126 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1951 



An outstanding aeronautical event celebrated during the year was 

 the fortieth anniversary of Naval Airplane Carrier Operations. 

 Such operations were instituted on January 18, 1911, by Eugene Ely, 

 an associate of Glenn H. Curtiss, pioneer aircraft manufacturer, when 

 lie landed upon and took off from a special deck platform constructed 

 on the U. S. S. Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Harbor. That 

 successful experiment demonstrated the utility of the aircraft carrier, 

 which proved to be such a vital factor in World War II. To mark the 

 anniversary the Museum obtained a scale model of the old U. S. S. 

 Pennsylvania and constructed on its stern deck a scale reproduction of 

 the special landing platform and arresting gear used by Ely. Upon 

 this a model of his airplane was placed illustrating the moment of suc- 

 cessful landing. The Museum meanwhile had acquired by transfer 

 from the Department of the Navy an early Curtiss airplane engine 

 identified as the one that powered Eugene Ely's airplane on this his- 

 toric occasion. The engine was procured through Don Coe, Buffalo, 

 N. Y. These two accessions, together with a series of photographs 

 illustrating carrier development from 1911 to the present, were com- 

 bined attractively into a special exhibit which, for the anniversary, 

 was placed first in the foyer of the Navy Department and later ex- 

 hibited in the Pentagon. The exhibit is now permanently incorpo- 

 rated in the Museum's collections. 



Three full-sized aircraft of historical or teclmical significance were 

 added to the collections, in addition to the Bell X-1. They are the 

 trans-Isthmian tractor airplane, designed, constructed, and flown 

 across Panama in 1913 by the renowned pilot Robert C. Fowler; the 

 Northrop F-61 of World War II origin believed to be the first type 

 of American fighter designed specifically for night operations; and 

 the McDonnell helicopter Whirlaioay, the first twin-engined helicopter 

 and prototype of the heavy lift designs now under development. 

 These three aircraft are in storage until a museum building is 

 provided. 



Among the aircraft engines added, the original Pratt & Whitney 

 Wasp engine No. 1, which in 1925 laid the foundation for that com- 

 pany's development of radial engines, is outstanding. In addition, 

 two sectionalized and operating Wright radial engines of World 

 War II era, received from the Navy, help both student and layman 

 to understand the workings of this complicated type of internal- 

 combustion engine. Guided missiles, also received from the Navy, 

 not only furnish important examples of both German and American 

 types, but also provide, in their engines, forms of jet propulsion that 

 supplement the types shown in the Museum's engine display. A 

 series of miniature engines as used on model airplanes is of particular 

 interest to younger flyers. A unique addition to the propeller collec- 



