 yette Escadrille, from Frederick H. Prince, Jr.; Discoverer XIII, 

 first recovered orbiting satellite, from the U.S. Air Force; the "Que 

 Sera Sera," first airplane to land at the South Pole, from the U.S. 

 Navy; 150 volumes of Pilots and Engine Manuals, from the Shell 

 Companies Foundation; the first camera to take stabilized motion 

 pictures of the earth from space, from the General Electric Company ; 

 the radio transmitter used by Adm. Richard E. Byrd in his historic 

 first flight over the South Pole ; and a painting of astronaut Alan B. 

 Shepard, from Congressman James Fulton. 



The name of the old Aircraft Building was changed to the Air and 

 Space Building to reflect the many famous firsts of space flight now 

 exhibited. During the fiscal year, 987,858 visitors to this renovated 

 display were counted. It is expected that the Mercury capsule "Free- 

 dom 7" will be placed in this building shortly. 



Information service continued to increase during the year. The 

 museum now averages about 400 letters per month, furnishing histori- 

 cal, teclinical, and biographical information on air and space flight 

 to authors, researchers, schools, government agencies, and the public. 



ADVISORY BOARD 

 No formal meetings of the Advisory Board were held. Individual 

 members were consulted from time to time. 

 124 



